What is the difference between Traditional and folk music?
I have asked myself this question numerous times. It is such a difficult question to find an answer to because everyone you ask will have a different opinion.
When I think of folk music, I associate it with simplistic music that is easier to play and music that anyone could learn. Growing up, I loved watching movies about the Wild West. Folk music was very prevalent in those films. You would see an old man in a bar playing his banjo or someone in the corner of a room playing the Jew’s harp. There might even be a hoedown with fiddles playing the dance music.
I think of folk music as something anyone can play and wouldn’t necessarily need to have taken lessons with their instrument to explore folk music. All that being said, I enjoy folk music, and I do play it sometimes.
Traditional music, on the other hand, makes me think of entirely different things. I associate the term, Traditional music, with skill, dedication, respect, history, and excellence. I feel that playing Traditional music requires time and devotion to studying and learning the immense history behind the music and genre. I think that traditional music, to be played well, must be studied, and the player should respect the tradition from which the tune or piece originated.
This is only my opinion. Everyone’s will be different. I immensely enjoy playing both folk and Traditional music. I see them as two very different things, yet I can understand and recognize their similarities. They both have a rawness to them, and thankfully, are both still being played, learned, and shared.
Terra Burgoyne 