WHAT IS BLUEGRASS AND FOLK MUSIC ?

The original meaning of the term "Folk music" is: any form of music that is traditional to a particular country or region. Folk music, in the most basic sense of the term, is music performed by and for the common people

One form of such traditional music in America is BLUEGRASS music or what is more commonly called "American Roots" music. This form had its beginnings in the Appalachian Mountains among Scottish and Irish Immigrants who fashioned handmade instruments and a style of playing that sounded similar to the music of their native lands. The wail of the violin, called a fiddle in the Bluegrass genere, mimics the bagpipe, and in the beat of the banjo you can hear the footsteps of many feet performing the traditional stepdance or what is called "Riverdance" movements. Due to it's origins in the Mountains the Bluegrass sound is sometimes referred to as "Hillbilly" music.

In bluegrass and folk, each instrument and or vocalist takes a turn playing or singing the melody or lead and improvising around it, while the others provide backup and harmony; this is in contrast to other forms of music in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide the accompanimenmt. Bluegrass and Folk are distinctively acoustic, rarely using electric instruments, which is a distinct departure from mainstream Country or Pop music. Debate rages among traditional musicians, fans, and scholars over what instrumentation constitutes a bluegrass band.

The term bluegrass originated with Bill Monroe's band which came from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky, where his band was called "The Blue Grass Boys". Many consider the instruments used in his band as the true traditional bluegrass instruments. There was a mandolin (played by Monroe), a fiddle, guitar, banjo and an upright bass.

At times Bluegrass musicians may perform gospel songs, singing four-part harmony without instrumentation. Bluegrass bands have however included instruments as diverse as the accordion, harmonica, Jew's harp, piano, drums, and even an electric bass guitar and even electric versions of all other common bluegrass instruments, though these are considered to be more progressive and are a departure from the traditional bluegrass style.

FOLK music like Bluegrass primarily uses acoustic instrments such as the guitar, banjo and fiddle and harmonic voices; although flutes, tambourines, tom tom drums and bells have also become popular with folk artists.

In American culture today, folk music refers to the, music performed by such musicians as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, who popularized and encouraged the lyrical style in the 1950s and 1960s. According to Webster's dictionary, folk music is the "traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of the people in a community". People play and sing together rather than watching others perform. Folk songs are commonly seen as songs that express something about a way of life that exists now or in the past, or that is about to disappear. They can take the form of stories, ballads, or of protest.

Both Folk and Bluegrass music are easily identified with the ordinary working people who created them, and each preserves treasured memories of one's life. When viewed in a political sense, such music can be considered a statement of the goals, hopes and dreams of a nation and a people.

When you tune-in WHAW 980-AM you'll hear the best of both forms of such traditional music.