The Npr Curious Listener S Guide To American Folk Music

A comprehensive listener's guide to American folk music provides a concise history of the musical genre and its most important performers, along with an A-to-Z glossary of terms, information on stylistic variations, helpful resources, and a listing of dozens of essential folk music CDs.

Exploring American Folk Music: Ethnic, Grassroots, and Regional Traditions in the United States reflects the fascinating diversity of regional and grassroots music in the United States. The book covers the diverse strains of American folk music--Latin, Native American, African, French-Canadian, British, and Cajun--and offers a chronology of the development of folk music in the United States. The book is divided into discrete chapters covering topics as seemingly disparate as sacred harp singing, conjunto music, the folk revival, blues, and ballad singing. It is among the few textbooks in American music that recognizes the importance and contributions of Native Americans as well as those who live, sing, and perform music along our borderlands, from the French speaking citizens in northern Vermont to the extensive Hispanic population living north of the Rio Grande River, recognizing and reflecting the increasing importance of the varied Latino traditions that have informed our folk music since the founding of the United States. Another chapter includes detailed information about the roots of hip hop and this new edition features a new chapter on urban folk music, exploring traditions in our cities, with a case study focusing on Washington, D.C. Exploring American Folk Music also introduces you to such important figures in American music as Bob Wills, Lydia Mendoza, Bob Dylan, and Muddy Waters, who helped shape what America sounds like in the twenty-first century. It also features new sections at the end of each chapter with up-to-date recommendations for "Suggested Listening," "Suggested Reading," and "Suggested Viewing."

Examining the changing face of the genre from its beginnings at the end of the 19th century to its international popularity today, this book traces the social climate that inspired the blues and takes a look at the unmistakable influences that blues had on 20th-century music. Includes information on performances from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton.

For the beginner or the devotee—it's everything the classical music buff needs to know. The major composers from Bach and Bartok to Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky Significant performers from Maurice Andre and Leornard Bernstein to Georg Solti and Yo Yo Ma The landmark works from Appalachian Spring to Don Juan A concise history of classical music A deconstruction of the art form The language of classical music Valuable resources for the Curious Listener

So many who love to sing are drawn to the immediacy and essential simplicity of the music we commonly call folk. Folk music, in fact, can serve as the perfect entry point for those just starting on their singing careers because of the ways in which it sidesteps the strictures of classical forms without giving up the fundamentals of professional singing techniques. In So You Want to Sing Folk Music, singer and writer Valerie Mindel demystifies this sprawling genre, looking at a variety of mainly traditional American musical styles as well as those of the folk revival that continues in various forms to this day. The aim is to help the fledgling singer better understand the scope of folk music and find his or her voice in the genre, looking at the “how” of creating a vocal sound that reflects a folk-based style. The book looks at specific repertories and ways of approaching them in terms of both working up material and performing it. It also looks at some of the realities of folk music in the twenty-first century that affect both amateurs and professionals. Additional chapters by Scott McCoy, Wendy LeBorgne, and Matthew Edwards address universal questions of voice science and pedagogy, vocal health, and audio enhancement technology. The So You Want to Sing seriesis produced in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Like all books in the series, So You Want to Sing Folk Music features online supplemental material on the NATS website. Please visit www.nats.org to access style-specific exercises, audio and video files, and additional resources.

Selling Folk Music: An Illustrated History highlights commercial sources that reveal how folk music has been packaged and sold to a broad, shifting audience in the United States. Folk music has a varied and complex scope and lineage, including the blues, minstrel tunes, Victorian parlor songs, spirituals and gospel tunes, country and western songs, sea shanties, labor and political songs, calypsos, pop folk, folk-rock, ethnic, bluegrass, and more. The genre is of major importance in the broader spectrum of American music, and it is easy to understand why folk music has been marketed as America's music. Selling Folk Music presents the public face of folk music in the United States via its commercial promotion and presentation throughout the twentieth century. Included are concert flyers; sheet music; book, songbook, magazine, and album covers; concert posters and flyers; and movie lobby cards and posters, all in their original colors. The 1964 hootenanny craze, for example, spawned such items as a candy bar, pinball machine, bath powder, paper dolls, Halloween costumes, and beach towels. The almost five hundred images in Selling Folk Music present a new way to catalog the history of folk music while highlighting the transformative nature of the genre. Following the detailed introduction on the history of folk music, illustrations from commercial products make up the bulk of the work, presenting a colorful, complex history.

Every major singer from Frank Sinatra to Christina Aguilera. Every major composer from Irving Berlin to Stephen Sondheim. Every major song from a century of favorites. Every major musician and lyricist. Every major styling from blues, jazz, and country to folk, big band, and rock and roll The most recorded songs of all time. A guide to understanding the "standard" lingo. The evolution of popular music from Tin Pan Alley to contemporary musical theater, and more.

A history, with a personal touch, of the American folk music revival is penned by a recording artist, songwriter, and former member of the Journeymen.