What is folk music?

What is folk music? 

This is actually a fairly hard genre to define, but broadly, folk music stems from spoken word, storytelling and oral tradition that is culture and custom specific. Traditional folk music, unlike “mainstream” music, wasn’t written, composed, sung, performed or spoken as a means of publishing or earning money. The poetry and lyrics were passed down from generation to generation and changed over time. (There is typically no author[s] credited). They feature lyrics discussing everyday life, religion and other ordinary topics and were sung in places as a distraction, such as working in the fields, mills or ships. If there was any instruments used, they were simple in nature, like guitars and hand motions like clapping and snapping. 

The reason I wanted to touch on this genre is because of how culture and communication is so intimately tied to it. Think about traditional folk songs; what were they communicating? And how did culture impact the message? 

Of course, over time, folk music was revived for the mainstream and traditional songs have been sampled by major artists, but they’re still part of our everyday vernacular, storytelling and cultural context. 

Do you know any traditional folk songs from your culture? Do you use them in your “oral tradition?” 📓 

Image description: The entrance to an exhibit “Folk City” about the folk revival music at The Museum of the City of New York. The floor has the text “This land is your land; this land is my land; from California to the New York Island.” There is a screen at the end of the hallway with a video of Phil Ochs performing.