FOLK MUSIC & ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Source (for some information on this page): Oring, Elliott. Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1986 (Barre Toelken chapter)

Also: Wikipedia and SEM page (http://webdb.iu.edu/sem/scripts/home.cfm)

MUSIC – fundamental expressive form of all human cultures

Instrumental and/or Vocal (music and/or words set to music)

ORIGIN – hard to trace (instruments from 20,000+ yrs ago)
POETRY was most often set to music, i.e. sung (long forms too)
PRAYERS were often sung or chanted
Many RITUAL events include music, songs, chanting

Often accompanied by DANCE (expressive)

Folk Music: musical expressions of the folk (not commercial)

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY: study of music in socio-cultural context

Statement from the Society for Ethnomusicology:
What is Ethnomusicology?
The field of ethnomusicology explores human music-making activities all over the world, in all styles, from the immediate present to the distant past. We study music, the people who make it, the instruments they use, and the complex of ideas, behaviors, and processes that are involved in the production of music.

SONG: Musical & poetic expression of feelings or ideas

FOLKSONG:  Often modified, shortened, lengthened, words changed, verses added, pitch/rhythm altered, details personalized or localized, combined with other songs,etc

·      Articulates shared attitudes or feelings.

·      Seldom memorized

·      Comprehended & continually recomposed

·      Not ancient, rural, backward, quaint

·      Constantly used and modified by singers

Vs. Commercial Songs that resist modification (less variation) though parodies may still occur even for those

Americans sing less for selves (rely on stars, media, profit)

Listen more to professional strangers (influence of mass media)

Appeal of songs

Comes from topic, singer, performance, structure, focus

TOPICS: all human activity, but often clustered around highly charged human values and activities like

Work, Love, Religion, Politics, & Parodies

NARRATIVE & LYRIC folk songs most common in U.S.

= Ballads & Folksongs

BALLADS: sung narrative with single episode in which action takes place & is concluded

Story itself carries meaning (heightened by music)

FOLKSONGS: focus on articulation of feelings, ideas, fantasies, and attitudes without narrative thread

Resist dramatization—more ambiguous than ballads

Lyrics gain meaning from way sung & context (situation) – less structured

Great possibility for complexity & richness in meaning

Structure: arranged in verses and choruses which help to organize the thoughts into meaningful clusters (paragraphs) and to regulate the alternation of the singers (leader sings the verses, audience joins in on chorus, for example)

How the MUSIC helps or works in the songs

Ø      Parodies rely on tunes to cue responses

Ø      Singing involves personal, bodily involvement with text

Ø      Tune may have emotional charge

Ø      Part of rhetorical organization of song

Ø      Vehicle by which song is conveyed

Ø      Aids in remembering poetry

Ø      Rhythmic & tonal frame

ALSO purely instrumental folk music (string instruments, wind instruments, percussion, combinations, for dance, etc)

INFLUENCES on American Music (there are many others)

Native American – often religious (or ritually based), highly varied styles. Instruments: Flutes, drums, voice, +

European – choirs, notations, broadsides (printed lyrics), ballads. Instruments: wind, string, percussion, voice

British Isles – Child ballads, fiddling, bagpipes, dancing

Ireland– ensembles, sets, reels, jigs, fiddles, whistles, harps

African – (through slaves) Polyrhythms and call-&-response style vocals. Instruments drums, strings (guitar, banjo)

Cajun/Creole(Louisana)–Zydeco, 2 step, swmp pop rhythm

Polynesian (Hawaii) – Hula, steel & slack key guitar, ukulele

Tex-Mex (Tejano) – corrido, accordion, guitar, bass, drum

Eastern Europe – polk, fiddle, klezmer, “gypsy” lively styles

Russia – classical opera, ballet, many instruments, protest

Chinese/Japanese – Instruments (bamboo, bowed strings, percussion), orchestras, new scales, styles

Arab – tonal system, rhythms, new chords, virtuoso singers

POP MUSIC STYLES – global influence

Interconnections between Minstrel, Ragtime, Blues

Tin Pan Alley, Bebop, Swing, Jazz

Mountain, Old Timey, Country (Appalachian), “Folk”

All influence Rock and Roll (& Psychedelic Rock)

Also Spirituals, Gospel, Soul, Rockabilly

Heavy Metal, Punk, Funk

Hip Hop, Freestyle

Special songs/styles/music for many folk groups, including

Children, families, work groups, ethnic groups, economic or social classes, religious groups, groups based on politics, protest, camps, region, issues, hobbies, interests, & more