Essays on Folk Music

A soft voice hums a tune of endless words as gentle strumming fills the air. Drifting many a mind to calmness and peace. In the great dance hall, ragtime shuffles and bluesy stomps pound the beat. In a time not far, masses of people gather at the National Mall and sing a song for equality…

Folk music as defined by Merriam Webster is the traditional music of the people in a country or region. When people think about the music of Spain, most often flamenco comes to mind.  For a country that has been occupied since prehistoric times, the history of its music is much deeper than flamenco, which only…

The poem “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie is originally a seven stanza poem that is often cut short in the recorded versions known to many. The poem’s main element is imagery of America’s landmarks to exorcise an emotion out of the reader. The first four stanzas have a much more celebratory tone…

Folk music originated from many cultures around the world. Each culture adopted rhythms and beats from family and cultural rituals. The family of string instruments applied the music with common harmonies. Other variations of instruments, from homemade to daily items were used in addition to create a more original beat. The region of Great Britain,…

I think folk music is good because it represents one of the things that is characteristic for the Balkan, and I mean all the Balkan countries, and especially for Serbia. Many say we are still nothing but peasants, but I think that is not true. Because, just as they did, I can call all the…

A “punctuated equilibrium” is a term used by biologists in reference to a “theory that claims that evolutionary change in the fossil record came in fits and starts rather than in a steady process of slow change” (“punctuated equilibrium”). The origin of Irish music seems to have occurred in a similar fashion. Music in general…

Storytelling is every bit old as address. Once upon a clip, everyone was a narrator. To contend ennui and maintain themselves company, these early narrators chanted as they worked, stating the narrative of what they were making. Then “ I ” narratives became narrations affecting other people and the elements, and narrators told narratives of…