FOLK SONGS ALL?
Folk music, according to a definition set forth in amazing complexity by the International Folk Council in 1955, folk music is the "product of a musical tradition that has been evolved through the process of oral transmission." (etc)
That would appear to be a definition which excludes much of what is, today considered to be "folk music" to audiences and, more importantly, to the musicians themselves, those persons who, with skill and training in much demand, compose and perform it.
The crux of the entire matter of disagreement as to how folk music finds its insistent genesis. To wall-in a definition of the term by leaning too heavily on the concept of "oral" tradition has been a cumbersome point in modern times. It has been a long time - many decades - since oral transmission of musical lore has been the dominant means of making it musical variations known to others. It may well have been the main, even the sole means of evolvement for music of some forms, but that limitation was superseded many decades ago with the growth of scientific and more reliable ways of reproducing and saving sounds.
I am, in no way, attempting to change the way we say we have come by our folk music heritage - which, in an international sense, is priceless and quite extensive. I am, however, of the opinion that we of the present era are shortchanging the musicians of the future if we do no attempt to document the derivation of various present-day musical items to show how many of them spring from the people or a special element of the population in a specific geographical area.
I grew to adulthood during a time when the term "jazz", often an obscene reference in some dialects, came to be popularly applied to type of music -chiefly instrumental - which was a basic simplicity but subject to gross improvisations by the performer. Much of this type of music stemmed from the daily living who brought it forth with such enthusiasm and evident joy. The main criticism I remember of "jazz" in the 1920's was to mark it with the very term now being used to define what is considered to be a merit in true folk music. We were ridiculed, scorned and condemned for "not reading a written score" - for a-libbing, for improvisations, for embellishments on simple themes, and for, oddly enough, making improved instruments of our day do things which had previously, been considered to be improper, impossible or too innovative. Our "jazz", then, was "of the people" and , might well qualify, by the academic definition cited, as being "folk" music.
But enough of that for now. We can talk about it some more, if you like, later on, but right now I'm urging you to try to think with me about possibilities of seeing potential merit in our current spate of "rock" and "rap". Music?
A.L.M. February 16, 2005 [c495wds]
