The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #95495 Message #1857771
Posted By: GUEST,Russ
13-Oct-06 - 09:05 AM
Thread Name: So what is *Traditional* Folk Music?
Subject: RE: So what is 'TRADITIONAL' Folk Music ?
Qualifiers get added to terms when the terms start to blur distinctions that the uers of the terms think are important.
So folk music is now a genus and traditional is the species.
"Traditional folk music" now means what "folk music" used to mean.
Once upon a time "folk" music was the music of the "folk," non-professional musicians who were part of a tradition in which music was passed on orally and aurally.
However, "folk music" now includes professional musicians who are not and never were part of such an aural/oral musical tradition and/or whose repertoire includes no material from such a tradition.
I personally don't have a problem with the meanings of words changing. It happens. Can't be stopped.
But if the meaning of a word changes significantly, you either stop using it or qualify it. Thus "traditional folk music."
By the way, I personally use the term "folk music" only as a conversation stopper.
When people ask me what sort of music I do, if I don't want to begin an extended conversation, I reply "Folk music."
That usually elicts a a weak smile, a "that's nice," and an immediate change of topic.