Some of the Types of American Folk Music

Last time, we spoke a little about all of the different kinds of music that falls under the umbrella term “folk music”. Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the different styles and traditions that make up American folk, or Roots, music.

Appalachian folk music traces its roots to English and Scottish immigrants who settled in and around the Appalachian mountain range in the 18^th century. The style combines English and Scottish ballads, dance music such as Irish reels and the “new world” ballad tradition, which were songs that often functioned as ways to pass along news and current events. The music is generally played on banjos (originally brought to the region by African-American slaves), guitar, autoharp, dulcimer, mandolin and fiddle. Appalachian music was a big part of the folk music revival in the 1960s.

Bluegrass Music: Like Appalachian folk music, Bluegrass has its roots in the music of immigrants from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The genre takes its name from Bill Monroe’s band, the Blue Grass boys. The traditional instruments in bluegrass include the fiddle, the banjo, guitar, upright bass, mandolin and resonator guitar. In Bluegrass, each instrument often takes its own turn playing by itself, as opposed to Appalachian folk where the instruments all play at once.

Country Blues: There is actually a lot of debate about whether this counts as “Folk” music or not, but our collection includes a number of important songs from this tradition, and the tradition fits most of the traditional criteria of “folk music”, so we choose to include it here. While Appalachian folk and bluegrass often refers to songs performed by groups of people (but not always- remember, that when you are talking about folk music, it almost by definition doesn’t have hard and fast rules)

Cajun music traces its origins to the French speaking Acadian immigrants from Canada to Louisiana. The music is known for accordion and fiddle sound, with lyrics often centering on themes of death and star-crossed romance, reflecting the Cajun people’s exile from Canada. The lyrics are traditionally in French, but now are often sung in English.

Jug Band music is notable for its use of non-traditional, homemade instruments. Besides the jug, which is played by buzzing one’s lips about an inch away form the mouth of the jug, jug bands often include spoons, the washboard, washtub bass, kazoo, even guitars made from the necks of discarded guitars attached to bodies made from gourds. The first jug bands came form Louisville and Birmingham, and the Memphis style of jug band became famous, especially before the Great Depression and the near-collapse of the record industry.