Popular musicfolk music is a genre that

Popular MusicStyle & Genre-FolkBob Dylan Folk MusicFolk music is tradition. Folk music is stripped back. Folk music is the complicated, the frustrating, the simply amazing emotions that are all tied together with a (not so fancy) bow to being a human. In this essay I will focus on the folk rivial of the 1960s where the intrumentation was merely a guitar, vocals, and a harmonica. Very simple melody to blend with the quick finger picking on the guitar.

The stripped back feel is also to draw more attention to the stories and messages protrayed through the songs. The lyrics are also expressed what the working class were feeling at the time and were often politcal. Guitar Techniques Used in FolkWithin Folk music the main instrument is guitar here are a few performance techniques that are commonly used in Folk. Finger Picking 1This is an example of one of Bob Dylans finger picking tabs. The bass strings  are played with the thumb and the treble are played with the index fingers. 2Flat PickingFlat picking is a style in  which the notee are all play clearly and indivisually. 2Early types of folk musicFolk music is a genre that has orginated from the European traditionally by word of mouth. It was passed on when the people from the united kingdom came over to start a new life in America.

European Folk OverviewFolk music was passed down through aural tradition was the song tells a story. It was sang at various gathering such as festivals and weddings. 5A refrain was included after each line of a couplet (repeated line of a verse) the vocals often used the pentatonic scale within it. it was often feature a compound time signture and use of triplets. A accented note before a longer one) on the words. 5English folk music typically is in strophic form and uses a varity of modes.

The instruments used included the following; fiddle, melodeon, accordion, a pipe and tabor. They often would have celebration in which there would be morris dancer. 6Scottish folk includes bagpipes. 7Irish Folk use the same instrument as English but with a few added extra instruments such as a penny whistle, accordion and harp. 8Bluegrass Named after Bill Monroe’s backing band Bluegrass was developed when a small percentage of string band musicians wanted to carry on doing classical music instead of tranversing into comercial country music like everyone else. They took the same classical way of reading music and putting chords and melodies together but sped up the temo and rhythm bringing more energy and fun. 3 Blue Glass is distguishable but it’s flat picking style of guitar. 9Commercial Folk Music -In 1917 at the same time as the red scare, the record labels realised the huge sale that could be made through targeting sentimental immigrants mising their home town.

10-When John Lomax lost him job in the depression he put together a complicasion of cowboy songs that sold so well it inspired him to travel round with his son Arron Lomax the state prisons to look for musicians. Just three months in he found who he was looking for, Leadbelly. Leadbelly and Lomax found themself travelling.

11Leadbelly was in extremely influetial musician because he was singing about criminals and being an underdog which gave folk music more of an edge to it. 10-A band called the weavers made it to mainstream by cleaning up the vocals to sound pretty and focused on non controversion topics to sing about. All the while being they were being shunned by the rest of the folk scene for being seen as unauthentic. 12Bob Dylan Bob Dylan had a standard American childhood located in a small town in Hibbing, near the Canadian border.

Interested from a young age he taught himself piano aged 10 and later harmonica and guitar. 13 Dylan formed his own rock n roll band with fellow classmates. But it was Dylans abiliy for music stood out for example; he was so good at finding chords on the piano the band named after him “ golden chords.” 14  A soon the band split up he formed another band. Within this time Dylan was able to develop a voice that was bluesy while still remaining unique.

His Blues influence came in the his college years. Highly inspired by the Southern blues singers such as Muddy Waters, Howlin wolf and BB King Bob Dylan met blues singer Jesses Fuller which inspired him  to go solo with with just his voice, guitar and a harmonica. He then went on performing folk songs  at coffee houses under the name Bob Dylan.  15Woody gurthie was his biggest influence and when Dylan met his idol in hospital, Woody wrote a review that hugely impacted his career. This review lead to his record deal with columbia in 1961.

He then made his fame with his first self titled album that came out on the same year. 16The Times They are A-Changin’ (The Album)My focus of study Bob Dylan second album “ The Time They are A-Changin’ ” was an album targeted to all classes of society. It is stripped back with the least amount of instruments possible often just vocals, a guitar and a harmonica.  “ Heavily inspired by poets like Arthur Rimbaud and John Keats, his writing took on a more literate and evocative quality.”(Margotin, Philippe.) Rusty, sometimes out of tune, Bob rejects the conventional singers voice and also with it the values usually associated with the music industry at the time (e.

g glamous and wealth.)  Dylan uses blues chords in his chord progressions within the album such as the in “ the Northern Blues” in which came as a result of his love for artists such as Muddy Waters.   The production of the album was entirely produced by Tom Wilson. He created 16The Times They are A-Changin’ (Song)This song is aimed to at people of doesn’t provides hope for the people that the world is changing for the better. This is shown through “ Come gather round people where ever they roam.”” This was definitely a song with a purpose. It was influenced … by the Irish and Scottish ballads.

