folk music
Songs from generations
Folk music is traditional music passed down within communities, typically featuring acoustic instruments, simple melodies, and lyrics about everyday life, work, or historical events.
The term also covers contemporary music that deliberately evokes this style: She plays folk music at coffeehouses.
Folk blurs into country, bluegrass, and singer-songwriter traditions.
Acoustic Appalachian folk music
- AmericanaHeritage artifacts or music
- old-timeOf a past era
- CelticOf Irish-Welsh descent
- AppalachianEastern U.S. mountain region
Cajun · zydeco · klezmer · norteño · flamenco · fado · highlife · gamelan
Fretted drum-stringed instrument
- guitarFretted stringed instrument
- mandolinPlucked eight-string lute descendant
- fiddleAdjust restlessly; folk violin
- harmonicaHandheld reed wind instrument
dulcimer · autoharp · accordion · bouzouki · strumming · picking · fingerstyle · unplugged
Inherited cultural legacy
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
preservation · indigenous · ethnomusicology · regional · generational · authenticity · revival · collector
Communal vocal session
- gatheringCollection of people meeting
- jam sessionInformal improvisational music gathering
- hoedownLively rural dance gathering
- ceilidhScottish social dance gathering
hootenanny · festival · circle · campfire · commune · collective · participatory · call-and-response
Narrative poem or song
- narrativeAccount of events
- taleSpoken or written narrative
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- loreTraditional knowledge transmitted orally
myth · saga · fable · chronicle · yarn · parable · minstrel · bard
Official song of praise
- solidarityUnity among allies
- activismDirect effort for reform
- movementChange in position
- rallyGathering for a cause
union · civil rights · freedom song · topical · political · Woody Guthrie · Pete Seeger · Joan Baez
bluegrass
Acoustic Appalachian folk music
Appalachian · Cajun · zydeco · klezmer · norteño · flamenco · fado · highlife · gamelan · ranchera
banjo
Fretted drum-stringed instrument
- guitarFretted stringed instrument
- mandolinPlucked eight-string lute descendant
- fiddleAdjust restlessly; folk violin
harmonica · dulcimer · autoharp · accordion · bouzouki · strumming · picking · fingerstyle · unplugged · unamplified
heritage
Inherited cultural legacy
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- lineageDescent from progenitors
customs · preservation · indigenous · ethnomusicology · regional · generational · authenticity · revival · collector · archive
singalong
Communal vocal session
- gatheringCollection of people meeting
- jam sessionInformal improvisational music gathering
- hoedownLively rural dance gathering
ceilidh · hootenanny · festival · circle · campfire · commune · collective · participatory · call-and-response · harmony singing
ballad
Narrative poem or song
lore · myth · saga · fable · chronicle · yarn · parable · minstrel · bard · griot
anthem
Official song of praise
- solidarityUnity among allies
- activismDirect effort for reform
- movementChange in position
rally · union · civil rights · freedom song · topical · political · Woody Guthrie · Pete Seeger · Joan Baez · Bob Dylan
- cultural heritagetraditions, customs, museum collections, museums, language revival
- folklorefairy tales, fairytales, folktales, fairy tale, legends
- folk activitiesstorytelling, ballads, square dancing, line dancing, barn dance
- folk collectionsproverbs, legends, myths, fairy tales, nursery rhymes
- grassroots musicbluegrass, singer-songwriter, Americana, campfire songs, string band
- world musicreggae, samba, bossa nova, flamenco, fado
folk musicelectronic music
Synthesizer-based musical genre
EDM · techno · electronica · synth-pop · industrial music
folk musicart music
Formal composed tradition
classical music · high art · orchestral music · opera · symphonic music
folk musicmainstream pop
Widely popular commercial music
bubblegum pop · Top 40 · radio pop · K-pop · stadium rock
music, musical, folk, folks, folklore, musician, folksy, folktale, folkloric