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folk music

noun

music, usually of simple character and anonymous authorship, handed down among the common people by oral tradition.
music by known composers that has become part of the folk tradition of a country or region.

folk music

noun

music that is passed on from generation to generation by oral tradition Compare art music
any music composed in the idiom of this oral tradition

folk music

A kind of music originating from the ordinary people of a region or nation and continued by oral tradition. The ballad (see also ballad ) is a typical form of folk music. Music is also called “folk” when it is made by artists and composers who are inspired by, or imitate, true folk music. Composers such as Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie are folk musicians of the second kind.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of folk music¹

First recorded in 1885–90

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Unusually, they perform most of their lyrics in Irish, reclaiming the language from rural folk music.

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“It means his decision to go electric or have a band wasn’t purely, ‘I’m going to turn folk music on its head.’

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The Russians were annoyed that the subject was Ukraine; the Ukrainians were offended by Copland’s Americanization of their folk music and by Ira Gershwin’s lyrics.

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The singer and songwriter who helped popularize folk music in the 1960s died of bladder cancer at his home in New York.

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He literally picked folk music up and made it gigantic.

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Related Words

country music

folkmoot folknik

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