folksongs
Passed-down musical stories
Folksongs are traditional songs passed down orally within a community, typically of unknown authorship.
They often tell stories of everyday life, work, love, or historical events: We learned old folksongs around the campfire.
The term extends to modern songs written in traditional style, especially those associated with acoustic instruments and social movements.
Also spelled as two words: folk songs.
Eastern U.S. mountain region
- CelticOf Irish-Welsh descent
- GaelicCeltic linguistic tradition
- AndeanOf South America's mountains
- SlavicOf certain Eastern Europeans
Nordic · African · Indigenous · rural · pastoral · agrarian · peasantry · tribal
Account of events
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- taleSpoken or written narrative
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- sagaExtended heroic narrative
romance · lament · epic · verses · stanzas · chorus · refrain · lyrics
Appalachian
Eastern U.S. mountain region
Slavic · Nordic · African · Indigenous · rural · pastoral · agrarian · peasantry · tribal · village
narrative
Account of events
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- taleSpoken or written narrative
- legendUnverified traditional tale
saga · romance · lament · epic · verses · stanzas · chorus · refrain · lyrics · poetry
tradition
Custom passed through generations
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
lineage · legacy · lore · preservation · oral · ethnomusicology · cultural · identity · patrimony · provenance
acoustic
Relating to sound
- banjoFretted drum-stringed instrument
- fiddleAdjust restlessly; folk violin
- guitarFretted stringed instrument
harmonica · mandolin · dulcimer · concertina · accordion · autoharp · zither · bouzouki · bodhrán · penny whistle
folksongslieder
Archaic word for songs
pop songs · classical compositions · chart hits · show tunes · jingles
folksongschart music
Commercially tracked popular songs
radio singles · pop songs · hit singles · bubblegum pop · jingles
folksongselectronic music
Synthesizer-based musical genre
EDM · synth-pop · techno · industrial music