Folk music originated as music created and shared orally by common people within a culture. It reflects each culture but also shares similarities across cultures as folk music is passed down through generations. Key characteristics include being shared orally rather than written, gradual changes over time, and use of available local instruments. Common types of American folk songs are ballads that tell stories, spirituals about religion or freedom, and songs associated with work, children, dances, and other activities.

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.