So many of us are simply not aware how much of the music that we teach our children is really folk music. Folk Music… What IS that? I love the definition the “All About American Folk Music” website says:
'You care about folk music because you're a "folk." If you've ever opened your mouth to sing a melody – for better or worse – or have clapped your hands and stomped your feet in rhythm to your favorite song, then you've taken part in folk music. Folk music, historically speaking, has accompanied everything that's ever happened in the world, from work to love to entire revolutions. People have always sung to pass the time, to cheer themselves up, to speak their mind, and for any other species of reasons they could come up with. Besides, the great thing about folk music is that you don't have to be glamorous and wealthy to make it happen. Heck, you don't even have to know how to play an instrument! It's a style of music that has been classified because it's of, by, and for the people.'
All those little nursery rhyme melodies that were cemented in our brains have lasted through the generations because of three simple reasons:
They are simple lyrics – easy to teach, easy to remember.
They are simple and lovely melodies – again, easy to learn, thus, easy to remember.
And we love them. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t keep singing them. Did you know that you’ve already taught your little one a folk song? Don’t’ think so? Well, look at these:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Old MacDonald Had A Farm
Puff the Magic Dragon
Polly Wolly Doodle
Jimmy Crack Corn
I’ve Been Workin’ On The Railroad
Oh Susanna
This Land is Your Land
Yankee Doodle
Folk Music has been going on for a long, long time and not only is it timeless, it shaped much of the social and political scene. That’s another post for another day.
So, my pal, Fiona Ritchie, host of NPR’s Thistle & Shamrock featured Pete Seeger on her radio show over Thanksgiving. I just got this today in an email from her, and encourage you to have a look and a listen in the next three weeks. Really. Do yourself the favor and take some time out. Have a listen. The next time you sing with your little one, you’ll be singing from a different place because you’ll have a deeper understanding, and a deeper respect, of where what we love to sing, came from. Pete Seeger is one of those pioneers and I bow humbly to this man and all he did, and continues to do.
Dear all,
Warmest wishes for Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, New Year and all your celebrations! Fiona Ritchie
[Scene setter:
A train journey up the eastern shore of the Hudson River transported us to Duchess County near the town of Beacon, NY, and towards the high ridge home of Pete and Toshi Seeger. "Homestead" may be a better way to describe their original house, a log cabin built by Pete on land he cleared in 1947, that sits adjacent to their present home. Newly chopped wood was piled by the door, a daily chore for Pete, now 90. The aroma of hot soup filled the air. I travelled there with Doug and Darcy Orr and we shared lunch with the Seegers before settling in for a chat with Pete, recorded for this broadcast. Anecdotes, insights, memories and music flowed around the kitchen table.]
[From our Website Guestbook:
"The show featuring Pete Seeger that was broadcast on Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful. While it may have been one of the least "Celtic" shows, it will certainly be one of the most memorable. I'm blogging about it in hopes more people might get to hear it."]
[From Listener e-mails:
"This program was surely one for the ages. You captured the spirit of an American icon."]
Fiona's website is: http://www.thistleradio.com/
If you google Pete Seeger, you'll find three months worth of stuff to read, listen and be inspired by.
Enjoy the ride~ Beth
