The Best of Appalachian Folk Music

The Best of Appalachian Folk Music is a blog dedicated to showcasing the best traditional and contemporary folk music from the Appalachian region.

The Origins of Appalachian Folk Music

Appalachian folk music is a genre of North American folk music. It is a form of folk music that developed in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. Appalachian folk music is often characterized by its use of the fiddle, banjo, and acoustic guitar.

The British Isles

The Appalachian Mountains stretch from Newfoundland to Alabama and are home to a wide variety of people. The music of the Appalachian Mountains is just as diverse, with British, Irish, Scottish and African influences all coming together to create a unique and distinctive sound.

The British Isles were the original home of Appalachian folk music, and the traditional songs and ballads that were brought over by early immigrants have remained an important part of the genre. “Barbara Allen,” “The Water Is Wide” and “Wild Mountain Thyme” are just a few of the classic folk songs that can trace their origins back to the British Isles.

The United States

Appalachian folk music is a musical tradition that developed in the Appalachian Mountains region of the United States. It is characterized by a strong sense of melody, fluidity, and improvisation. The genre’s instrumentation typically includes acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, and harmonica. While the Appalachian region is home to many different subgenres of folk music—old-time music, bluegrass, country music—the term “Appalachian folk music” generally refers to a specific style of music that developed in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The term “Appalachian folk music” was first used by American folklorist John Lomax in his book Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads (1910). Lomax defined the genre as “music that has been handed down from one generation to another by word of mouth or memory.” In his view, Appalachian folk music represented a cross-section of American musical traditions, including Anglo-American ballads, African-American spirituals, and Celtic fiddle tunes.

Lomax’s vision of Appalachian folk music as a melting pot of various musical traditions was widely accepted by scholars and Folklorists in the early 20th century. However, this view began to change in the 1950s and 1960s as ethnomusicologists began to study Appalachian folk music in its own right. These scholars argued that Appalachia had its own unique musical traditions that were distinct from other American regional musics.

One of the most important studies of Appalachian folk music was Bernard Meyer’s The Folk Music Revival in the United States (1965). In this book, Meyer argued that there were three main types of Appalachian folk music: ballad singing, fiddle playing, and banjo playing. He also identified several subgenres within these three categories, including lonesome vocals (a type of ballad singing), mountain blues (a type of fiddle playing), and clawhammer banjo (a type of banjo playing).

Meyer’s classification system for Appalachian folk music has been widely influential, and his book remains one of the most important studies of the genre. However, some scholars have criticized Meyer’s approach for being too simplistic and for failing to take into account the complex history of Appalachian music.

Overall, Appalachian folk music is a rich and varied musical tradition with origins in many different cultures. While there is no one definitive history or sound for the genre, it remains an important part of American musical culture.

The Characteristics of Appalachian Folk Music

Appalachian folk music is a genre of music that is native to the Appalachian region of the United States. It is a form of Americana that is rooted in the music of the British Isles, Africa, and Native America. Appalachian folk music is characterized by its use of banjo, fiddle, and acoustic guitar. This type of music is often jug-band music, old-time music, or bluegrass.

Lyrics

Appalachian folk music is characterized by its use of ballad forms, sparse instrumentation, and personal, often tragic, lyrics.

The songs are often about real life events such as love, death, work, and war. Many of the lyrics are also religious in nature, dealing with topics such as sin, redemption, and heaven.

Appalachian folk music is often passed down from generation to generation orally. This is one reason why many of the songs have been able to maintain their traditional feel throughout the years.

The music is also heavily influenced by the region’s Celtic heritage. This is evident in the use of certain instruments such as the fiddle and dulcimer, as well as in the focus on storytelling in many of the lyrics.

If you’re interested in learning more about Appalachian folk music, there are a number of great resources available online and in libraries. This type of music has a rich history and continues to be enjoyed by people all over the world

Instruments

There are many different instruments used in Appalachian folk music, each with its own unique history and sound. The banjo is perhaps the most iconic instrument associated with this type of music, and it has been played in the Appalachian mountains for centuries. Other popular instruments include the fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and dulcimer.

Instrumentation in Appalachian folk music is often very simple, with only one or two instruments being used at a time. This allows the individual melodies of each instrument to be more easily heard and creates a more intimate sound. In some cases, multiple instruments may be played together in a more complex arrangement, but this is relatively rare. The focus is on creating beautiful melodies rather than on producing a loud or complex sound.

