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About Folk MusicThis is part of the "How To Folk" series of articles. In an effort to "jump start" your enjoyment of Folk music (and maybe reduce culture shock), we have provided a brief introduction to the kinds of songs and songwriters that embody "Folk" for most people interested in such things. . A century ago, "Folk music" was mostly defined as music whose authorship is unknown, that is passed down from generation to generation, and performed mostly by amateurs as part of their cultural expression. But in the mid-20th century, some of that music got on the radio and inspired a bunch of musicians to write and share music inspired by those old songs, in what became known as the "Folk Revival." This broadened the definition significantly, which upset some "purists." But this wave of creativity affected most popular music genres for the next two decades, so it's impact spread well beyond the "movement" itself. In its most basic form, Folk music is about:
If you think there ought to be more to it than that, the following articles may help you catch up faster:
ConclusionThis is just an overview of the kinds of songs and - to some extent - people you're likely to encounter if you begin dabbling in Folk music. To people outside of the community, we may seem to be working with self-imposed limitations, or stuck in the distant past. But if you listen to a sampling of the songs I've listed above, you'll realize that there is incredible variety and depth to the genre. And room for all sorts of creativity.Wherever you are in your journey, welcome aboard. *The traditional spiritual "Wait On the Water" was related to a popular superstition reported in John 5:4 that an angel would occasionally stir up the water in the Pool of Bethesda, and whoever plunged into the water first would be healed. In Pentecostal circles, this was taken as a metaphor. "Wait on the Water" meant, essentially, "Be ready to exercise faith when you sense that the Spirit is moving." As the song aged, its connection to John 5:4 was forgotten, and "Wait on" became "Wade in." Sister SitesOther sites we started to keep this site from getting too big to be useful include:
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! All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about this page or this site, please contact us.
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