The term folk music is used to describe various music genres, most of which are traditional and were passed on from generation to generation. Some of these are originally from Europe, from Great Britain in particular. American music is that which is not related to music of other origin. This is roots music from which rock, jazz and blues evolved. Music of indigenous peoples is also American folk music.
There the relationship between folk music and its American cultural heritage as an element of the country’s identity. There were different genres such as: spiritual music, blues, jazz and music of black people from the South. “The confluence of these myriad cultural trends in the early 1930s prompted composer Gershwin and librettist Heyward to append the term folk to the subtitle of their opera, Porgy and Bess” (Allen 244).
Spiritual music was related to African rituals and this kind of music has a pattern of questions and answers. The text is from the Bible and there is non-verbal communication involved in its practice as well. There are also cowboy songs which come from the West and were sung by cowboys. Some of them are originally from Europe and evolved in America. Roots music is different than folk music because it is related to jazz, rhythm and blues and country music. From the 1950s pop music began to evolve from roots and folk music.
American folk music usually means country music, jazz and blues: “Gershwin’s swing from jazz to folk was undoubtedly influenced by various cultural currents of the period that championed indigenous American art” (Allen 248). Therefore, the term folk music encompasses everything that was created in America and has a specific significance related to this country and the people who shaped this music.
Indians were famous for music and used it for religious purposes and for the sake of their festivals. “In the belief of New England Puritan Colonials, singing and chanting, indeed, music as a means of communication, was used for the praise of God only” (Dame and Rousseau 72). Everything else was considered as heresy and people who used music for other purposed would suffer great consequences. Indians regarded music in a romantic way as a means that allowed them to enter the spiritual world.
America has diverse communities and there was always a close relationship between music and communities while religion was important as well. African Americans were using music for religious purposes and there was Gospel music as well. However, roots music is about the experience of people and the importance of their race and gender as well as of their socioeconomic status. Music is the way through which all of these cultural elements could be seen.
American folk music was shaped through history and it is the proof of cultural diversity because many different races and cultures made their contribution in creating modern folk music in America. Even rock and pop music are derived from folk music which was originally related to rhythm and blues, jazz, country and religious music. Folk music represents all of the people who live in America because it reflects the past and all of the struggle that the people survived. Today, folk music is a national cultural heritage and it does not matter where it is originally from as long as its distinct features were shaped on the American soil by American people of different races.
Works Cited
Allen, Ray. "An American Folk Opera? Triangulating Folkness, Blackness, and Americaness in Gershwin and Heyward's "Porgy and Bess"." The Journal of American Folklore 117.465 (2004): 243-61. Print.
Dame, Frederick W., and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. "Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Spirit of Romanticism in American Colonial (Folk) Music: Immanence and Influence." Lied und populäre Kultur / Song and Popular Culture 46 (2001): 71-116. Print
