Ethnic Folk Music

Subject: Ethnic Folk Music
From:
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 07:16 AM

I am an elementary school music teacher. I am looking for folk songs that can be coordinated with the social studies curriculum. Work songs are especially appropriate as they reflect the culture especially well. Can you suggest ways in which I can find these songs?

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: SeanM
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 07:54 AM

If you're looking for just lyrics, the Digital Tradition database is a great place to start. If you look at the box in the upper right hand corner saying "DigiTrad Lyrics Search", you can use that to search for words, fragments of lyrics, or by using "@work" or other designations (I think they're in the FAQ, or I believe you can also find them in the 'help' link next to the title. I'll be honest, I don't remember for sure).

There are some references that you may find helpful as well. If you're dealing with American studies, I'd suggest Lomax's "Folk Songs of North America" or Sandburg's "American Song Bag". Both provide lyrics, some music, and a degree of information on the history of the songs.

Again, if you're dealing with American, Lomax's field recordings are also a treasure. As an example, the opening work chant from the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack is a Lomax field recording of a chain gang - a real one. He did a LOT of recording, and there was a CD release of the Library of Congress archives of his work not too far back.

Hope this at least provides a start. More of the crew should be along shortly.

M

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: IanC
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 08:12 AM

Hi Guest

If you're looking for words, music and some discussion then some of the individual threads are useful (e.g. The Origin of Sea Chanteys). Try typing WORK SONGS into the Forum Search at the top left of the forum screen, which should get you quite a lot.

You could also try looking for books in various sections of the Basic Folk Library PermaThread. The Genres/Shanties and Worksongs section might be useful, as is Courlander's book in Genres/Black.

BTW, what would non-ethnic folk music sound like?

;-)
Ian

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: Willa
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 01:54 PM

Hi, Guest.
Click on 'Kids', top centre of your screen, then Click on @digitrad Kids' Songs. You can then look at the selection and see if you think any are suitable for you.

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: Willa
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 02:02 PM

This might be the type of song you're looking for; the boy in the song would be about 4 years old. Fourpence A Day coll. By Joan Littlewood /Ewan McColl fr. The singing of John Gowland, retired lead miner of Middleton- in- Teesdale, Yks.
Attributed to Thom. Raine, lead miner and bard of Teesdale (Songs of Struggle and protest J. McDonnell Mercier Press

The ore is waiting in the tubs, the snow's upon the fell. Canny folk are sleeping yet, but lead is reet to sell.
Come my little washer lad, come let's away. We're bound down to slavery for fourpence a day.

It's early in the morning, we rise at five o'clock, and the little slaves come to the door to knock, knock, knock.
Come my little washer lad, come let's away. It's very hard to work for fourpence a day.

My father was a miner and lived down in the town, 'twas hard work and poverty that always kept him down.
He aimed for me to go to school, but brass he couldn't pay, so I had to go to the washing rake for fourpence a day.

My Mother rises out of bed with tears on her cheeks, puts my wallet on my shoulders which has to serve a week. .
It often fills her great big heart when she unto me does say: "I never thought thou would have worked for fourpence a day" .

Fourpence a day, my lad, and very hard the work, and never a pleasant look from a gruffy- looking turk. .
His conscience it may fall and his heart it may give way, then he'll raise us our wages to fourpence a day. .

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 02:57 PM

You did not state what you mean by ethnic. Do you mean world-wide or ethnic within the U. S.? For Negro work songs, the Lomax site Lomax 1939 Click on Audio Subject, then go down the list and click on work songs. For comments and some text, in the first paragraph under the Search categories, click on field notes.
As well as on this site, American work songs, both Black and White, are given in Lomax and Lomax, 1941 (2000), Our Singing Country, which should be in your school library.
In the Lyrics Search at this site, you should be able to find songs from Scotland, Ireland and England. For Canadian work songs (with midis), see the Great Canadian Tunebook: Canada
I don't know of a good site for European or Latin American work songs; a number of sites have them but they are difficult to identify from title alone.

