As audio recording technologies advanced, folk music scholars began exploring and documenting America’s traditional expressions. They examined how Native American ritual songs, African American spirituals and Anglo American fiddle tunes functioned within their social settings.
These researchers studied folk music from different cultures, such as Romanian folk dances that inspired Bartok. Additionally, they analyzed song texts, melodies and instruments.
Ballads
Ballads are an ancient folk genre of music which tells tales and legends from different parts of history, often through love songs, war songs or natural disaster stories. No matter their subject matter, these songs have been passed down from generation to generation through oral storytelling traditions for hundreds of years and can often have distinctive rhythm and rhyme structures, usually featuring four beats per bar – which means four beats every bar!
Some early ballads originated with minstrel songs performed at wealthy people’s homes by minstrels who would sing romance-oriented tales, historical battles and events stories and legends from distant lands into rhythmic melodies that could be danced to. Such early ballads featured meters and melodies ideal for dancing.
As these ballads were passed down from generation to generation, they incorporated elements from local cultures – for instance a song about a slave being executed was transformed into a tale about his father and son; another such example is Bonny Barbara Allen from England which began life as a love song, yet eventually evolved into a ballad about someone rejecting an offer of love from a woman.
Not only did these ballads alter their lyrics, but also altered melodies and other musical aspects. For instance, “Young Lord Bateman” became a beloved American folk song known as “Bateman’s Lament”. Due to aristocratic titles being uncommon in America at that time, singers changed the song title in order to make it more Americanized.
These changes reflected shifting cultural conditions and attitudes at the time. Some songs celebrated heroic Americans like Luther “Casey” Jones, who perished in a train collision near Vaughn Mississippi on April 30, 1900; an accompanying ballad immortalized him as an individual who saved passengers and crew by jumping in front of it when it stalled – creating an enduring legend about him that endures until today.
Other ballads tell stories of crime and rebellion against authority. A “bad man” ballad describes a young man who turns to theft to support his family; this form of folk song became especially popular with African American musicians who sang it to express their mixed feelings about crime activity.
Country music
From 1930s on, portable recording technology allowed folklorists such as Alan Lomax to record America’s regional folk music, creating an extensive archive that now resides at the Smithsonian. This allows students to hear and study traditional American music as well as country music history – one of the most influential genres.
While many country artists draw on traditional influences, their style is typically unique to this genre. Common instruments used include fiddle, banjo and guitar while vocalists often sing high close harmony vocals. Country’s roots can be traced to pioneers of western cowboy music like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers who romanticized Wild West living; over time though the genre evolved further and was influenced by other styles like jazz and blues music.
At this point, the division between country and folk music began to blur; country drew heavily on traditions from different cultures while folk focused on political matters such as war, civil rights, and workers’ rights.
Early country music originated from European, African and Latin American immigrants who brought traditional folk music to America with them. A notable example is Jimmie Rodgers’ use of Swiss yodeling techniques when creating his yodeling technique; over time this style became the dominant form of American music.
By the 1950s, country music had emerged as an influential force in American culture with artists like Hank Williams and his wife June Carter-Cash, Tex Ritter, Patsy Cline gaining worldwide recognition. Country also influenced rock music’s development which itself was heavily based on country and western sounds; folk music movement in 1960s brought renewed interest in traditional American sounds that has given birth to artists like Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires and Billy Joe Shaver among many others.
Jazz
Folk music is a broad category that covers many styles and genres. Typically composed of traditional melodies played on instruments like fiddle and banjo, its lyrics relying primarily on oral tradition or personal memory rather than written words. Folk music may incorporate elements from other genres like pop, blues, jazz or country as well as dance performances or visual art displays that accompany its performances; moreover it has even been used to promote social change through political use of this musical form.
As the United States expanded into a multicultural nation, numerous genres of folk music emerged. English, French and Spanish immigrants helped to spawn new styles of folk music that emerged. Work songs emerged from railroads and mines while cowboy songs emerged on Western frontiers – some are even still popular today!
Folk music refers to any song passed down through generations in a community and shared among its people; some scholars even include prayers or hymns as forms of folk music in their definition. Although this definition may seem broad, it can help shed light on its roots.
Early American folk songs were heavily influenced by African religious music, yet also included other musical genres. Jazz emerged as a combination of folk music and African religious music while rhythm and blues itself was heavily influenced by folk songs. Funk also emerged out of these hybrid forms.
Folk music stands apart from other genres by using the human voice to affect emotional impact of songs, which makes it so compelling to listeners. Vocal styles vary greatly between white mountain singers and throaty African American blues and spirituals, each providing its own distinct flavor of vocal texture – one reason folk music remains so beloved today.
Blues
Blues music, originally composed by African Americans in the early 20th century, became one of America’s most beloved genres during this period. WC Handy helped raise its profile by introducing it to white audiences through his song transcriptions and recordings, while artists such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Howlin’ Wolf brought blues music to a wider audience. By 1960s time span blues had had significant influences across several genres including jazz, rhythm & blues and rock music.
Blues music’s roots can be traced to work songs and field hollers used by American slaves during work hours and fieldwork, incorporating elements of religious music as well as African rhythms. This legacy can be found today through improvisation, syncopation (emphasizing off-beat rhythms), social involvement through music (such as singing and dancing together), unique timbres that may sound less “polished” than European music, call and response structures of blues stanzas, as well as blue notes ( expressively altering pitches at non-Western intervals).
Folk music has long been used as a powerful form of political activism. From environmental protection to social reform, its message has an effect on society that cannot be forgotten. Today’s contemporary folk singers use it to further these causes while shaping American culture through song. These musicians possess an opportunity to make an impactful contribution that has profound effects on society as a whole.
Even though modern folk music has become commercialized, there are still artists carrying on its traditions and expanding upon it through incorporating elements from different musical genres into their work.
Many of these artists can even be credited with pioneering new genres of music such as country and bluegrass – collectively referred to as Americana. Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Chrisone “Kingfish” Ingram, and Gary Clark Jr are among some of the most acclaimed contemporary folk musicians today.
Folk music’s popularity is on the rise again as working class households struggle in this recession. Issues that fueled original folk movements such as economic inequality, LGBT rights issues and immigration remain pertinent today; folk music serves as an effective vehicle to change social attitudes through its powerful message of social activism.