1. What is it? Where did it come from?
What can we learn from this type of music?

2. Folk music is music created and performed by
common people (not the rich) and passed down from
generation to generation.

3. Folk music is found in every culture and is created by
the common people of that culture. Since every
culture is a little different, there are many types of
folk music.
Indian Folk
 Musicians
Chinese Folk
Musicians 
How are all types of folk music the same?

4. When immigrants came to America, they sang the
songs of their previous cultures. Their previous
culture was a part of their identity and helped them
remember their past.
Folk songs are rarely ever written down. Instead,
people share them to one another orally (by singing).
Because these songs aren’t written down, they change
over time (words may change; melodies may lengthen
or shorten; two or more songs may be mashed
together).

5. Because folk music was created by the common
person, any instrument s/he owned could be used.
The more popular instruments include:
 Guitar
 Double Bass
 Fiddle
 Banjo
 Mandolin
 Dulcimer
 Harp

6. When slaves had no instruments, they made music
with their voices.
Other musicians create their own instruments out of
what they found around the house. These groups
were called Jug Bands.
 From the movie
“Emmet Otter’s Jug
Band Christmas”

7. In America, there are a few types of folk songs we find
again and again. The first is a ballad.
 A ballad is a song that tells a story, often times about
real events.
Another type of folk song is the spiritual.
 A spiritual is a song that deals with religion.
 African-Americans sang many spirituals . . . some were
about their beliefs and others were about escaping
slavery and finding freedom.

8. In additional to ballads and spirituals, many types of
folk songs deal with activities or situations:
These are some (not all)
 Work songs
 Prison songs
 War songs
 Songs for children
 Dances (Reels, Square Dances)

9. Famous Folk Musicians
Stephen Foster – known as “the
father of American Music”. He wrote
many popular songs from the 1840s to
the 1860s. He wrote Oh Susanna!
Woody Guthrie – folk songwriter who
wrote ballads about his life during the
Dust Bowl and the Great Depression
(1930s). He wrote This Land Is Your
Land.
Bob Dylan – One of the most famous
folk/rock singers of the 1960s who is
known for writing very intelligent
lyrics.

10. Famous Folk Musicians
Stephen Foster – known as “the
father of American Music”. He wrote
many popular songs from the 1840s to
the 1860s. He wrote Oh Susanna!
Woody Guthrie – folk songwriter who
wrote ballads about his life during the
Dust Bowl and the Great Depression
(1930s). He wrote This Land Is Your
Land.
Bob Dylan – One of the most famous
folk/rock singers of the 1960s who is
known for writing very intelligent
lyrics.