History of Folk Music in America Essay -- Music History Research paper

History of Folk Music in America Hillbilly music grew out of the rich tradition of British septb totallyads, songs and hymns brought to North America by British settlers andthen adapted to the peculiar circumstances, e.g., biographical names, placenames, frontier concerns, of the North American wilderness. It isimportant to remember that all of the colonies were British, from Maine toGeorgia. The exact ethnic antecedents of the south are difficult to determineand not well documented. The rural south did not attract large numbers ofEuropean immigrants in the great period of immigration (1850-1920)however, it is certain that by 1920 there had been considerableintermingling of a few ethnic groups (English, Welsh, Scottish,Scotch-Irish, German, Czechoslovakian, native Indian and African). Likewise, the ethnic origin of the music of the southern region is complex. There were Irish jigs, English and Scottish ballads and folk songs, hymns,etc. However, as Malone (19854) suggests, the end result of the musical comedymelting rear end was a product more British than anything found in GreatBritain today. The 1790 census report indicates that the population of the UnitedStates was 60.1% English, 14% Scotch-Irish and 3% Irish. These threegroups make up 78% of the total population. The White Anglo-SaxonProtestant core culture dominated all of pre-Revolutionary America. However, for reasons we will examine later, the southern region produced awhite and a black musical tradition which were significantly different fromthe rest of the nation. The British folk ballad is at the heart of the southern musicaltradition. Three outstanding characteristics of the Briti... ...from theMiddle Ages, used a four, five or six note scale which did not fall withintradition study or minor scales. The tunes were almost chants which roseand fell in pitch - usually peaking at the middle of the song and thendiminishing. Instrumentation was usua lly non-existent and, when present,not very important to the song. In the U.S., harmony was much moreimportant. This probably results from the importance of gospel singing. SourcesMalone, Bill C. Country Music USA Fifty grade History. Austin University of Texas Press, 1985.Carr, Patrick (ed). The Illustrated History of Country Music. Garden City Doubleday, 1979.Roebuck, Julian B. and Mark Hickson. The Southern Redneck APhenomenological Class Study. New York Praeger Publishers, 1982.