is a form of
North America n
Folk Music , with roots in the folk musics of many countries, including
England ,
Scotland and
Ireland , as well as the continent of
Africa . This musical form developed along with various North American folk dances, such as
Square Dance , buck dance and
Clogging . The genre also encompasses ballads and other types of folk songs. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments (most often the guitar and/or banjo).
Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of old-time music are in the traditional musics of the
British Isles (primarily English, Scottish and Irish), with a strong admixture of
African Music . In some regions
French and
German sources are also prominent. While many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of purely North American origin.
With its origins in traditional music of Europe and Africa, old-time music represents perhaps the oldest form of North American traditional music other than Native American music, and thus the term "old-time" is an appropriate one. As a label, however, it dates back only to
1923 .
Fiddlin' John Carson made some of the first commercial recordings of traditional American
Country Music for the
Okeh label. The recordings became hits. Okeh, which had previously coined the terms "hillbilly music" to describe
Appalachia n and Southern fiddle-based and religious music and "race recording" to describe the music of
African American recording artists, began using "old-time music" as a term to describe the music made by artists of Carson's style. The term, thus, originated as a
Euphemism , but proved a suitable replacement for other terms that were considered disparaging by many inhabitants of these regions. It remains the term preferred by performers and listeners of the music. It is sometimes referred to as "old-timey" or "mountain music" by long-time practitioners.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
Minstrel ,
Tin Pan Alley ,
Gospel , and other popular music forms also entered the genre. While old-time music was practiced in all regions of the
United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, by the 20th century it had come to be associated primarily with the Appalachian region.
Old-time music experienced a great revival in the early
1960s in areas such as
Chapel Hill, North Carolina .
Alan Jabbour , founding director of the Folklife Center at the
Library Of Congress , became a leader of this revival while a student at
Duke University . Other important revivalists include
Mike Seeger and
Pete Seeger , who brought the music to New York City as early as the 1940s. The
New Lost City Ramblers in particular took the revival across the country and often featured older musicians in their show. The band was originally
Mike Seeger ,
John Cohen , and
Tom Paley . When Tom left the band, he was replaced by
Tracy Schwarz . Many of the musicians on the scene now acknowledge that it was because of the New Lost City Ramblers that they became interested in old-time music.
Old-time music is played using a wide variety of stringed instruments. The instrumentation of an old-time group is often determined solely by what instruments are available, as well as by tradition. The most common instruments are acoustic
String Instrument s. Historically, the
Fiddle was nearly always the leading melodic instrument, and in many instances (if no other instruments were available) dances were accompanied only by a single fiddler, who often also acted as
Dance Caller .
By the early 19th century, the
Banjo (an instrument of West African origin originally played only by people of African descent, both enslaved and free) had become an essential partner to the fiddle, particularly in the southern United States. The banjo, originally a fretless instrument and frequently made from a gourd, played the same melody as the fiddle (though in a lower register), while simultaneously providing a rhythmic accompaniment incorporating a high drone provided by the instrument's short "drone string." The banjo used in old-time music is typically a 5-string model with an open back (i.e., without the resonator found on most bluegrass banjos).
Today old-time banjo players most commonly utilize the
Clawhammer style, but there were originally several other styles, most of which are still in use, loosely grouped by region. The major styles were clawhammer (which also went by a number of regional names), two-finger index lead (also called "North Carolina picking"), two-finger thumb lead (Kentucky), and a three-finger "fiddle style" that seems to have been influenced in part by late-19th century urban classical style. Generally, a young player would learn whatever style a parent or older sibling favored.
