A. What is “folk music?”
- Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people.
- Folk music arose, and best survives, in societies not yet affected by mass communication and the commercialization of culture. It normally was shared by the entire community (and its performance not strictly limited to a special class of expert performers), and was transmitted by word of mouth.
- Folk music seems to reflect a universal impulse of humanity. No fieldwork expedition by cultural anthropologists has yet discovered a pre-industrial people that did not have its own folk music. It seems safe to infer that folk music was a property of all people starting from the dawn of the species.
- Gene Shay, co-founder and host of the Philadelphia Folk Festival, defined folk music in an April 2003 interview by saying: “In the strictest sense, it's music that is rarely written for profit. It is music that has endured and been passed down by oral tradition. [...] And folk music is participatory—you don't have to be a great musician to be a folk singer. [...] And finally, it brings a sense of community. It's the people's music.”
- American folk music, also known as Americana, is a broad category of music including country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Tejano and Cajun and Native American music.
- The music is considered "American" because it is either native to the United States or there varied enough from its origins that it struck musicologists as something distinctly new; it is considered "roots music" because it served as the basis of music later developed in the United States, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.
C. Let’s learn about Yankee Doodle
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today (although originally satirical). It is the state anthem of Connecticut.
The first verse and refrain, as most frequently sung today, run thus:
Yankee Doodle went to town,
Riding on a pony;
Stuck a feather in his hat,
And called it macaroni.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy;
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy!
- British military officers to sang this song to mock the disheveled, unorganized colonial “Yankees” with whom they served in the French and Indian War prior to the Revolutionary War.
- At the time, the most common meaning of the word doodle was "simpleton" or "fool".
- During the Revolutionary War, the Americans embraced the song and made it their own, turning it back on those who had used it to mock them.
- The tune has become synonymous with the United States.
D. Let’s play Yankee Doodle.
- This song is in 4/4 and is in the key of G major, meaning 1 sharp (F#).
- This song should be played vigorously and with full, strong bows and a big sound.
- You should practice slowly but then aim to speed this song up to a very quick tempo.
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