American Roots!

All things in life have some sort of origin. You start with one thing and then it will build into another. That is in fact the case when it comes to Appalachian Folk music. One of the main things that helped to form Appalachian Folk music were ballads, fiddle music, and hymns. The music traditions that this music derived from comes from England and Scotland. The first sighting of this music coming to be was in the 17th and 18th centuries when the Scottish and English came over to the Appalachian areas. They brought the ideas of ballads over, and that is one of the main things that this music came from.

Appalachian folk music was noted for being recorded until around 1920. Before the music was recorded, the traditional music was passed down orally. You passed it down through your family and generations. It was very traditional for folk music to take on themes of daily life and that this was the topic of the music. One thing that was very popular during the time of Appalachian folk music was coal mining. This was a very popular thing in this area, which then resulted in it having a heavy influence on the music and resulting in something that they all could relate to. One great thing about music is that it brings people together and it creates a sense of community, something that was really important during this time, because coal mining is a very dangerous job, yet something that was really important during this time.

Some of the primary instruments that are used in Appalachian folk music are the Banjo, American Fiddle, and then as the music started to evolve and grow, you would see the Guitar start to get added into the music. Going back to the idea that all things come from some sort of origin, these instruments also have some sort of origin. One of the primary ones is the banjo, you can see this having some sort of root from Africa and some of their traditional instruments there.

This song is by Fiddlin' John Carson; he was one of the artists that rose to the top during this period. You can hear the use of the fiddle in this music, which is where I assume his name came from. There is also one voice in this song, and it seems to stay at a pretty steady pitch. It doesn't get too high but it also doesn't get too low. The fiddle pretty much plays the same notes throughout the whole song, there isn't much change to the rhythm. It is unlike the blues in the fact that it doesn't repeat the line and then go into a line that rhymes.

This song is by another famous artist during this time named, G.B. Grayson. He also uses the fiddle in his music. There are a lot of similarities between his and Carson's music which makes sense for the fact that they are performing the same type of music. However, I do like his song better because it is faster and the beat is a lot more fun, and you are able to dance to it a lot better. One thing that I did notice from this music is that there are a lot longer periods of the songs with no words then in the song by Carson and I think it allows for another entertaining version of Appalachian Folk Music

The next one is called "Little Brown Jug" by Henry Whitter, who is also one of the big artists of this era. I think that this song has the catchiest beats so far. I really like the background music that accompanies the words. I could totally see myself dancing to this song and having a good time with my friends while this song plays. One thing that can be noted from this song is that there is more than just the fiddle going in this song. It has the fiddle, the guitar, and a banjo and I think there might even be a harmonica. This is slightly different from the other one's because the song by Grayson just uses the fiddle. I think that it adds a different element and that it makes the song more fun, because there are more things going one. Like the others the vocals are pretty steady and there isn't much changing between the notes. It doesn't get too high and on the flip side it doesn't get too low. 

This song is called "A Mole in the Ground" by Bascom Lamar Lunsford. I personally like this one the best simply for the name. I think that it is a really good name, and if I were to write music this reminds me how my music would be. This song plays into the fact that there was a heavy presence of coal mining during this time and this song plays a role in that. One thing that makes this song different then the other ones, is it doesn't have a fiddle and the only instrument that is in this song is a banjo. I really like the sound of the banjo in this song. I think that it really pulls the whole song together and it allows you to really get into the feels of the song. Like the other songs the vocals are steady throughout the whole song. 

Overall all the songs are very similar with slight changes among all of them. However you would get that with any genre that you would listen too. After the rise of this genre you will then see it mold into other genres that go on to be popular in their own ways, some of those genres are the following. Country which makes a lot of sense, because there are a lot of similarities between the two genres, they use similar instruments and the same idea when it comes to vocals. This is also the same case when it comes to Bluegrass. Those three genres all have very similarities. you could create a venn diagram and they would have a lot of overlapping elements. However, one genre that is influenced by Appalachian folk music is Rock n' Roll and learning about this really surprised me. 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, August 1). Appalachian music. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 29, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_music