Because playing with more fingers meant being able to put in more notes, three-finger styles intrigued many players. Individualistic three-finger styles were developed independently by such important figures as
Uncle Dave Macon ,
Dock Boggs , and
Snuffy Jenkins . Those early three-finger styles, especially the technique developed by Jenkins, led in the 1940s to the three-finger
Scruggs Style created by
Earl Scruggs and which helped advance the split between old-time and the solo-centric style that would become known as bluegrass. Jenkins developed a three-finger "
Roll " that, while obviously part of the old-time tradition, inspired Scruggs to develop his smoother, faster, more complex rolls that are now standard fare in bluegrass music.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, other stringed instruments began to be added to the fiddle-banjo duo; these included the
Guitar ,
Mandolin , and
Double Bass (or
Washtub Bass ), which provided chordal and bass line accompaniment (or occasionally melody also). Such an assemblage, of whatever instrumentation, became known simply as a "
String Band ." Occasionally the
Cello ,
Piano ,
Hammered Dulcimer ,
Appalachian Dulcimer ,
Tenor Banjo ,
Tenor Guitar ,
Mouth Bow , or other instruments were used, as well as such non-string instruments as the
Jug ,
Harmonica ,
Jew's Harp ,
Concertina ,
Accordion ,
Washboard ,
Spoon s, or
Bones .
The fiddle is sometimes played by two people at the same time, with one player using the bow and fingers, while another player stands to the side and taps out a rhythm on the fiddle strings using small sticks called fiddlesticks (also spelled "fiddle sticks"). This technique (also sometimes called "beating the straws") is utilized in performance most notably by the duo of Al and Emily Cantrell.
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Because old-time fiddle-based string band music is often played for dances, it is often characterized as dance music. However, there are also long-standing traditions of solo listening pieces as well as fiddle songs, such as those that have been documented in West Virginia by Erynn Marshall in ''Music in the Air Somewhere: The Shifting Borders of West Virginia's Fiddle and Song Traditions'' (WVU Press, 2006). In dance music as played by old-time string bands, emphasis is placed on providing a strong beat, and instrumental solos, or breaks are rarely taken. This contrasts with
Bluegrass Music which was developed in the 1940s as a form of concert music. Bluegrass music, however, developed from old-time music, and shares many of the same songs and instruments, but is more oriented toward solo performance than is old-time music.
While in the British Isles
Reels and
Jig s both remain popular, the reel is by far the predominant metric structure preferred by old-time musicians in the United States (though a few
Hornpipe s are also still performed). Canadian musicians, particularly in the
Maritime provinces where the Scottish influence is strong, perform both reels and jigs (as well as other types of tunes such as
Marches and
Strathspeys ).
Each regional old-time tradition accompanies different dance styles. Some of these include
Clogging and flatfoot dancing (Appalachia),
Contradancing (
New England ),
Square Dancing (Southern states) and
Step Dancing (
Nova Scotia , particularly
Cape Breton Island ), though there is some overlap between regions.
Players traditionally learn old-time music by ear; even those musicians who can read music generally learn and play old-time tunes by ear. A broad selection of written music does exist, although many believe that the style of old-time music cannot be practically notated by written music. This is in part because there are many regional and local variations to old-time tunes, and because some of the most noted players often improvised and wouldn't play a tune exactly the same way every time.
Players usually learn old-time music by attending local jam sessions and by attending festivals scattered around the country. With the spread of broad-band Internet, more and more old-time recordings are available via small publishers, boutique Web sites, Internet streaming audio ("Web radio"), and small Web sites making the music more accessible.
Although it is one of the oldest and most prominent forms of traditional music in the United States and Canada, old-time music (with a few notable exceptions) is generally not taught in North American primary schools, secondary schools, or universities. Although square dancing is still occasionally taught in elementary schools (generally with recorded, rather than live music), old-time instruments and dances are not included in the educational system, and must be studied outside the school system.
There are, however a growing number of folk music schools in the United States, usually non-profit community based, that have taken up the mantle of providing instruction in old-time music. The
Old Town School Of Folk Music in
Chicago, Illinois is perhaps the oldest of these, having begun in 1957. The Folk School of St. Louis
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There are a variety of programs, mostly in the summer, that offer week-long immersions in old-time music and dance. These camps are family friendly and allow beginners to enter into the tradition and more advanced players to hone their sound with instruction from some of the best in the music.
There are numerous regional styles of old-time music, each with its own repertoire and playing style. Nevertheless, some tunes (such as "Soldier's Joy") are found in nearly every regional style, though played somewhat differently in each.
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Rabbit-Slaughterogg
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"Big Eyed Rabbit"
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Matokie Slaughter , "Big Eyed Rabbit" from ''Clawhammer Banjo, Volume Two'' (County Records) (c 1960s)
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