Old-time music

Old-time music (or old-timey music) is a form of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Africa. This musical form developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance. The genre also encompasses ballads and other types of folk song, and is played on acoustic instruments.

Regional styles

There are numerous regional styles of old-time music, each with its own repertoire and playing style. Nevertheless, some tunes (such as "Soldier's Joy") are found in nearly every regional style, though played somewhat differently in each.

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Appalachia

This section applies primarily to the "Southern Appalachian" region of the United States (the Central Appalachians being in the northeastern U.S. and the Northern Appalachians stretching into Quebec, Canada).

Related Topics:
Quebec - Canada

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Appalachian folk music is a distinctive genre of folk music Appalachian music is believed to have developed from traditional Scottish, English and Irish music brought to the United States by immigrants from those countries, and in turn it influenced country music and old-time music.

Related Topics:
Appalachia - Genre - Folk music - Scottish - English - Irish music - Immigrants - Country music

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A Scottish fiddler named Neil Gow is usually credited with developing (during the 1740s) the short bow sawstroke technique that defines Appalachian fiddling. This technique was altered during the next century, with European waltzes and polkas being most influential.

Related Topics:
Neil Gow - 1740s - Waltz - Polka

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While in the year 2000 African Americans made up only 8 percent of the Appalachian populationhttp://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=2316, their numbers were greater in the 19th and early 20th centuries, due not only to the presence of slaves but also free blacks working in timber, coal mining, and other industries. Their music has exerted a great influence on Appalachian music in its instrumentation (the banjo was adopted from them by white musicians following the Civil War) as well as ornamentation (the "blue note" third and seventh, and sliding tones which are not found in British Isles folk music). Even into the early 20th century, it was common for young white musicians to have learned the banjo or other instruments from older African American musicians living in their area.

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Appalachian folk became a major influence on styles like country music and bluegrass. It is one of the few regional styles of old-time music that, since World War II, has been learned and widely practiced in all areas of the United States (as well as in Canada, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere). In some cases (as in the Midwest and Northeast), its popularity has eclipsed the indigenous old-time traditions of these regions. There is a particularly high concentration of performers playing Appalachian folk music on the East and West Coasts (especially in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Pacific Northwest). A number of American classical composers, in particular Henry Cowell and Aaron Copland, have composed works that merge the idioms of Appalchian folk music with the Old World?based classical tradition.

Related Topics:
Country music - Bluegrass - Henry Cowell - Aaron Copland

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Appalachian old-time music is itself made up of regional traditions. Some of the most prominent traditions include those of Mount Airy, North Carolina and Grayson County/Galax, Virginia (Tommy Jarrell), West Virginia (the Hammons Family), East Kentucky (J. P. Fraley and Lee Sexton), and East Tennessee (Roan Mountain Hilltoppers).

Related Topics:
Mount Airy - North Carolina - Grayson County - Galax - Virginia - Tommy Jarrell - West Virginia - East Tennessee

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Old-time music has also been adopted by a few Native American musicians; the eminent Walker Calhoun of Big Cove, in the Qualla Boundary (home to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in western North Carolina) plays three-finger-style banjo, to which he sings in the Cherokee language.

Related Topics:
Qualla Boundary - Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians - Great Smoky Mountains National Park - North Carolina - Cherokee language

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New England

The New England states, being among the first to be settled by Europeans, have one of the oldest traditions of old-time music. Although the Puritans (the first Europeans to settle in the region), frowned upon instrumental music, dance music flourished in both urban and rural areas beginning in the 17th century. Primary instruments include the fiddle, piano, and guitar, with the wooden flute sometimes also used. As with Appalachian folk, a number of classical composers have turned to New England folk music for melodic and harmonic ideas, most famously Charles Ives, but also including Aaron Copland, William Schuman, and John Cage.

Related Topics:
New England - Puritans - Charles Ives - Aaron Copland - William Schuman - John Cage

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Midwest

Beginning in the early 19th century, when the Midwestern states were first settled by immigrants from the eastern United States and Europe, the Midwest developed its own regional styles of old-time music. Among these, the Missouri style is of particular interest for its energetic bowing style.

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The non-Appalachian South

The Southern states (particularly coastal states such as Virginia and North Carolina) also have one of the oldest traditions of old-time music in the United States.

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It is in this region that the music of Africa mixed most strongly with that of the British Isles. Records show that many African slaves (some of whom had been musicians in Africa or the Caribbean, where they had lived prior to the United States) were talented musicians, playing, as early as the 18th century, instruments such as the fiddle, banjo, and piano. Slave documents and advertisements of the time often listed musical abilities of individual African slaves as a selling point, as slaves were frequently asked to perform for their masters.{{ref|autonumber}}

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The banjo, an essential instrument for Southern and Appalachian old-time music, is believed to have derived from a West African skin-covered lute; such instruments (generally with four strings) are still played today in Senegal, Gambia, Mali, and Guinea, where they are called ngoni, xalam, or various other names.

Related Topics:
Senegal - Gambia - Mali - Guinea - Ngoni - Xalam

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States of the Deep South such as Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana also have their own regional old-time music traditions and repertoires. While the music of the Louisiana Cajuns has much in common with other North American old-time traditions it is generally treated as a tradition unto itself and not referred to as a form of old-time music.

Related Topics:
Deep South - Alabama - Mississippi - Georgia - Louisiana - Music - Cajun

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Texas and the West

Texas developed a distinctive twin-fiddling tradition that was later popularized by Bob Wills as "Western swing" music. Fiddle music has also been popular since the 19th century in other Western states such as Oklahoma and Colorado. The National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest has been held each year in Weiser, Idaho since 1953.

Related Topics:
Texas - Bob Wills - Western swing - Oklahoma - Colorado - Weiser - Idaho - 1953

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Oklahoma, with its high concentration of Native American inhabitants, has produced some Native American old-time string bands, most notably Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band (consisting of Henry Hall, fiddle; Clarence Hall, guitar; and Harold Hall, voice), which was recorded by H. C. Speir for the Victor company in 1929.

Related Topics:
Native American - H. C. Speir - Victor - 1929

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Canada

Among the prominent styles of old-time music in Canada are the Scottish-derived tradition of Nova Scotia (particularly Cape Breton Island), the French Canadian music of Quebec and Acadia, the old-time music of Ontario, and the prairie fiddling traditions of the central provinces. It is here (primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan) that the fiddle tradition of the Métis people is found.

Related Topics:
Nova Scotia - Cape Breton Island - French Canadian - Quebec - Acadia - Ontario - Manitoba - Saskatchewan - Métis

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