FolkArama^TM

So, I've been playing, writing, and teaching about acoustic instruments for decades, especially obscure traditional instruments.

I recently became aware that people appreciate those instruments most when they also know the many of the songs that folks have traditionally performed on the things. And especially when they get a chance to sing and play along with other like-minded folks.

Therefore the purpose of this site will be to highlight opportunities for hands-on learning and fun sing-alongs. I also hope to provide resources to facilitate such events.

True, there are hundreds of "music festivals" where you pay money to see and hear your favorite bands, but never learn anything about music or musical instruments yourself. This page will be focused on "learning by doing." And especially on FUN!

At the moment there aren't many resources listed, but I am contacting folks whose festivals and mini-festivals include events that get folks playing and singing along. There's one example below. I'll probably put them on a separate page eventually.

So stay tuned!

• What is Folk? There are thousands of kinds of Folk traditions, including visual arts, dancing, music, and much, much more. Can you fit in somewhere?

• How To Folk - Tips and tricks to help Folk newbies learn and adapt quickly, not only to Folk music, but to the Folk community, including the following:

• About Folk Music - An index to our resources about Folk Songs and Folk Music in general, including:

  • What are Folk Songs? - A brief overview of several classes of music that have brought joy to millions.

  • What Folk Songs Should I Know or Know About? - a brief primer to the song highlights of the Folk Revival, especially songs that most Boomer musicans know very well but still stand the test of time.

  • Old Timey Song Sheet - a two-page handout with the words and chords for several 2- and 3-chord Folk songs in the keys of G or D.

  • What is Folk Music? - A much-expanded version of our "What are Folk Songs" article, on our CreekDontRise.com site.

  • What Was the Folk Revival? - A look at the rise of the mid-20th-century Folk movement and its effects on other genres, from our CreekDontRise.com site.

• VERY Basic Guitar - a basic understanding of Folk guitar that will help you follow along no matter what instrument you're actually playing. Of course, if it helps you get started playing guitar, that's great, too!

  Topics include:

  • Meet Your Guitar - How to hold your guitar and pick, and some starter tips on tuning.

  • Three Magic Chords - a three-part series to introduce enough easy guitar chords to get you started on learning and playing scores of 2- and 3-chord songs.

  • More Useful Chords - "Next steps" to expand your range and enable you to play even more songs.

  • Barre Chords - The Swiss Army Knife of Guitar - You may not need them much, but you should know how they work at least.

  • About Capos - A necessary tool that can become a crutch if you rely on it too much.

• Folk-Friendly Gatherings - This is an attempt to list music festivals and clinics that focus on acoustic instruments and include learning experiences for beginners. Many of the best are targeted to specific instruments, so read carefully.

Other resources will be listed as we get to them.

Sister Sites

Other sites we started to keep this site from getting too big to be useful include:

• CreekDontRise.com is a repository of articles about Folk music and the instruments on which it has been traditionally played.

  The "Acoustic" page includes a long list of articles including maintenance and playing tips on all sorts of traditional acoustic instruments.

• RiverboatMusic.com is a buyers' guide for acoustic and traditional instrument from a musician's point of view, focusing on the uses, reliability, and practicality of various instruments, and not just the marketing hype about the shape of the fret markers or whatever.

  For instruments like dulcimers that have mostly small manufacturers or cheap imports, we try to tell you what to look for, irrespective of brand.

• Momma Don't 'Low includes a free e-mail newsletter that discusses all of those topics above and more. We plan to include other features as time permits.

  Note - If you wish to sign up for our newsletter and ask a question at the same time, please click on the Momma Don't 'Low newsletter button to learn more and to get a link to our signup form.

• PaulRaceMusic.com is the "landing page" for Paul's own musical endeavors, plus many memoirs and blogs about music and the music business.

• ClassicTrainSongs.com describes railroad songs that every train lover should know. Or at least know about.

• SchoolOfTheRock.com has articles about Christian music, Christian music careers and performance, Christian living in general, and vintage saxophones, another of Paul's interests. This site has separate newsletters, etc., by the way - there isn't a lot of overlap with the Momma Don't 'Low(tm) newsletters.

For information about other music collections and projects, check the links at the bottom of this page.

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race

All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.
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