Folk Music Revival 

Folk Music: "Acoustic instruments that can be heard by everybody within earshot, a certain musical simplicity, and accessible, thoughtful, understandable lyrics are the most commonly quoted reasons for interest in contemporary folk music" (Slobin 110)
I completely love this quote. I choose to pick it because it shows the way folk music is perceived to people. When you hear a song, you can hear the simplicity and thoughtfulness of it. I believe that all folk music is very much like what is said in this quote.

Slobin goes into what he calls the System: "a dense layer of  'official' transnational organizations that have increasing influence." (Slobin 112) The two major ones are UNESCO and WIPO which are made up of bureaucrats and lawyers. They both protect and save traditional music. UNESCO has a big question they ask themselves: who is "the community"? These groups are good because they are the ones that will help keep folk music alive and well. 

Slobin believes that no matter what, through the System, circuit, or tourist, folk music will be very alive "across space and time." (Slobin 123) 

Folk Boom: 

He believes that the redirection of folk music was partly the result of the blacklist. The people that were cutoff began teaching their songs to kids. By teaching the kids, it made it possible for the music to continue and formed the second folk music revival. This revival was a big balancing act between tradition and popularity. 

FOLK MUSIC REVIVAL

"A folk revival refers to the interest of singers and musicians form outside of a regional, racial, or ethnic group in perpetuating its traditional music." (Lornell 281) 

People involved with the folk revival belong to two separate groups

1. Rural, southern folk musicians 

2. Reworkers and revisers

Red Roots

The early 1960s folk revival, another retrospective. This is one of the popular excursions into our American roots. 

The Mass Media And Popular Culture

The British Invasion brought over groups like The Beatles. The radio was a big media contribution which most quickly changed forces in America. In 1956, Elvis Presley come into the American culture. 

The 1960s Folk Revival 

Younger people became in demand among the general. 

The Blues Room

The African American blues cam into play. Only existed through the support of white Americans. 

"Music channels strong sentiments, thus circulating into many kinds of movements, conservative and progressive, religious and radical, or even a combination of more than one motivation." (Slobin 87)

BLUES

The Language and Poetry of the Blues:
Most of the greatest artists form the blues are capable of composing original songs. Artist have no problem reworking each others phrases. Violence and sex are common themes for blues. Blues audiences wanted lyrics that reflected there experiences. 
Blues has a lot of history.The blues has deep roots in American history, particularly African-American history. The blues originated on Southern plantations int eh 19th Century. Blues sub-genres include country blues, such as Delta, Piedmont and Texas blues, and urban blues styles such as Chicago and West Coast Blues. The lyrics of early traditional blues verses probably often consisted of a single line repeated four times. And usually in twelve-bar. 

Blues

Background: First fifty years, Blues was primarily black popular music. Come from poor backgrounds. In the 1960s, the Blues changed to the world of whites an international listeners, and the last forty years, the style was played for a white audience.

The World That Johnson Knew: Blues came from the property and oppression. Twelve-bar blues is the common way songs are composed. He explains that he writes this book is to try to look at the blues scene from the inside, as it evolved. For almost fifty years, blues history has been filtered through the prism of rock 'n' roll. Many of its fruitful branches had roots that came from Chicago and New York, and later in Los Angeles. This reading is very opinionated and he really believes in what he is saying. He listened to a lot of blues and read a lot of stuff to back up what he has to say.

Deep Blue: This book may be too scholarly but he provides an oral history of the blues by those who created blues. Palmer tells the story of the Delta blues through the lives of the artists. He gets into the who, what, when, where, and why the blues, but most importantly, the human story behind the music. He follows what Johnson knew by saying that the blues is the sound of poverty, oppression, and heartache. Palmer referred to it as music created by not just black people but by the poorest most marginal black people. The people who couldn't read and write.

Five Themes In The Study Of Caribbean Music

1. UNITY AND DIVERSITY 

The Caribbean Music is culturally and politically divided by four things, geography, language, political dominion, and ethnicity. 

2. RACE AND ETHNICITY

Song texts chronicle and articulate popular attitudes. 

3. MUSIC, SEX, SEXISM

Music relates the perennial themes of love, betrayal, and loss. 

4.CARIBBEAN MUSIC INTERNATIONAL 

Caribbean music migrated to all over the world.

5. MUSIC AND POLITICS

Music helped serve some sort of escape from adversity to the people. 

Caribbean music has always been interesting to me. Growing up me family always went on cruises around the Caribbean and we witnessed such great diversity of music. One of my favorite types of music is the reggae type because its just flows so nicely and the way the singers portray what they are saying through song. Caribbean music will always bring me back to the good days on vacation with no worries or stresses. The five themes really go well with the culture. The way that the people sing about diversity is so true because I always witnessed poor Jamaicans singing on the roads and they always seem to like what they are doing. The music is very spread out around the world. With such big icons such as Bob Marley, who show the world what the Caribbean music is really about. 

Fieldwork In Twenty-First-Century America

Libby Sarkis 

March 4th 2014

Professor Bishop 

       "This chapter encourages and helps you to prepare you to explore the musical world around you with an open, more informed ear and mind"

Communities is the first example they use to show how different types of communities represent such a musical phenomena. I agree with the book, when it says that families have a sense of community any how music is passed down and such. Both religious affiliations and commercial enterprises contain musical communities. 

Lornell chapter 3: Fieldwork In Twenty-First-Century America is going to help me write my interview essay. The chapter helps you to accomplish fieldwork. For example, the key steps to follow to have a successful fieldwork is to first, select a subject. Second, Focus on your topic. Third, Research and listen to related materials. Fourth, is to prepare questions for your interview. Fifth, is to communicate your intent. The last step is to interview attentively. Some questions I might ask someone would be

How long have you been involved in this activity?

From whom did you learn?

Where have you traveled to perform your music?

Was this tradition within your family?

Who first exposed you to this type of music?

What role have books or the mass media played on your learning of music

Who else do you know that I should talk to about this?

Appalachian Ballads

      

After researching Appalachian ballads I found that the immigrants from English, Ireland, and Scotland came to the Appalachian and brought with them the musical traditions of there countries. The traditions consist of unaccompanied narratives and dance music. One of the most popular iconic symbol of the Appalachian culture was the bang, which was brought over to the region by African-American slaves in the 18th century. One section that stood out the most in Sharps English Folk Songs was the part where the author says that no two singers sang the same song the same, and may be interpreted in two ways. Sharp goes into the difference between a ballad and a song. The ballad is a narrative song. Also have more history behind them. The song on the other hand is way more emotional and passionate.