“(Bob Dylan In an interview with Cameron Crowe) This is clear in the stucture of the song is strophic form. AAA Song Form makes the song feel familiar to the listener and also easy to sing along to. It is written in a quadruple time which gives the rhythm a hypnotic feel. The rhythm is constant and makes it even more easy to sing along to which is what folk music is about. The texture is.

…. as the chords move together and harmonise.

The melody line is simple and repeative as Dylan doesn’t like fancy vocals as it would distract the listeners from the story he is going to tell. The production on the is track is different to his previous albums as the guitar is more aggressive and harsh then the folk songs that have been recordered before. The voice is also high quality and clear with the added effects such as echo to the harmonica the song helped modernise folk orginal sound.

The Ballad Of Hollis BrownHollis Brown is a tells a tale about a man who couldn’t find work and how it effected his family. It is the first folk song based on personal experiences. While he was a child back in Hibbing where his friends father couldn’t find any work. The only instruments used are two guitars and his vocals. Flat picking was used on the repeative riff that is played throughout the song.

17The melody and structure to the songs is similar to the moutainers that played folk in the early 1920s which gives the song a feel of American authentistity. The tempo is 110 bpm and the timesigniture is in 2/4. The producer positioned the microphones differently then the other album. With the voice at the centre of the track recorder the guitar is quieter and more in the background the song. There has also been added slight reverb to the vocals. Over all the production creates a more intimate sound reflecting the songs personal lyrics. 18 A song like this had never been made like this before.

Personal and intimate this changed folk to genre is a catalyst where people can really share their story with the world and connect with others going through the same thing. With God on Our SideAn anti war song through the lyrics Dylan questioning whether the history taught at school is brainwashing people to go to war for God. Dylan mentions issues such as vietseam and the Cold War. He also  follows the traditions of folk music with biblical messages “ Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss.” The simple melody of “ With God on Our Side” has took insperation from the traditional Irish folk song “ The Merry Month of May.” The song is played with in moderato with a 3/4 time signiture.

The guitar is strummed and has a rhythm variations througout. The harmonica part in C introduced one of his acappella pieces for the first time. Within the One too Many Mornings The lyrics are based around his break up with his girlfriend. 18″As I turn my head back to the room. Where my love and I have laid” Dylans introsepective lyrics were fresh to the traditional folk story. The producer also soften the tones of his voice expresses that Dylan feels sad but accepting his break up as a part of life.  North Country BluesTrue story a women from Dylans youth about her hardships her mother dying, her husband sinking into alchoholism. 19Dylan uses expression in the guitar and voice to show the changing emotions the working class go through when they are faced with similar situations.

From being down to trying to stay positive but something else happens they end up in. An example of this is the melody and energy on each line. Line 1 ends on a down noteLine 3 rises with hope and energyLines 4 and 5 end on a down noteLine 6  the note goes down with little engery like the protaginist has accepts that their life is miserable Overall  Bob Dylans album “ The times are A-Changing” are visit to the development of folk music because he keeps to the true traditions of folk yet now involves himself and his experiences. Changing the microphones around to create a more intimate sound proves that folk can catch up with the modern time it just needs to..

. DATE OF RELEASE United States: January 13, 1964 on Columbia Records (REFERENCE CL2105/CS8905)Track list1.“ The Times They Are a-Changin’” October 24, 19633: 152.“ Ballad of Hollis Brown” August 7, 19635: 063.“ With God on Our Side” August 7, 19637: 084.

“ One Too Many Mornings” October 24, 19632: 415.“ North Country Blues” August 6, 19634: 35Side twoNo. TitleRecordedLength1.

“ Only a Pawn in Their Game” August 7, 19633: 332.“ Boots of Spanish Leather” August 7, 19634: 403.“ When the Ship Comes In” October 23, 19633: 184.“ The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” October 23, 19635: 485.“ Restless Farewell” Bibilography1)https://www.

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com/artist/bob-dylan-mn0000066915/biography16) Margotin, Philippe. Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track (Kindle Location 1630). Running Press.

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