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Jan 2, 2020 · There are underlying characteristics, embedded in folk music from which we can draw a subtle commonality. One of the more obvious features of folk music is the range of instruments used and that they very often define the sound that is typical for that kind of music.
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- The concept of folk music
folk music, type of traditional and generally rural music that originally was passed down through families and other small social groups. Typically, folk music, like folk literature, lives in oral tradition; it is learned through hearing rather than reading. It is functional in the sense that it is associated with other activities, and it is primar...
The term folk music and its equivalents in other languages denote many different kinds of music; the meaning of the term varies according to the part of the world, social class, and period of history. In determining whether a song or piece of music is folk music, most performers, participants, and enthusiasts would probably agree on certain criteria derived from patterns of transmission, social function, origins, and performance.
The central traditions of folk music are transmitted orally or aurally, that is, they are learned through hearing rather than the reading of words or music, ordinarily in informal, small social networks of relatives or friends rather than in institutions such as school or church. In the 20th century, transmission through recordings and mass media began to replace much of the face-to-face learning. In comparison with art music, which brings aesthetic enjoyment, and popular music, which (often along with social dancing) functions as entertainment, folk music is more often associated with other activities, such as calendric or life-cycle rituals, work, games, enculturation, and folk religion; folk music is also more likely to be participatory than presentational.
The concept applies to cultures in which there is also an urban, technically more sophisticated musical tradition maintained by and for a smaller social, economic, and intellectual elite in cities, courts, or urbanized cultures. Generally, “folk music” refers to music that broad segments of the population—particularly the lower socioeconomic classes—understand, and with which they identify. In this respect it is the rural counterpart to urban popular music, although that music depends mainly on the mass media—recordings, radio, television, and to some degree the Internet—for dissemination.
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Traditionally, folk music performers were amateurs, and some folk songs were literally known to all members of a community; but specialists—instrumentalists and singers of narratives—were important to folk communities. In the 20th century, the role of professionals as performers and carriers of folk traditions expanded dramatically. Folk music as it is believed to have existed in earlier times may be discussed separately from periods of revival such as that of 19th-century European nationalism and the 20th-century revivals, shortly before and after World War II, that were motivated by political agendas. In the context of popular music, performances of “folk music” may be distinguished by the use of songs with political agendas and the use of traditional instruments and acoustic guitars. On the other side of the musical spectrum, lines between folk music and art music were blurred beginning in the 19th century, when art music composers introduced songs from folklore into urban musical culture.
Key Characteristics of Folk Music: Storytelling: Often narrates stories or folklore. Community-Centric: Encourages community participation. Simplicity: Features simple, yet catchy rhythms and melodies. Acoustic Instruments: Uses easily accessible instruments.
Folk music, folk songs, and ballads are nested categories of traditional expression: folk songs are folk music that has words, and ballads are folk songs that tell stories. These genres are universal; all people make music, and almost all start with what scholars would call “folk music.”
While drawing on the poetic elements of rhythm, rhyme and wordplay; his song “Changes” draw on his personal experiences and sets the dual theme for change and resistance to change, in an underclass society of people who are affected by social injustice and hopelessness.
Sep 23, 2024 · In its 21st-century urban and institutional manifestation, folk music is normally performed by singers accompanied by stringed instruments, by instrumental ensembles, or by choruses. By contrast, in its traditional rural venues, most folk music is monophonic (that is, having only one melodic line). Yet polyphonic folk music, with several ...
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Jan 2, 2005 · “Folk song” is an oral art that challenges the expectations of “literature”, which implies something written down. Musical performance is essential to its full effect. Like other forms more widely accepted as literary, such as drama, folk song is thus aesthetically amphibious.
