Folk Music of the United States: Origins and Influences

Folk music is an important part of the musical heritage of the United States. In this blog post, we’ll explore the origins and influences of this genre of music.

Origins

Folk music in the United States has its roots in the music of the English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh immigrants who arrived in the country during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These immigrants brought with them their own folk songs, which they sang in their native languages. Many of these songs were about their homeland, about love, or about religious subjects.

British and Irish influences

The music of the United States reflects the country’s pluri-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. It is a mixture of music influenced by music of the United Kingdom, West African, Irish, Latin American, and mainland European cultures among others. The country’s most internationally renowned genres are jazz, blues, country, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, soul, rap and hip hop, barbershop, pop, experimental and punk.

American musicians have had a profound impact on popular music for more than a century. Among the earliest popular American musicians were the minstrelsy performers such as Joel Walker Sweeney and George Washington Dixon. These performers worked in blackface: they would apply burnt cork to their faces (and sometimes their bodies) and exaggerate their lips in order to look like caricatures of black people.

African influences

African Americans have been singing and playing folk music in the United States since the early 17th century. In the nineteenth century, slaves and former slaves created a new form of music called the blues. The blues combined elements of African and European music, including call-and-response singing, work songs, ballads, and spirituals. The blues was later influenced by jazz, a style of music that developed in New Orleans in the early 20th century.

Other influences

In addition to the British, Irish, and Scottish influences on American folk music, there were also other, more diverse influences. One of these was the music of the African Americans. Although slaves were not allowed to bring their drums with them when they were brought to America, they were able to create other musical instruments, such as the banjo, from materials that were available to them. They also created new styles of singing and dancing. This music was often heard by white Americans who then incorporated some of these elements into their own music.

Other groups who came to America also brought their own musical traditions with them. The Germans, for example, brought with them a love for brass instruments and created brass bands which were popular in many communities. The Italians brought their own form of opera, which influenced American folk music in a number of ways.

Influences

Folk music of the United States is varied and complex. It has been shaped by many different cultures and traditions, including those of Native Americans, European Americans, African Americans, and Latin Americans. Each of these groups has contributed its own unique elements to the music, resulting in a rich and diverse musical tradition.

British and Irish influences

The music of the United Kingdom and Ireland has had a significant impact on the folk music of the United States. The English ballad, brought over by early British settlers, was perhaps the most important influence on American folk music. Other important influences came from the music of Germany and Africa. Irish and Scottish immigrants also brought over their own folk songs, which were adapted to fit the American experience.

One of the most important aspects of British and Irish folk music is the idea of the ballad. A ballad is a narrative song, often detailing a story of love, loss, or adventure. Ballads were originally meant to be performed by traveling musicians, and they were often passed down from generation to generation. Many of the most popular American folk songs are actually ballads that were brought over from Britain and Ireland.

Some other significant influences on American folk music include the music of Germany and Africa. German immigrants brought over their own traditional songs, which were often about love, loss, or religion. African Americans have also contributed greatly to the development of American folk music. African American slave songs often blended elements of European and African musical traditions, creating a unique sound that would later be used in blues and jazz.

African influences

African influences on American music are often thought of in terms of the blues, a form of music that originated in the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, African American music is also deeply rooted in the traditions of West Africa, and its influence can be heard in a wide variety of American music genres, including gospel, jazz, R&B, rock, and hip hop.

The African continent is home to a rich tapestry of musical traditions, and many of these traditions have been passed down through generations of oral tradition. African music is highly rhythmic and is often based around percussion instruments such as drums and shakers. Traditional songs often make use of call-and-response vocals, and harmony is typically not a component of African music.

One of the earliest examples of African influence on American music can be found in the slave songs that were sung by slaves working on plantations in the American South. These songs were often used as a form of communication between slaves, as well as a way to relieve boredom and build morale. Many of these songs were based on traditional African folk melodies, and they often incorporated elements of work songs, spirituals, and field hollers.

The blues is perhaps the most obvious example of African influence on American music. The blues originated in the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was heavily influenced by West African musical traditions. The blues is characterized by its 12-bar structure, its use of blue notes (flattened or “bent” notes that give the genre its name), and its emphasis on improvisation. Many early blues musicians were born in the Mississippi Delta region, which was home to a large population of former slaves.

Gospel music is another genre that has been deeply influenced by African musical traditions. Gospel began to take shape in the early 20th century, when groups like The Fisk Jubilee Singers began popularizing Negro spirituals—religious songs that were originally sung by slaves in the American South. Gospel music is characterized by its energetic rhythms, uplifting lyrics, and devout Christian subject matter. Like the blues, gospel features call-and-response vocals and prominently features piano and organ instrumentation.

Jazz is another genre that owes a debt to African musical traditions. Jazz originated in New Orleans in the late 19th century (although it did not gain widespread popularity until the 1920s), and it draws heavily from West African folk melodies and rhythms. Jazz is characterized by its use of blue notes (flattened or “bent” notes), improvisation, syncopated rhythms, and swing (atypeof rhythmic feel that gives jazz its characteristic “lilt”). Many early jazz musicians were born in New Orleans’ French Quarter—a neighborhood with strong ties to West Africa—and thus were exposed to a varietyof African musical influences from an early age

Other influences

Other important influences on American folk music include the music of African Americans, Irish and Scottish immigrants, English and Welsh migrants, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Ashkenazi Jews. African American folk music consists largely of work songs, spirituals, blues, and reels. This tradition dates back to the 16th century, when African slaves were brought to the Americas by Spanish and Portuguese settlers. English and Welsh migrants brought with them traditions from their home countries, particularly the ballad tradition. Irish and Scottish immigrants introduced various forms of traditional music to the United States, including Celtic dance music, Gaelic laments, sea shanties, and border ballads. The first Ashkenazi Jews arrived in the United States in 1654; they brought with them klezmer music, which remained an integral part of American Jewish culture until the early twentieth century.