Are Spirituals America’s Original Folk Music?
When we talk about “folk music,” we often picture ballads from the Appalachian mountains or fiddlers at a barn dance. But another, deeply American tradition deserves equal recognition: the spiritual. Born from the experiences of enslaved African Americans, spirituals are some of the earliest and most distinctively American folk songs. They carry the weight of…
Frailing, Clawhammer and the like…
The act of playing banjo with downward strikes and upwards thumb plucks, creating a “bum-ditty” sound, has been described to me as “clawhammer.” However, the term “frailing” is also used, seemingly to describe the same method of playing. So, what’s the difference? Well, the difference, it turns out, is extremely minute and semantic, and the…
Instruments: The Jaw Harp (aka, Munnharpe, Ozark Harp, or Jew’s Harp).
The jaw harp is an ancient instrument, dating back at least 1,700 years, known worldwide by over 1,100 names, playing an important role in many cultures and deeply influencing American folk music traditions in Appalachia during the 1800s. Origins and Cultural Reach The jaw harp, also called the mouth harp, is one of the oldest…
Unexpected Similarities Between Jazz and Bluegrass
Throughout high school, I have had the fortune to learn about a wide range of music. Though I started off classical, I have been exposed to bluegrass, jazz, marching, pep, rock, and many other bands. However, the two that have stuck with me the most were jazz and bluegrass. Though the genres seem completely…
Homemade American Percussion
Something I’ve noticed about American music is that, as a genre becomes more and more popular, the instrumentation becomes more standardized and rigid. One example is bluegrass bands; why exactly are the banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and bass considered to be the only bluegrass instruments? Why that combination, and not other instruments like drums? This…
Historical Contributions to Bluegrass Music
The history of bluegrass music, while often associated with white Southerners and the Appalachian region, has a more complex and debated origin story. The core debate: The central point of contention lies in the extent to which African American musical traditions influenced and shaped bluegrass, as opposed to solely attributing its development to the European…
Bluegrass, Banjos, and Banter 