folk elements

Traditionally, a piece of folk music should have some or all of these characteristics:

• It's transmitted (passed from one user to the next) orally, rather than via a written score.
• The original composer is often unknown – instead the tune and/or words spread organically.
• The music is played on traditional instruments.

Characteristics

• It was transmitted through an oral tradition.
• The music was often related to national culture.
• They commemorate historical and personal events.
• The songs have been performed, by custom, over a long period of time, usually several generations.

Examples of folk songs in the United States today include "Happy Birthday," camp songs, and children's songs. The second meaning of "folk music" is a particular genre of music. The roots of this genre are in traditional music, but it is by no means all traditional.

The four elements of any type of music are melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. The melody of a piece of music is a particular sequence of notes.

Basic Music Elements

• Sound (overtone, timbre, pitch, amplitude, duration)
• Melody.
• Harmony.
• Rhythm.
• Texture.
• Structure/form.
• Expression (dynamics, tempo, articulation)

Connects People. Music is about connecting people in every sense. Folk tunes create a bridge between people that otherwise might not exist. It helps establish connections between generations and to others within our community, bringing them together with a shared history and purpose.

May include intangible forms of expressive culture like dance, song, poetry, and foodways. Is traditional; it reflects shared cultural aesthetics and social issues. It is recognized that, as traditions are dynamic, traditional folk art may change over time and may include innovations in tradition.

Folk culture is separated from popular and high culture by its traditional and localized nature. The maypole tradition, where traditional dancing takes place around a pole on May 1st in villages and small towns, is a classic example of folk culture.

The four elements of any type of music are melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. The melody of a piece of music is a particular sequence of notes. Harmony is the element of music that is created when several different notes or tones are played at the same time.

Key Musical Terms

There are seven of these: Pitch, Duration, Dynamics, Tempo, Timbre, Texture and Structure. Pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of a tone. Duration is the length of time a note lasts for. Dynamics express how loud or quiet the music should be played.

In music theory, music elements play a key role, such as the importance of rhythm and beat in music theory, which not only highlights the style of music works, but also enables the audience to feel the rhythm of works in the process of listening.