This work refers to the teaching of the tampouras lesson in Music Schools. In particular, it reflects the effort to integrate the tampouras lesson into the here and now, that is to connect the teaching material with the daily life of the school and consequently of the students.

This connection is fully harmonized with the functional use of the folk song during the period of its creation in its natural environment. The song used to include actions, situations and needs of people, which it intensified, beautified and purified e.g. songs of love, marriage, exile, obituaries etc. It also included traditional festivals, which were characterized by their own local music repertoire and sound (Kapsomenos, 1996; Politis, 2010).

In this context, carols and folk songs were collected, which refer to festivals and specific human functions and then covered specifically for tampouras (Siasos, 2014) and they describe a thematic musical cycle of the school year including Christmas carols and songs of the harvesting period.

This educational material was enriched with folklore and historical information, published as an e-book entitled "The Cycles with their Trails" and posted on the website of the Music School of Ilion (Siasos, 2021). The Collection "The Cycles with their Trails" was used during the teaching of the tampouras lesson at the Music School of Ilion in the school year 2018-19. At the end of the school year, a qualitative survey was conducted, using a semi-structured interview, on a sample of 70 students and three classes of the Music High School. The purpose of the research is to explore the perceptions, thoughts and experiences of students about the use of this educational material in the tampouras lesson.

The analysis of the results shows that the students are highly satisfied and excited by the extension of the material of the tampouras lesson with folk songs and dances that follow the cycle of the year. This choice helped i) increase the time students spend playing the tampouras, ii) participate in playing the tampouras in small ensembles, and iii) love the tampouras more.

 Also, the reference of the tampouras lesson to the cycle of the year, led the students to combine the taught songs and the functionality of folk music with their previous experiences, thus creating metaphorical formations and new experiences (Swanwick, 1999).

• Σύνδεση της μουσικής εκπαίδευσης με την καθημερινή ζωή
• Μουσικές εμπειρίες στο σχολείο, στο ωδείο και στην κοινότητα

Spyros Siasos comes from Mesologhi / Greece. He studied Musicology in the Department of Music Studies at University of Athens and Pedagogy of Music at South-West University “N. Rilski” of Bulgaria. He continued his studies at Harokopio University of Athens at Master’s Degree Education and Culture and at School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE) at Master’s Degree Counselling and Vocational Guidance. Also, he studied Byzantine Music and Music Theory (harmony, counterpoint and fuga). He studied Turkish saz with Ross Daly, Mehmet Erenler and Erdal Erzincan. In 2002 he started teaching in Primary and Secondary education schools and he has been a tambouras teacher at the Music Schools of Agrinio, Tripolis and Ilion. Also, he is the author and publisher of the book “Tambouras Teaching Method by using Byzantine Notation” (2014).