Puerto Rican Plena: The Power of a Song

In order to bring music of Puerto Rico to the general music classroom, it is important to understand the sociocultural and sociohistorical context of the music. The traditional genre of plena shares cultural threads with West Africa, Spain, and indigenous (Taíno) culture. Commonly known as El Periodico Cantado (the singing newspaper), plena songs give updates on what people are feeling and current events effecting the community. The plena song Que Bonita Bandera (What a Beautiful Flag) is explored for its potential uses in elementary and secondary general music classes