what are folk songs

Folk songs are traditional pieces of music that originate among the people of a country or area, passed down through oral tradition from one singer or generation to the next. They are typically associated with rural origins and are learned through hearing rather than reading, living in oral tradition and being functional in the sense that they are associated with other activities. Folk songs often tell stories about specific events and contain information about a cultures history. They are important because they reflect the experiences, emotions, and traditions of a particular group of people, and they are sung by the people rather than by professional musicians. Folk songs can also be contemporary, with a genre that became popular in the 20th century and continues to be written to this day.