American folk music

What is it? Where did it come from?

What can we learn from this type of music?

Folk music is music created and performed by common people (not the rich) and passed down from generation to generation.

Folk music is found in every culture and is created by the common people of that culture. Since every culture is a little different, there are many types of folk music.

Indian Folk Musicians

Chinese FolkMusicians

How are all types of folk music the same?

When immigrants came to America, they sang the songs of their previous cultures. Their previous culture was a part of their identity and helped them remember their past.

Folk songs are rarely ever written down. Instead, people share them to one another orally (by singing).

Because these songs aren’t written down, they change over time (words may change; melodies may lengthen or shorten; two or more songs may be mashed together).

Because folk music was created by the common person, any instrument s/he owned could be used. The more popular instruments include:GuitarDouble BassFiddleBanjoMandolinDulcimerHarp

When slaves had no instruments, they made music with their voices.

Other musicians create their own instruments out of what they found around the house. These groups were called Jug Bands.

From the movie “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”

In America, there are a few types of folk songs we find again and again. The first is a ballad.A ballad is a song that tells a story, often times

about real events.

Another type of folk song is the spiritual.A spiritual is a song that deals with religion.African-Americans sang many spirituals . . .

some were about their beliefs and others were about escaping slavery and finding freedom.

In additional to ballads and spirituals, many types of folk songs deal with activities or situations:

These are some (not all)Work songsPrison songsWar songsSongs for childrenDances (Reels, Square Dances)

Famous Folk MusiciansStephen Foster – known as “the

father of American Music”. He wrote many popular songs from the 1840s to the 1860s. He wrote Oh Susanna!

Woody Guthrie – folk songwriter who wrote ballads about his life during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression (1930s). He wrote This Land Is Your Land.

Bob Dylan – One of the most famous folk/rock singers of the 1960s who is known for writing very intelligent lyrics.