In the summer of 1972, a group of young people in Bloomington, Indiana, began a weekly gathering with the purpose of reviving traditional American old-time music and dance. In time, the group became a kind of accidental utopia, a community bound by celebration and deliberately void of structure and authority. In this joyful and engaging book, John Bealle tells the lively history of the Bloomington Old-Time Music and Dance Group -- how it was formed, how it evolved its unique culture, and how it grew to shape and influence new waves of traditional music and dance. Broader questions about the folk revival movement, social resistance, counter culture, authenticity, and identity intersect this delightful history. More than a story about the people who forged the group or an extraordinary convergence of talent and creativity, Old-Time Music and Dance follows the threads of American folk culture and the social experience generated by this living tradition of music and dance.

Ask an old-timer what life was like in rural upstate New York during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and you will hear about the dances and bees that brought villagers and farmers together. You will hear of favorite fiddlers who held center stage with dance tunes taken from early British and American sources. You will hear of old-time music and its significance to a people making the transition from a rural, agricultural life to an urban, industrial one. Old-Time Music Makers of New York State is the first book published on this rich legacy of traditional Anglo-American music and dance. It traces the development of old-time music beginning with its movement into New York State from New England in the early nineteenth century and to its combination with commercial country music in the twentieth century. Exploring the regional character of the music and its meaning co the people who enjoy it, Bronner introduces memorable figures from the major periods in the development of old-time music, and he places their stories, their lives, and their music in the context of the region's cultural and historical changes. This is much more than a regional study, however. Bronner brings to the fore issues of national scope and interest. He discusses the relationship of old-time music to the commercial country music with which it has been closely aligned, and he challenges the prevailing wisdom that the origins of country music are in the South. Musician, fan, folklorist, and historian alike will benefit from and enjoy this book. The many musical transcriptions, annotations, photographs, and appendixes provide a valuable reference to be used again and again.

Favorite Songs that people sang in the old days.

In 'Music as Social Life', Thomas Turino explores why it is that music and dance are so often at the centre of our most profound personal and social experiences.

Since the 1960's here has been an extraordinary revival of old-time string band music in California, and indeed throughout the American West. Despite being born blind, Kenny Hall has been a mainstay of many fiddle festivals and of the Western fiddle and string band revival in general. Kenny's musical style is passionate and energetic. This book is a helpful guide to his vast repertoire learned through years of careful listening. It is also a wonderful addition to the fiddler's bookshelf and a fitting tribute to a man who, for many an aspiring fiddler, has been a friend, guide, exemplar, and patron. Many of the tunes includes nonsense lyrics that Kenny used to help him remember the melody, and each tune is accompanied by Kenny's comments. the book is divided into five chapters: fiddle- based tunes (Fiddle Faddle), mandolin-based tunes (Rags, Tags, and Wags), Waltzes, tunes from an origin other than the United States or the British Isles (Kenny's Rambles); and vocal-based pieces including lyrics (Songs, Ballads, Ditties). Some of the transcriptions are written primarily for fiddle or mandolin, but most tunes can be performed on either instrument. This deluxe guide to Kenny Hall's vast repertoire offers fans of old-time music a great way to get to know Kenny and his music.

The music of the United States is so cool! It reflects the country’s multicultural population through a diverse array of styles. Rock and roll, hip hop, country, rhythm and blues, and jazz are among the country’s most internationally renowned genres. Since the beginning of the 20th century, popular recorded music from the United States has become increasingly known across the world, to the point where some forms of American popular music is listened to almost everywhere. A history and an introduction in the ethnic music in the United States, American Indian music, classical music, folk music, hip hop, march music, popular music, patriotic music, as well as the American pop, rock, barbershop music, bluegrass music, blues, bounce music, Doo-wop, gospel, heavy metal, jazz, R&B, and the North American Western music.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for increasing informal music-making in elementary school culture, and create a model of such music-making. Precedence for this model can be found in the literature of ethnomusicology, educational psychology and learning theory, multicultural music education, and cultural anthropology. Literature from four distinct traditions and contexts of music-making in integrative sociocultural contexts-sub-Saharan African ngoma, and Community Music as manifested in New Orleans second lines, old-time music and dance, and summer camp music-making-was parsed with a philosophical lens to determine and assess possible areas of intersection between these four participatory cultures and North American public school culture. Each of these five areas was examined through a comprehensive review of literature to define their salient characteristics. These characteristics were sorted to determine commonalities between areas, and the zones of intersection became the basis for a speculative model of integrative music learning, featuring the inclusion of musical opportunities and interludes throughout the school day, thus taking school music beyond the confines of the music room. Instruction in music classes would still continue, enhanced in this model by supplemental learning opportunities inspired by the informal learning of traditional world musics, the participatory practice of New Orleans second line parades, old-time music and dance, and summer camp music culture. This model of integrative learning is also informed by current educational best practices such as child-centered learning, peer tutoring, experiential learning, and multicultural perspectives. It acknowledges the diversity of traditions consulted, while aiming for the unity in their seemingly disparate disciplines. Five universal characteristics were uncovered in the search for areas of intersection between North American elementary school culture, child culture, ngoma music-making, and Community Music-style music-making in New Orleans, old-time music and dance, and summer camp contexts: (a) Song; (b) play; (c) informal learning, as evidenced by oral tradition, peer tutoring, self-learning; (d) kinesthetic learning; and (e) contextualized learning, as evidenced in the sociocultural uses of music and situated learning. This model strives for the enactment of school music as a vital and integral part of daily school culture.

