成人快手

What is folk music?

A cartoon of a female medieval lute player.

Folk music is traditional music that belongs to a particular culture or group of people.

Most folk music includes singing and musical instruments.

It is music created by ordinary people within a culture, that's been played or sung to one another, for a very long time.

People would learn the music by listening to other people playing it and then copy them. This is called learning music orally.

A cartoon of a female medieval lute player.
Back to top

What types of folk music are there?

A cartoon of a man playing folk music on an acoustic guitar and singing.

Folk music exists all around the world. For example there's English folk music, Scottish folk music, American folk music, Russian folk music and so on.

Each type of folk music is very different and can teach us things about a particular culture.

Ballads were a popular kind of folk music. These were folk songs which told a story of love or myths. Sometimes there was a short chorus after each verse so that everybody could join in.

Instrumental folk music is used to accompany traditional dances such as a 肠茅颈濒铆 in Ireland.

Back to top

What instruments are used in folk music?

A cartoon girl holding two rain sticks, standing near a pair of congo drums. A boy in a wheelchair has a traditional shekere instrument.

There are lots of different instruments used in folk music depending on which country the music is from and when it was created.

Sometimes the instruments can be simple, such as:

  • a shaker
  • a pair of sticks
  • a drum
A cartoon girl holding two rain sticks, standing near a pair of congo drums. A boy in a wheelchair has a traditional shekere instrument.
A cartoon image of an accordion.

Other folk instruments can include:

  • a set of bagpipes
  • an accordion
  • a mandolin

Folk music often uses different types of called modes. These are a collection of which the uses to make the music.

Back to top

The influence of folk music

Cartoon of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Image caption,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Folk music has influenced many other composers in the music they make, even music we listen to today.

Some composers travelled around, learning folk music that was being played or sung by people in different countries.

They often used some of these ideas in their own music.

Tchaikovsky took great inspiration from Russian folk music.

Cartoon of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Image caption,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Back to top

Watch: Rodeo by Aaron Copland

A cartoon image of an American cowboy, tipping his stetson hat.

Take a listen to this piece of music by American composer Aaron Copland.

It takes us to the exciting world of cowboys, cowgirls and the American wild west!

Listen out for the main theme which is taken from a traditional American folk song called Bonaparte鈥檚 Retreat.

A cartoon image of an American cowboy, tipping his stetson hat.

Watch the full performance of Copland's piece by the 成人快手 Symphony Orchestra. From 成人快手 Ten Pieces.

Find out more about Aaron Copland with 成人快手 Ten Pieces.

Back to top

Activities

Quiz

Back to top

Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
Back to top

More on Musical Journeys

Find out more by working through a topic