Folk music is a music genre comprising traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that grew out of it during the twentieth-century folk revival, with some of its forms also described as world music. Traditional folk music has been defined variously as music transmitted orally, music of unknown composers, music played on traditional instruments, music tied to cultural or national identity, music that changes across generations, music associated with a people's folklore, or music performed by long-standing custom, and it is generally contrasted with commercial and classical styles; the term itself dates to the nineteenth century even though the music it names is older.
Facts
MediumMusic genre encompassing traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from it during the 20th-century folk revival. 1 Signature TechniqueOral transmission by musicians with unknown composers, played on traditional instruments and changed between generations by custom. 1 Notable ExampleWaltzing Matilda, called the unofficial national anthem of Australia. 1 Disputed
Place of OriginNo single point of origin; the English term entered use via the German Volk, applied to national and traditional song by Johann Gottfried Herder and the German Romantics. 1 Traditional folk music has no single point of origin across world cultures; only the English term itself has a traceable origin. Connections
Associated With
Blues, Art Forms Blues and Folk Music are closely related roots-music traditions, both emerging from oral, community-based vernacular practice rather than formal composition.
Influenced
Béla Bartók, Artists Bela Bartoks fieldwork collecting and transcribing Hungarian, Romanian and other Eastern European folk music directly shaped the melodic and rhythmic language of his own compositions.
Sources
1. Folk Music (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead section, Folk music
as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, music that is played on traditional instruments, music about cultural or national identity, music that changes between generations
Definition subsection, Folk music
The term further derives from the German expression Volk, in the sense of "the people as a whole" as applied to popular and national music by Johann Gottfried Herder and the German Romantics over half a century earlier.
Oceania subsection, Folk music
The most famous bush ballad is "Waltzing Matilda", which has been called "the unofficial national anthem of Australia".
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