According to UNESCO in Paris in 1989, addressing the governments of member countries,
"Traditional and popular culture is part of the universal heritage of humanity, [it] is a powerful means of bringing together different peoples and social groups and affirming their cultural identity"
and still precise declaring that
«Traditional and popular culture is the set of creations that come from a cultural community, based on tradition, expressed by a group or individuals and recognized as responding to the expectations of the community as an expression of its cultural and social identity, norms and values ​​transmitting themselves orally, by imitation or in other ways. Its forms include, among other things, language, literature, music, dance, games, mythology, rituals, customs, craftsmanship, architecture and other arts"

Music is one of the privileged forms within the human communication process. It embodies symbols, concepts and objects produced by a culture in a space and time, and can be taken as a paradigm through which to read a culture.

What do we mean by 'popular'? On the one hand, the possibility of accessing the services offered to those who cannot afford the expensive costs of normal music schools; on the other, the focus on the tools and rhythms of the Sicilian and Mediterranean popular tradition.

The Popular Music School of Arci Tavola Tonda is unique in Southern Italy for instruments and repertoires taught: Frame Drums, Flute, Diatonic Accordion, Accordion, Violin, Mandolin, Vocal Technique, Chorus, Guitar, Oud (Arabic Lute), Ney Flute.
During the school year both the techniques of the chosen instrument and the popular repertoire that uses it will be studied in depth, all accompanied by lectures on ethnomusicology and anthropology.

Finally, during the courses, students and students will experience preparatory ensemble music lessons at the entrance to the Arci Popolare Tonda Orchestra which has had the honor of being repeatedly led by Ambrogio Sparagna, anthropologist and researcher, director by the Italian Popular Orchestra of the Auditorium della Musica in Rome and Maestro Concertatore for various editions of the Notte della Taranta.

The teachers of the Popular Music School of Arci Tavola Tonda are: Michele Piccione, Benedetto Basile, Marcello Alajmo, Raffaele Pullara, Teresa Ferlisi, Said Benmsafer, Marco Macaluso and Simone Giuffrida.