Folk Music – Ava Malloy – Black Music Scholar

Folk music originated in the 1600s and features the uses of instruments like the banjo, fiddle, drums, rhythm bones, and the djembe. Other forms of folk music can made by using just one’s body in motion similar to ham-boning known as patting juba. Elements of folk music have been adopted by artists like Tracy Chapman in an effort to promote social activism within the Black community. Folk music was used to inspire the Black community because it is derived from the Negro spirituals which were integral to the lives of slaves. Folk music serves as a means of remembrance of the sufferings and hope of our ancestors.