News

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.

I get asked this question repeatedly from well-intentioned people. Many people think that the lever harp – or clarsach is only a stepping stone on your way to a pedal harp. While this is true for some people, the clarsach is an instrument that takes years of study to master.

The history and tradition of the clarsach began in ancient Egypt as early as 3000 B.C. Originally, it was an instrument formed in the shape a hunting bow. It lacked the front pillar that we now see in modern-day harps. The pillar was added in the Middle Ages for support so that the harp could have more strings. The early harps lacked the levers we now have on the clarsach. Levers were added to the harp during the second half of the seventeenth century.

The clarsach was played in Gaelic courts as early as the 8th century. Some were strung with gut or horse hair and other with wire strings. Harpers were respected and well-trained musicians. They were held in very high esteem. During the Jacobite rebellion, the traditions of the harpers was lost and faded away.

During the 19th Century, the harp began to make it’s way back into Scottish culture. Due to the lack of surviving clarsachs, a smaller harp with semi-tone levers was played. These small harps were often considered to be a beginner’s instrument before moving on to the pedal harp.

The true resurgence of the lever harp was during the 1970s. Research showed that many manuscripts from the pipe, lute, and fiddle were able to be traced back to harpers. Now, we have a better idea of how the ancient harp was played and what type of technique the harpers used.

The clarsach, as an instrument, has come a long way from the hunting bows of ancient Egypt. “From Medieval to Modern, from Classical to Jazz, from Acoustic to Electric. The harp is an instrument steeped in tradition yet open to change and for many, it is more than a mere instrument, it is a calling.” – History of the Harp