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Importance of folk culture
Importance of folk culture
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The ‘folk’ genre has roots all the way back to the 19th century. Put simply, ‘folk’ is “ballads and songs which are composed and transmitted orally, without ever being written down at all.” (http://www.balladtree.com/folk101/002a_origins.htm) Though what we perceive as ‘folk’ today is stylistically very different to what ‘folk’ was during the 19th century. At its core, it still holds the same values and ideas, lamenting the simpler times. In the coming speech, we will discuss the genre of ‘folk’, it’s origins, the changes it underwent in the 20th century and the factors that influenced each development and also the characteristics of the genre, including singing styles, rhythm and instrumentation. Folk as a genre, consists of a civilisations history passed down through generations in spoken word form rather than being written down and recorded. Different countries and different regions around the world, all had varying styles of the ‘folk’ music they produced. Cultures from England would have had a different style to those from Scandinavia and the Scandinavians would have had different style of ‘folk’ to the Dutch and Germans and the tribes from Africa too. “The folk music of the Germanic people is known in different phrases and varying degrees. For the English-speaking peoples there exists a vast body of ballads, collected in England as well as America. Of German folklore we know best the songs that have come into repertory rather recently. Swedish folk music happens to have available a large collection of fiddle tunes, because some Swedish collectors have concentrated on this aspect of music.” (Folk & Traditional Music of the Western Continents Bruno Nettl) Here Bruno Nettl states some of the obvious dissimilarities ... ... middle of paper ... ...ctical Recording Techniques, 5th Edition, Focal Press, Massachusetts USA. Blumenfeld, H (2000) ‘Folk Music 101, Part II: Origins of Folk Music’ accessed 3 May 2010 from: http://www.balladtree.com/folk101/002a_origins.htm Buffy St. Marie (1964) ‘Universal Soldier: In Depth’ accessed 21 May 2010 from: http://www.creative-native.com/albums.php?song_id=7&album_id=1&) DeSiato, N (1998) ‘March On Washington’ accessed 26 May 2010 from: http://www.angelfire.com/pa/marchonwashington/march.html Folk Music. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 25, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/212168/folk-music Nettl, B (1965) Folk & Traditional Music of the Western Continents, Prentice Hall Inc. New Jersey Owenby, J (2002) ’60’s Timeline’ accessed 18 May 2010 from: http://www.jeffs60s.com/timeline.html
During the late 19th century and early 20th century, a form of Mexican folk music called the corrido gained popularity along the Mexico-Texan border (Saldívar). Growing from the Spanish romance tradition, the corrido is a border ballad “that arose chronicling the history of border conflicts and its effects on Mexican-Mexican culture” (Saldívar). A sort of “oral folk history,” the corrido was studied intensely by Américo Paredes, who then constructed his masterpiece, George Washington Gomez, around the “context and theme” of the corrido (Mendoza 146). But the novel is not a traditional corrido, in which the legendary hero defends his people and dies for his honor. Instead, through its plot, characterization, and rhetorical devices, George Washington Gomez is an anti-corrido.
At the onset of the twentieth century singing was still the fundamental activity in schools, and sc...
Native American music has many different musical styles. Within every Native American tribe there is a variety of musical styles and instruments. In response to the research that I have conducted, there are three main musical styles that are going to be my point of focus. The Sioux Grass Dance, the Zuni Lullaby, and the Iroquois Quiver Dance are the principal methods which contribute to Native American music.
In conclusion, Appalachian music can be defined as old time music, Appalachian folk music, country music, back woods country music and American Folk Music, but this type of music is and has been a staple in our society and has survived decades and with the beauty of the music it will hopefully continue for all time.
The street balladry of the people who began migrating to America in the early 1600s is considered to be the roots of traditional American music. As the early Jamestown settlers began to spread out into the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and the Virginias, they composed new songs about day to day like experiences in the new land.
Historians such as Mrs. Miles believe that country music was born of and grew from traditional southern folk music. No matter where it came from, many regard country music as the music that told a story, especially the stories of struggles, trials, and tribulations. It is this genre that gave birth to such greats as Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, who sang of their many personal troubles. Country music became popular in part because people could find it to be easily relatable. This sense of traditionalism, however, would slowly fade from country music over the course of a couple decades.
In fact, a whole genre contains the melodic purity just described; folk music. Unaffected by the burden of performing solely to please mass audiences around the world, folk musicians are able express the contents of their hearts
Ever since humans first learned how to make music with their voices and with instruments thousands of years ago, music has been changing. Some changes took place over hundreds or even thousands of years, stunted by human isolation or by guidelines set in place by religious institutions. The 20th century, in contrast, experienced several rapid, radical changes in the popular genres of music. This made the 20th century a very rich time period for musical culture. These remarkable genres--including, but not limited to jazz, rock and roll, and the music of the “British invasion”--all influenced one another, and all influenced the culture we still live in today.
Many say that music has evolved over the years. This essay shall explore the elements of two versions of one song. It shall discuss the correlations and disparities of these songs and confer how it has been revolutionised to entertain the audiences of today.
In the 1930s-1950s, we saw people who were culture brokers. Culture brokers are defined as “the act of inking or mediating between groups or persons of differing cultural backgrounds for the purpose of reducing conflict or producing change”. This was seen as some of the "best work" of the economy and state because culture brokers simply buy and sell things to make a profit. We see the transformation of folk forms, such as the blues into popular commercialized music and this offers a way to fight with the questions of authenticity in popular culture and how music has been collected and sold by culture brokers. A historian, John Storey, writes about how working in Europe and the United States created and defined popular culture as a "mass culture", the commercialized forms used by the urban, working class. The folk represented examples of authentic and immutable American culture. Mass culture on the other hand, was subject to the market, changed with technologies and audiences and aimed at the masses. In the 1930s, some folklorists became commercial promoters of folk music as part of the "cult of authenticity". As broadcast radio matured, it offered new venues f...
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
In itself, music has intrinsic value. From Ludwig Van Beethoven to Miles Davis, instrumental music can stand on its own legs, and have meaning that transcends grammatical meaning. However, the implementation of words that are either spoken or sung creates a new genre, and a different aesthetic. In a sense, this is literature juxtaposed over rhythm and melody. This has the effect of giving a more concrete meaning to the music, and more emotion to the words or lyrics. It is a matter of taste, and a subject of intense debate to try and say one style of music does this the best. Blues music, one of America’s greatest exports, is a contender for this title, and is also interesting in a linguistic sense.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
Throughout the semester, various styles of music and the aspects of culture associated with these styles have been analyzed. Musical elements such as dynamics, texture, form, timbre, melody, instruments, etc., have been used to thoroughly explore each kind of music from different areas of the world, with an emphasis in music from Africa, India and Indonesia. These aspects of music go far beyond just music itself. Culture also plays a huge role in music and the accompanying musical elements. Each country and culture has a different style and distinctiveness that add to what makes the music of that certain culture unique. Music in Africa may differ dramatically from music in Indonesia or India not only due to those certain elements but also due to how it is interpreted by people and what it represents for those people. In addition to this, what one may consider music in one culture may not be music to another. These differences have been made apparent in the several demonstrations that we have been exposed to in class.
Greek folk music is a certain style of popular music played by ‘'ethnic Greeks’’ in countries like Australia, the United States and Greece. However, mainly originating from Greece, with songs written around the time of ancient Greek poetry and music. Greek folk music can by categorised in two mainly genres: Akrtic and Klephtic.