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 04:16 PM

There are collective work songs, shanties or the chain gang songs and so forth. And there are individual songs, like the kind of songs people sing when they are working alone, either to help the rhythm (such as a weaver), or just to cheer themselves up and keep themeslves awake(shepherds for example), or maybe for some other purpose (a cowboy singing to quieteh the cattle.) And there are somngs about work, or about accidents that have happened, or about strikes...

In the last resort all folk songs "can be coordinated with the social studies curriculum" - maybe that's one of the best answers to the old question "what is a folk song?"

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From:
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 04:28 PM

"Gaelic" is not an ethnicity, but a language. It is one of the ones belonging to the Celtic Culture. Celtic in modern day terms refers to only Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man in the Q-Celtic, and Brittany, Cornwall, and Wales in the P-Celtic divisions.

Studying on Celtic culture would take a student back to the days of Greek culture, since it was them who came up with the term Keltoi from which the Celtic name for the culture is derived. The Greeks knew them, the Romans fought them (branch known as the Gauls). Both Greece and Spain have their own Galacia's which are Gaulish communities. See National Geographics, September 1977, I believe.

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From:
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 04:31 PM

To tie it in to your query, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Man and Cornwall all have representation in the music world.

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From:
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 04:33 PM

For instance in Scottish GAelic, which is the one I have concentrated on, I have examples of Butter churning songs, Waulking(Fulling) songs, Rowing songs, Lullaby songs, Reaping songs among others. All of which are work-related.

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 04:49 PM

Hello Guest Teacher.........Let me also tell you that if you investigate the thousands of threads and lyrics here at Mudcat you will find more information than you probably imagined was available.

We often get into long discussions (and arguments) over the origins and meanings of a lot of folk songs and in the process a good history/origin of a song emerges with relevant background information. Some of these threads are catalogued on a "Permathread" which one of our members updates. Click on the link below and it will take you to that Permathread and then read down the list and click on any title that might interest you. Some are very complete and others are still a bit short on info, but as a whole I think you will enjoy the mass of information available.

Song Origins PermaThread

For an example of what you will find there, here is a link to one of the songs on the Permathread. It's a Woody Guthrie song named "1913 Massacre" which tells a tale of the Copper mining and Union situation in Michigan. Read the thread and the links within it and I think you'll find that it's a very complete history of the song and what spawned it. 1913 Massacre (CLICK)

I'm sure others will be along with additional suggestions but I wanted you to know how much can often be found here. I bet your kids sing "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Check that one out on the Permathread!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: Willa
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 07:06 PM

Last line of my second posting should read 'he'll raise our wages to ninepence a day.'

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 08:12 PM

Still not certain what you are looking for. What do you mean by ethnic? Ethnic has odd meanings in Canada. I can refer to most foreign musics as ethnic. When I call English music ethnic, I get a queer look. Since French is one of the two languages here, are the local French songs just Canadian (or Quebecois) and foreign French songs ethnic? Or does a French song become ethnic if it migrates to western Canada?
I'm not sure what it means in the States, I have been away for almost 50 years.
The first meaning of ethnic in Webster's is heathen. The second is of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, religious, linguistic or cultural origins or background. That seems to cover everybody in one way or another, George, even Gaelic! The third relates to members of a minority group that have customs, language or social views in common.
Terrible word, isn't it?

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 11:11 PM

Visit the SECRET MUSEUM OF THE AIR to hear and download great radio programs with stuff from all over. Ask the students to listen to the programs, and find the songs they like, online, at home. Help them track down lyrics here or elsewhere, and teach them by ear (as most folk music is taught) to the rest of the class. Drag the music teacher into it too if s/he can let them approach this the folk/ear way.....

Good luck, and please tell us what you decide to do and how it goes!

~Susan

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: Art Thieme
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 12:43 AM

In the late 50s and early 60s the term "ethnic" was used to separate traditional songs and ballads from the glitzed up things like the Kingston trio etc. To be serious about folk music one had to look to the "ethnic" performers who did it with the roots not only in mind but with the roots emulated and reproduced slavishly.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Ethnic Folk Music
From: M.Ted
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 12:20 AM

Best if the Social Studies teacher came back and told us more specifically what he wanted--