20 Facts About Folk Music
- Folk music originated in the 1960s.
- Features instruments such as djembe, drums, banjo, etc.
- Genre of music brought to America by enslaved Africans that were captured and sold during the European Transatlantic Slave Trade.
- Expressed feelings of sadness, joy, frustration, and longing for their true home.
- Originates from negro spirituals.
- Influential in developing genres like jazz and blues.
- Invokes emotional responses.
- Includes multi-rhythmic structures, repetitive choruses, call & response, and a lead singer.
- Many folk singers contained secret messages.
- It’s main instrument, the banjo, originated in Africa.
- Drums played a vital role in sending messages to other slaves.
- Harriet Tubman was known for her folk songs with secret messages to tell slaves how to follow the stars to freedom.
- The queen of American folk music is said to be Odetta Holmes.
- Patting juba was a style of dance perfomed with American folk music.
- The modification of folk music was a result of European acculturation.
- Folk singers like Tracy Chapman and Ninan Simone, have influenced and had strong musical connections to neo-soul singers like India Arie, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu.
- Folk music has travel through the Caribbean.
- Folk music is music that can be passed through generations with traditions of cultural ties.
- It played a vital role in the Civil Rights movement.
- Pours into other genres like gospel, R&B, and hip-hop.
