.svg)
.svg)
What is folk music?
Folk music is a genre that’s united by its traditional nature and the way it’s passed down through generations, orally or aurally.
This music is in all of us; its ancient history is deep and closely tied to the human experience. From the griots of West Africa to the traditional amateur family bands of the Appalachians, people worldwide have kept folk music alive because of the human desire to share songs with others.
Because international folk music is so broad, this article will hone in on American folk music, colloquially known as “folk” in the United States.
The history of American folk music
The most prominent American folk music of the 17th and 18th centuries had its roots in the folk traditions of England, Scotland, and Ireland, but was modified to fit the new surroundings of the colonies. Alongside Anglo influences in early colonial music, German, French, and other European traditions contributed their own musical styles and harmonic sensibilities. The music brought over by European settlers was also infused with the musical traditions of African slaves, whose expressive forms blended with and adapted European styles—often as a means of preserving cultural identity under oppression.
Folk music has always existed within the DNA of American culture, but experienced a significant revival in the 1960s and has continued to fuse with new emerging styles of music. For most musicologists, the folk revivals of the 1940s and ’50s also represent new chapters in the genre’s evolution.
Folk music is considered “roots music” because it provided the substrate for later genres like rock, jazz, and R&B. The multi-ethnic nature of America is what makes its folk music and subsequent genres so distinct, and is the reason why music has remained such a key cultural export.
Types of traditional American folk music
Country dances
This era of folk songs took many different forms, but were often dances commonly referred to as “jigs” or “country dances.” This style of music has a direct line of relation to the modern square dancing known in country and Western music. Prime examples of this type of social dance music include “Softly Good Tummas” and “Boar’s Head Carol.”
English ballads
Another form of folk song was the ever-present ballad, many of which were originally sung in England but were aurally taught and shared among the early colonists of New England. Examples of this era of Anglo ballads include “Lord Randall” and “The Golden Vanity.”
Southeastern ballads
These English ballads had a strong influence on the ballads that were written in the southeastern colonies, which also incorporated African American influences such as the widespread use of the banjo. These songs usually told of a story or incorporated local folklore, which contributed to the sense of regional musical identity. For example, “Poor Ellen Smith” recounts the murder of Ellen Smith, and the subsequent trial of her murderer.
Spirituals
The institution of slavery decimated the individual tribal identities of the arriving slaves, forever severing families and cultures. Because slave owners typically forbade the performance of traditional African songs, slaves incorporated English country dancing and European harmony into their music, infusing it with the polyrhythms of West African music. These songs took the form of spirituals, work songs, ballads, and blues. One of the more well-known spirituals is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
Work songs
Work songs were very commonly used to pass the time in early colonial history, and each industry had their own style. Sea shanties, often sung on boats or by dockworkers, established a rhythm and helped the workers function as a team. Cowboys also had their own brand of folk music that told the story of the wide-open plains and the difficulty of life on the frontier. The expansion of the railroad also gave rise to a significant number of rhythmic work songs. Other types of work songs were also written by railroad workers, coal miners, textile workers, loggers, and linemen.
Contemporary folk music and the revival of the 1960s
When most people think of folk music, names like Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Woody Guthrie come to mind. While often referred to as contemporary folk musicians, these artists and their peers revived traditional folk music from early colonial history and infused it with ongoing social movements. The folk musicians of the ’60s helped provide a soundtrack to the civil rights movement by harnessing music as a vehicle for peaceful protest.
Subgenres of contemporary folk music
While the folk revival was ended by the British Invasion and the rise of rock music, it continued its fusion with other genres. Some subgenres of contemporary folk include psych folk, anti-folk, neofolk (you can hear this sound via the Ashville Neofolk sample pack), Americana, and folktronica.
Characteristics of American folk music
Storytelling is central to almost all forms of folk music. At its core, folk music is all about sharing our collective human experience through song. Melodies and harmonies are often repurposed to tell a story and provide a sense of familiarity to the new songs being written.
Instruments used in American folk music
Folk music is known for its association with the guitar, but there are several other instruments that have played a role in its rich sonic landscape.
- Mandolin: An eight-stringed instrument in the lute family
- Banjo: A five-stringed instrument with a drum body
- Hammer dulcimer: A zither played with handheld hammers
- Mountain dulcimer: A plucked zither
- Upright bass: An acoustic bass otherwise known as a double bass
- Fiddle: A string instrument otherwise known as a violin
- Accordion: A portable keyboard instrument that has bellows and reeds
- Dobro: A resonant guitar that utilizes a metal cone to amplify its sound
- Harmonica: A wind instrument that has small reeds
What’s the difference between folk music and classical music?
American folk music has its roots in the European harmonic language that was the basis for classical music. Many English country dances took tunes from classical music, but also borrowed from the traditional ballads and tunes sung by all classes in 17th century England. While country dances were often enjoyed in a domestic or communal setting, classical music was played by chamber ensembles or orchestras in a concert hall.
As the tradition of country dancing and ballads was brought to the colonies, the distinctions between American folk and classical music grew. The ballads were being written about the burgeoning colonies, and the instrumentation was being fused with influences from all of the arriving cultures.
What’s the difference between folk music and bluegrass music?
While both folk and bluegrass music are types of roots music, they’re considered to be distinct from each other. Both genres share the same roots in European traditional music and African American spirituals, but bluegrass is a separate offshoot developed in the 1940s that’s more closely related to country music. Both genres share a lot of the same instrumentation, but bluegrass is strictly acoustic.
Check out the Asheville Bluegrass sample pack to hear some authentic Appalachian bluegrass sounds performed in Asheville. As a part of our Asheville, Together series, any downloads of these samples will generate royalties that will aid in the recovery from the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
Hopefully this article gave you a foundation on the history, instruments, and key characteristics of American folk music. What other genres would you like to see us explore next? Start a conversation with us via the Splice Discord.
Explore high-quality and royalty-free folk samples for your own music:
June 23, 2025