Style

Appalachian folk music is a distinctive musical tradition that has its roots in theEnglish, Scottish, and Irish ballads of the British Isles. These songs were brought to the American colonies by immigrants in the eighteenth century, and they quickly began to evolve into new forms. The first major wave of Appalachian folk music came in the late nineteenth century, when groups like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers began recording their songs for commercial release.

Appalachian folk music is characterized by its use of simple melodies, close harmony singing, and a heavy emphasis on rhythm. Instruments typically used in this style of music include guitars, banjos, fiddles, and mandolins. The lyrics of Appalachian folk songs often deal with themes of love, loss, and death, as well as the hardscrabble life of poverty-stricken mountain people.

Appalachian folk music has had a significant impact on American popular culture, influencing artists like Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and Alison Krauss. The genre has also been adapted into other forms such as bluegrass and country music.

The Influence of Appalachian Folk Music

Since the early days of American folk music, the sounds of the Appalachian region have been a major source of inspiration for musicians. The mountain small towns and hamlets of Appalachia have produced some of the most iconic American folk songs, many of which have been handed down through the generations. In recent years, the popularity of Appalachian folk music has surged, and it is now more popular than ever.

Country Music

Appalachian folk music has had a significant influence on the evolution of country music. Although there are many different styles of Appalachian folk music, the most common and widely known is “old-time” music. Old-time music is a genre of Appalachian folk music that developed in the early 20th century. It is characterized by its use of acoustic instruments, simple harmonies, and traditional songs.

One of the most important aspects of old-time music is its vocal style. Rather than belting out the lyrics like in other genres of music, old-time singers generally sing in a soft, nasal voice. This vocal style is believed to have been influenced by the Gaelic singing traditions of Scottish and Irish immigrants who settled in the Appalachian region.

Another important characteristic of old-time music is its use of acoustic instruments. The most common instruments used in old-time bands are banjos, fiddles, and guitars. These instruments are played in a simple, melodic style that often features complex rhythms.

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Bluegrass Music

Though bluegrass music is often associated with the Appalachian Mountains, its roots actually go back to the state of Kentucky. In the 1920s and 1930s, Kentucky fiddlers like Arthur Smith and Clayton McMichen popularized a style of music known as old-time music, which was a blend of Irish, Scottish, and English folk tunes played on fiddle and banjo. This style of music would eventually come to be known as bluegrass, named after Bill Monroe’s band, The Bluegrass Boys.

Monroe is considered to be the founder of bluegrass music, and his band helped to popularize the style in the 1940s and 1950s with their unique sound that featured fast tempos, close harmonies, and intricate instrumental solos. In the 1960s, bluegrass music experienced a resurgence in popularity thanks to bands like The Stanley Brothers and The Dillards, who were featured on the television show The Beverly Hillbillies.

Today, bluegrass music is enjoyed by fans all over the world, and many contemporary musicians have been influenced by its sound. Some of the most popular bluegrass bands today include Alison Krauss & Union Station, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Yonder Mountain String Band.

Rock and Roll

Appalachian folk music has been a major influence on the development of rock and roll. Artists such as Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and the Grateful Dead all drew heavily from the traditional music of the region.

The Appalachian Mountains are home to a large number of different folk traditions, many of which have been passed down for generations. This rich musical heritage has been a major source of inspiration for many popular musicians.

Bob Dylan is one of the most famous examples of an artist who was heavily influenced by Appalachian folk music. Dylan grew up in Minnesota, but he became interested in the music of the region after hearing some recordings by Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was a folk singer who often performed songs about the lives of ordinary people in the Appalachians.

Dylan was so inspired by Guthrie’s music that he decided to travel to the Appalachians to learn more about the tradition. He ended up spending several months living in a remote cabin in Kentucky, where he learned to play a variety of traditional instruments. Dylan later said that this experience was a major influence on his songwriting.

The Byrds were another band that was heavily influenced by Appalachian folk music. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1964, but they became interested in the region after hearing some of Dylan’s early recordings. The Byrds began incorporating elements of Appalachian folk into their own sound, and they had a huge hit with their cover of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

The Grateful Dead were also deeply influenced by Appalachian folk music. The band’s founder, Jerry Garcia, grew up in California but spent summers with his family in Tennessee. Garcia developed an interest in bluegrass and other forms of Appalachian folk music during these summers, and he later said that this experience had a profound impact on his life and work.