Folk music is a genre of music that includes both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. It is a term used to describe all sorts of musical, oral, and cultural traditions from specific regions and societies around the world. Folk music is often thought of as being the music belonging to "the people" and has been historically used as a reflective term to distinguish certain types of music from those associated with institutions such as royal courts, the church, or Western classical music.
Some key characteristics of traditional folk music include:
- It is transmitted orally, rather than via a written score.
- The original composer is often unknown, and the tune and/or words spread organically.
- The music is played on traditional instruments.
- It may have themes of cultural or national identity.
- Its often functional, meaning that it is associated with other activities – for example, a particular song may be sung at harvest time.
- It has changed between generations (folk process) .
Folk music depends upon the culture from which it derives, and there are many different genres of folk music. American folk music, for example, is often associated with music from rural communities in the Appalachian Mountains composed of the descendants of immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and England.
In summary, folk music is a genre of music that includes traditional and contemporary folk music from around the world. It is often associated with "the people" and has key characteristics such as being transmitted orally, played on traditional instruments, and having themes of cultural or national identity.