Revival movements aim to revitalize traditions perceived as threatened or moribund by adapting them to new temporal, spatial, and social contexts. While many of these movements have been well-documented in Western Europe and North America,those occurring and recurring elsewhere in the world have received little or no attention. Particularly under-analyzed are the aftermaths of revivals: the new infrastructures, musical styles, performance practices, subcultural communities, and value systems that grow out of these movements. The Oxford Handbook of Music Revival fills this gap, and helps us achieve a deeper understanding of how and why musical pasts are reimagined and transfigured in modern-day postindustrial, postcolonial, and postwar contexts. The book's thirty chapters present innovative theoretical perspectives illustrated through new ethnographic case studies on diverse music and dance cultures around the world. Together these essays reveal the potency of acts of revival, resurgence, restoration, and renewal in shaping musical landscapes and transforming social experience. The book makes a powerful argument for the untapped potential of revival as a productive analytical tool in contemporary, global contexts. With its detailed treatment of authenticity, recontextualization, transmission, institutionalization, globalization, the significance of history, and other key concerns, the collection engages with critical issues far beyond the field of revival studies and is crucial for understanding contemporary manifestations of folk, traditional, and heritage music in today's postmodern cosmopolitan societies.

An important anthology of Irish and Celtic solos for the 5-string banjo featuring a comprehensive, scholarly treatise on the history, techniques, and etiquette of playing the banjo in the Celtic tradition. Includes segments on tuning, pick preferences, and tablature reading followed by 101 jigs, slides, polkas, slip jigs, reels, hornpipes, strathspeys, O'Carolan tunes, plus a special section of North American Celtic tunes. A generous collection of photos of Irish folk musicians, street scenes, and archaeological sites further enhances this fabulous book. All of the solos included here are written in 5-string banjo tablature only with a few tunes set in unusual banjo tunings. the appendices provide a sizable glossary and a wealth of information regarding soloists and groups playing Celtic music, Irish festivals, music publications, on-line computer resources, cultural organizations, and more. If you are serious about playing Celtic music on the 5-string banjo, or if you don't play the banjo but simply want to expand your knowledge of the Celtic music tradition-you owe yourself this book. the first-ever CD collection of Irish and Celtic music for 5-string banjo provides 68 lovely melodies and demonstrates revolutionary techniques for playing highly ornamented tunes and rolling back-up. Recorded in stereo with virtuosos Gabriel Donohue (steel- and nylon-string guitar and piano) and Robbie Walsh (bodhran- frame drum played with a stick), the five-string banjo is out front and plays through each melody in real-life tempo with authentic Celtic chordal and rhythmic backing. the recording features the music of all Six Celtic Nations and includes jigs, reels, hornpipes, slides, polkas, marches, country dances, larides, andros, slipjigs, strathspeys, airs and O'Carolan tunes. 35 songs in the book are not on the CD.

The Encyclopedia of New York State is one of the most complete works on the Empire State to be published in a half-century. In nearly 2,000 pages and 4,000 signed entries, this single volume captures the impressive complexity of New York State as a historic crossroads of people and ideas, as a cradle of abolitionism and feminism, and as an apex of modern urban, suburban, and rural life. The Encyclopedia is packed with fascinating details from fields ranging from sociology and geography to history. Did you know that Manhattan's Lower East Side was once the most populated neighborhood in the world, but Hamilton County in the Adirondacks is the least densely populated county east of the Mississippi; New York is the only state to border both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean; the Erie Canal opened New York City to rich farmland upstate . . . and to the west. Entries by experts chronicle New York's varied areas, politics, and persuasions with a cornucopia of subjects from environmentalism to higher education to railroads, weaving the state's diverse regions and peoples into one idea of New York State. Lavishly illustrated with 500 photographs and figures, 120 maps, and 140 tables, the Encyclopedia is key to understanding the state's past, present, and future. It is a crucial reference for students, teachers, historians, and business people, for New Yorkers of all persuasions, and for anyone interested in finding out more about New York State.