Introduction

Why is Folk music so important?

Growing up in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina has a different meaning when discussing the traditions of folk music. Bluegrass and traditional folk music may be heard in the southern mountains quite often and for several occasions. Folk music survives in its own world and has aided in the shaping of the history of music. The origins of folk music can be traced to the poor and working class roots. These people would take stories they did not want to forget and set them to music with simple melodies, making the stories unforgettable. These oral traditions were then passed down from each generation. The three common themes that these songs seemed to transpire around were birth, love, or death with some of the inventive songs turning into work songs or even lullabies (Blumenfeld).

What qualifies a song to be considered a true folk song? There are debates as to what classifies as folk music. The common agreement is that the music has been transmitted orally and generally comes from an anonymous source. “Folk music is [considered to be] the music and songs of ordinary people, passed on in the oral tradition” (Cockburn, p. 72). The music or accompaniment was not considered the focus of the song itself; instead the concentration was placed on the story that was trying to be told. An example of the idea of oral tradition is with the folk tale, The Epic of Gilgamesh. This story is the adventures of Gilgamesh. When told the story in different countries or different places the story will change to fit the traditions of that country. The term “folk” actually comes from a word meaning illiterate peoples. This overall derogatory term is not necessarily too far from the truth. It is the responsibility of the oral transmitter (folk musician) to carry on the tradition and continuity. All of this can easily be done in the simplest way: for the folk musician to recreate the story in whatever way pleases or suits them.

Unlike music in our society today, folk music is considered to be participatory. Students listen to music on the radio, but rarely get involved with it except to maybe sing the words which they may or may not fully understand the meanings. With folk music, the musicians and audiences are engrossed completely with the music as well as the story. Since folk music was generally not written for profit, the story and tradition remained the entire focus of the material. These folk musicians lacked technical training and the music theory that other classically trained musicians possessed. The lack of education in folk musicians did not influence audience members who still listened intently to the stories being told and who would sometimes add or take away parts when passing the oral tradition down. The music was written by uncomplicated people for the same types of audiences.

Earlier examples of folk music tend to be very monophonic in nature. The reason for this is because of the purpose the music was serving. As stated earlier, the focus of these songs was the oral tradition. The musicians did not want to lose the stories by creating complicated and hard-to-remember melodies. Because of this notion, instrumentation varied among different folk musicians. Common instruments in the early folk music tradition included the fiddle, jugs, and washtub bass. These musicians did not have fancy instruments and they would use their surroundings to help them in any way possible. Eventually, the use of the banjo, harmonica, guitar, and other more common instruments found their way into the folk music instrumentation. Even though ‘fancier’ instruments have been added to folk music, the stories being told remain the focus. The new instrumentation does not take anything away from the original purpose of folk music.

Students in our society do not come across folk music very often. This is because the traditions that once were important in the musical culture have faded and are no longer intact. Students may be familiar with some types of folk songs because common nursery rhymes do fall into this category. Unfortunately, this may be the extent of their knowledge on the subject. Conventional towns are now being urbanized and the feeling of a close knit community to share the oral traditions with have long subsided. Folk music has also since been replaced with more popular music. Another unfortunate decline in the knowledge of folk music may be attributed to the vanishing of the ordinary musical citizen in the communities (Wikipedia). All of these reasons make up the decline of knowledge our students have towards folk music. Children are not exposed to this music when they are younger, and as they get older they have already made up their minds that they do not like folk music and it is something they are unwilling to give a chance. This is very unfortunate because the oral traditions that folk music presented to music are fading.

Studying folk music can be beneficial to students in many aspects. When learning about the oral traditions of folk music, students also are given a glimpse of what life really was like several years ago. Students are not only learning about why and how songs were passed down, but they are also studying the content of the messages and how they were created and the reasoning behind the styles. Children may not grasp the idea of how recent technological advances truly are. For example, recordings made huge leaps for folk music because the traditions no longer required being passed down orally. Folk musicians rarely wrote down their work, so many songs were lost or altered drastically along the way.

Learning about folk music can help students connect to an earlier time or era in our nations’ history. They are given the chance to make cultural connections within historical events that they may already have knowledge of. This also gives students the ability to learn basic research skills on a historical time or event. In addition, students can make cultural connections through science, reading, and writing. Lyrics from folk music tend to be quite comical. Students will get enjoyment from reading the lyrics and generating their own opinions about the musicians.

Folk music and traditions can leave a lasting impact on students. By learning the origins of folk music and the reasoning, students are given an enriching association between music of the past and music they may currently enjoy. Some students may find that folk music is an acquired taste, but persistence should prevail and students will gain an understanding and appreciation for the genre. There are several characteristics for teachers and students alike to focus on and discover. Students will find out that folk music can be exciting and enjoyable.