What the heck is "Folk Music" anymore?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by seed_drill, Nov 8, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Travadinho

    Travadinho Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tupelo, MS
    Well, what does the word "folk" mean?

    Folk psychology refers to our ability to predict what other people are thinking and use these predictions to understand human behavior. And we can do this without any formal training; it just seems to come naturally.

    So, maybe folk music has a similar meaning? Maybe it broadly refers to relatively untrained musicians coming together and reading each other, or sort of playing in an improv kind of way. A friend and I would do this. We seemed to be able to just improvise in our jams without having to plan or coordinate what we wanted to play. And it always came off as planned or carefully written, even when we were just goofing around.

    Traditional folk music seems to have this quality. Musicians who never played together (or only played together on occasion) would come together to jam and use subtle cues to signal a time/tempo change etc.

    Maybe I'm rambling and don't know what the hell I'm saying. I did just wake up :righton:
     
  2. ZiggyZipgun

    ZiggyZipgun Camp Counselor

    This could also describe chamber music.
     
    lazydawg58 and action pact like this.
  3. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    Depending on how you define it, a case could be made that Chuck Berry made folk music. The same goes for the Beach Boys, c.1961-1963. Both were expressing the personal experiences of their lives and times, using simple and direct language.
     
  4. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    As an aside, I've recently developed a strong interest in American folk music. I've always liked it, but I've started exploring it a bit more seriously of late, and the Boston-Cambridge area is certainly a good place to hear it performed live.

    I think the event that triggered my interest is the recent purchase of a 1964 Gibson F25 Folksinger guitar. This is an unusual instrument because it has a 2" wide nut and ruler-flat fretboard, like a classical guitar, and is adorned with Spanish-style golpeadores (tap plates). Gibson marketed it as being compatible with either nylon (classical) or metal (folk) strings. The guitar was introduced in 1963 in an attempt to capitalized on the folk music revival that was huge at the time, and as such is a real period piece.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. JumpinJimF

    JumpinJimF Still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

    Location:
    Normal Island
    This is

    [​IMG]
     
    unclefred and lazydawg58 like this.
  6. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    Actually, I'd argue that that isn't. It's Chess wanting Muddy to jump on a bandwagon by recording his songs acoustically. Great blues album, though.
     
    bumbletort likes this.
  7. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Somewhat US-centric this thread?
     
    JoeF. and eelkiller like this.
  8. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    And just to...er...muddy the waters even further...

    [​IMG]
     
  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    The whole idea of folk music seems to have been lost.... The recording of history to pass down through the generations via song seems at least mutated.
    As you say, now folk just seems to mean acoustic song lol
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  10. JumpinJimF

    JumpinJimF Still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

    Location:
    Normal Island
    Yes you're right of course. I should have added the right emoji for mild sarcasm / scepticism to my "this is".

    And it is a great blues album. You're right there.
     
  11. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    Yes, I might be wrong but I think there's a clearer sense over here of what folk music is these days and who's playing it.

    Incidentally, Shirley Collins is at the Roundhouse in January 2019...
     
  12. JumpinJimF

    JumpinJimF Still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

    Location:
    Normal Island
    You mean the definition of folk mutated just like the folk songs themselves have always done over the centuries (Trad. arr. Simon / Trad. arr. Dylan etc)?

    Kinda appropriate isn't it?
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    yea it is. It's just kind of weird that now if someone records an acoustic song or songs, it is instantly labelled folk... I tend to do it myself, and I'm not even sure if it is technically correct
     
  14. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    By any definition you might care to use, the blues is folk music.
     
    JumpinJimF and mark winstanley like this.
  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    traditional blues certainly is
     
    JumpinJimF likes this.
  16. JumpinJimF

    JumpinJimF Still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

    Location:
    Normal Island
    I tend to use "folky" for the more general acoustic stuff you're referring.

    Anyway doesn't the finger have to be inserted into the ear for it to count as proper folk?
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  17. JumpinJimF

    JumpinJimF Still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

    Location:
    Normal Island
    I'm going to contradict myself a bit now by saying that Muddy probably did think of this as his folk music...

    And my "world music" could be your folk music...
     
  18. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I honestly don't know mate ... I'm sort of just speculating. It's an interesting topic
     
    JumpinJimF likes this.
  19. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    And Gospel too.

    The track listing of Harry Smith's marvellous and influential Anthology of American Fold Music cuts across all forms of traditional music.

    Harry Smith - Anthology Of American Folk Music
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    i have it at home, great set
     
  21. lucan_g

    lucan_g Forum Resident

    Let me give a shoutout to Rob Young’s book “Electric Eden”. For anyone interested in the British Folk Revival... pretty scholarly and interesting read. I’m midway through...
     
    JoeF. likes this.
  22. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    Folk music isn't a particular sound or instrument. It is
    I would contend that when the music moves away from the community and becomes more of a product for mass consumption it is no longer folk music but rather some genre grounded in the folk tradition. When neighbors gather at the country store or city coffee shop and play for fun it’s folk music whether they are playing Key to the Highway or Cripple Creek. When some of those same musicians organize formally and start booking shows at the local bar and grill or music festival they are a blues band or a bluegrass band or whatever.

    I think it’s not so much about the sound that comes out but more the setting and intent of the performance.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  23. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    Muddy began his career in the '40s playing acoustic folk blues, so the genre was not alien to him. But it is quite obvious that Chess was attempting to capitalize on the folk music craze by having him abandon his electric guitar on this album. Fortunately, the results were stunningly good.
     
  24. Dr. Robert

    Dr. Robert Forum Reconstructor

    Location:
    Curitiba, Brazil
    Pretentious white New York teens playing acoustic guitars. Any more questions?
     
    JoeF. likes this.
  25. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    I've been lately revisiting these two excellent LP box sets:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    This is also pretty stellar:

    [​IMG]
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine