By Stas Juras, Nicholas La Duca, Nathan Mcmillan

and Max Soto

 No nameable origin date, but was inspired by
early American settlers.
 Has been the music of the working class.
 Is a fusion of British white folk music and African
American folk music.
 Folk music gains in popularity during difficult
times (the 1930s, 1960s, 1970s)
Examples of American Folk Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFj8uDubsE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO39e5Uznu4

Photo Credit:
https://tidal.com/browse/albu
m/9808218
 American Folk Music is the music that represent the
middle class.
 Songs of this genre often reflect what is going on
during the time.
 The purpose of these songs is that they have helped
convey a message to the masses with their lyricism
regarding war, civil rights, economic hardship, and a
new generations culture.

Photo Credit:
https://www.tallahasseearts.org
/event/american-folk-music-
lifelong-learning-class/
 Banjo, Harmonica, Jug, Fiddle, and Guitar

 These instruments are fairly common to the genre

Photo Credit:
http://www.jtmoring.com/
geminijunction.html
 Although every song in this genre is not the same, there are some similarities
in mechanics for these songs that help define them as “folky”.
 Lento or Moderato tempo and a Mezzo-Piano dynamic are some of the
mechanics that are common in this genre.
 The voices of these artists are usually rough or scratchy and not considered to
be very great.
 Some of the sub genres of American Folk Music are Narrative ballads, Lyric
songs, Work songs, Children’s songs, Protest songs, Rally songs.

Photo Credit:
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-
history-of-american-folk-music-
1322572
 Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Pete
Seeger, and Joan Baez are some of the
most famous singers of this genre.
 This Land is Your Land, If I Had a
Hammer, and The Times They Are A-
Changin are some of the most popular
compositions of this genre.

Photo Credit:
https://www.nytimes.com
/2014/01/29/arts/music/p
ete-seeger-songwriter-
and-champion-of-folk-
music-dies-at-94.html
 This genre often had a relationship to
religion due to its spiritual and gospel lyrics
and the gatherings that took place in church
where people would perform.
 Folk Festivals have been around in the
United States where people can go and
dance.

Photo Credit:
http://www.americanheritag
emusic.com/anthology-of-
american-folk-music-
volume-2-social-music/
  Started around the 1920s
 Gained in popularity in the 1930s by
the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers
 Hollywood Westerns helped the
music gain traction with the
mainstream during the 1940s
 During the 1950s and 1960s country
music began fusing with other genres
in order to increase the sales of their
music which led to our current country
music which is a mix of country and
pop or country and rock
Examples of Country Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIBm
GZxAhg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xObSJ
WIWui0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY
6JdUw

Photo Credit:
https://www.94country.com/whats
-the-saddest-country-music-song/
PURPOSE OF COUNTRY MUSIC IN
SOCIETY
 It is embedded in American culture as it is the music genre that is thought of when people from abroad are asked to
think about American culture.
 Has helped popularize southern sound and style in society.

 Impacted Hollywood as its music was embedded with the popularity of “Westerns”.

Photo Credit:
https://amac.us/refr
eshingly-country-
music-awards-
ignores-politics-
stays-positive/
 As country music has evolved over time and mixed with pop,
rock, and other genres there has been an increase of
instruments that are used in this genre.
 During the early years of Country music, the instruments
that were commonly used were Acoustic Guitar, Fiddle, Banjo,
Mandolin, and Autoharp.

Photo Credit:
https://bonfirethoughts.com/red-dirt-
country-music-the-rapidly-growing-
subgenre-477b9d3add0f
MECHANICS OF
COUNTRY MUSIC
 The tempo varies in this genre as there are
songs with an adagio tempo and then songs with a
presto tempo especially with the new generation of
country music.
 Major scales and Blues scales are popular in this
genre.
 The dynamic varies in this genre with a piano
dynamic in some and a forte dynamic in others.
 The voices of the singers usually have a southern
drawl with some yodeling in the songs, however
that has changed over time with female singers
becoming very popular in this genre and yodeling
has disappeared.

Photo Credit:
https://979kickfm.com/what-is-
country-music-today/
 Jimmie Rodger, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks,
and Carrie Underwood are some of the most
popular composers of this genre
 Ring of Fire, Friends in Low Places, and Love
Story are some of the most popular compositions
in this genre

Photo Credit:
https://www.rollingstone.com/mu
sic/music-country/cash-family-
sickened-by-charlottesville-neo-
nazi-in-johnny-cash-shirt-202243/
 Line Dancing and Square Dancing
are some of the popular dance
activities where country music is
played.
 Religion is often talked about in the
lyrics with god and churches being
mentioned in many of the songs

Photo Credit:
https://www.logomaker.com
/blog/2018/07/13/country-
music-band-logos-telling-a-
story/
 https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-american-folk-music-1322572
 https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/music-country.htm
 https://spinditty.com/genres/Folk-Music-and-American-Culture
 https://www.guitarcontrol.com/country/country-guitar-scales
 https://www.thoughtco.com/folk-music-vs-country-music-1322388