How to Appreciate Folk Music

Each genre of music creates different feelings and emotions in the listener based on the composition and sounds of each individual creation. Learning to appreciate non-mainstream music, like folk music, exposes a music listener to artists that play an undefined array of excellent music and express freedom of speech with their song writing abilities.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet
• FM Radio
• Movie or soundtrack of "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
• Percussion instruments
• Songs by Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez or Bob Dylan

1. Listen to Internet folk radio that plays a blend of folk music styles from around the world, such as Folk Alley or Grassy Hill Radio.

2. Attend one of the many folk music festivals held throughout the country. Many major cities, including Chicago, Albuquerque, Philadelphia and Anchorage, hold annual folk music festivals during summer.

3. Choose a smaller festival venue to attend such as the Great Blue Heron Music Festival or the Falcon Ridge Music Festival in the east, which are great for the entire family.

4. Learn about the instruments used to play traditional folk music: the banjo, mandolin, fiddle or dulcimer. Early instruments were often hand made using locally available materials.

5. Rent the movie "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and listen to the soundtrack that inspired many new listeners of traditional folk music.

6. Watch your local arts publication for folk music performances at nearby coffee houses, colleges and town squares. Take a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy a relaxing evening listening to the local talented folk performers.

7. Tune in to a favorite National Public Radio station and listen to their folk music programming. Many stations play Celtic music, which is the Irish form of folk.

8. Participate in folk music by grabbing a drum, maracas, spoons, jug or rub board and playing a beat with the rest of the band. Ordinary people play folk music who enjoy the camaraderie and good time of creating "music of the moment" and helping others appreciate the musical experience.

9. Catch a performance of "A Prairie Home Companion" on National Public Radio or online. This old-fashioned radio show plays folk music with a political or satirical twist along with other skits and performances intended for some good belly laughs.

10. Listen to the songs of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, artists who revived folk music in the 50s and 60s with lyrics of injustice, political uprising and world peace.

11. Get up and dance to the many sounds of folk music. Folk music inspires freestyle, two-step and other cultural styles of movement that generate a universal feeling of love and peace throughout the crowd.

Tips & Warnings

• Folk music comes in many different styles—traditional, Appalachian, Adirondack, Celtic, world and roots. Most countries of the world have their own form of folk music.

Resources

• Listen online at Folk Alley
• Listen to streaming radio at grassyhill.org
• Listen to the radio show A Prairie Home Companion
• Find the local National Public Radio station
• Find a music festival