American Roots Music: Appalachian Folk

In the lush green hills of the Appalachian mountains, hidden up winding roads and in the folds of numerous valleys, lies a culture that seems rooted in the very soil from which it sprang. This culture, known as Appalachia, consists of a rural and mountainous group of people that are  also referred to (often derisively) as hillbillies. The term hillbilly was originally of Scottish origin—hill denoting those who live in mountainous regions, and billy meaning comrade or fellow. The term has also been thought to designate the Scottish people who were ruled by William of Orange, as many of the early immigrants settling in the Appalachian mountains were originally Scotch-Irish and swore allegiance to him. These Scotch-Irish settled all along the Appalachian mountains in the early 18^th century, inhabiting the wide span on states from Southern New York all the way to Georgia and Alabama, bringing their music with them.

    The journey across the Atlantic Ocean and across the mountains meant that portability was key for any instruments that the Scotch-Irish wanted to bring over. They decided to bring their fiddles, an instrument that would have a profound impact on the music of the area. They also brought their bodhráns and their lyre harps and their sense of storytelling and religious themes within their music. The bodhráns morphed into riddle drums that were hit with brush percussion brushes and the lyre influenced the making of the dulcimer. These musical traditions mixed with other cultures, and soon the banjo, an African instrument, became prominent in this new music that was developing.

    As previously mentioned, another common instrument that emerged in Appalachia was the mountain dulcimer. This was a descendant of the scheitholt, an instrument that was brought to Appalachia by German immigrants who actually made up the largest foreign-born population in the area. The Scotch-Irish enjoyed the dulcet tones that the plucked chordophone created and so they decided to make their own version and add it to their own style of music. The most renowned dulcimer player was Jean Ritchie, who was born in Kentucky in 1922. Born to a musical family of Scotch-Irish descendent, she made it her mission to collect the Appalachian folk music and she even travelled to Scotland to learn where the folk style began. Today, she is regarded as the "Mother of Folk" and her music has been the inspiration for many modern folk, bluegrass, and country musicians including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Judy Collins. In the example below, you can hear how she uses the dulcimer as a steady rhythm as her melody floats above, sometimes diverging from the steady beat. Her singing is similar to the Scottish ballads, or even the African griot’s speech singing. Listening closely to her dulcimer melody, you can hear how the rhythm emphasizes the “back-beat” and provides groove to the music.

    The “back-beat” refers to accents on beats two and four which gives folk music that specific “foot-stomping” groove. At first, when music was played in small group settings, dulcimer was an excellent choice for providing just such an effect, but soon the banjo became an even better tool for making back-beats and creating groove while the fiddle played melody over the top. This was because the banjo has a specific twangy quality that can pierce through anything, making it perfect for loud bars or for dances. Traditionally, players used the “Clawhammer” style of picking in which the right hand would be roughly in the shape of a claw over the strings and only the thumb and index finger would pluck the strings. This was limiting however as this method didn’t allow for any virtuosity. In the early 20^th century however, a new style developed and was popularized by Earl Scruggs known as the three-finger picking style or “Scrugg’s Style” as it later became known. Scrugg’s Style is used almost exclusively today in folk music and Charlie Poole and Snuffy Jenkins—two renowned banjo players—followed in Scrugg’s footsteps, using the three-finger picking method to create more virtuosic banjo lines. Below you can hear Earl Scruggs demonstrate his skill on the banjo as he plays alongside the fiddler Paul Warren and the Foggy Mountain Boys. 

    Some Appalachian folk groups added the washboard, spoons, and even an upright bass to their music to provide the steady “back-beat”. This concept of groove and accents on the off-beats was something that had been honed by the Scots-Irish in their own music for dancing. The tradition of Scottish Ceilidh dance was very important to the Scottish people and so it was only natural that it would also make its way into the Appalachian culture. In the process of being brought to America, it morphed into barn dances, square dances, and contra dances which relied on Appalachian music with strong back-beats so that the dancers knew when to move their hips and often it would employ a “caller” who would call out the dance steps. This idea of dancing became very important in Appalachia as it brought a sense of community to this extremely diverse people group. As we have seen, the Appalachian folk music is an amalgamation of many different cultures including Scotch-Irish, African, German, and even Native American. The dancing and music brought all these cultures together and united them into a people that shared many commonalities. This syncretism of cultures didn’t exist solely in the music, however, but seeped into Appalachian art, food, folklore, and even dialect. Perhaps Appalachia is the true melting pot of America, a place where cultures blend and blur into each other so that it is hard to see where one ends and the other begins.

In truth Appalachian music embodies the spirit of the culture, one that is firmly rooted in the mountain soil and that finds contentment in nature, animals, and music. They may be a little rough around the edges and they always have dirt under their fingernails, but they enjoy what possessions they have and value their land above all. This last clip I will leave you with embodies this Appalachian spirit and includes fiddle, washboard, mandolin, banjo, and singing. Notice the singer’s bare feet, a true symbol of American roots. 

Bibliography

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Smith, Whitney. 2016. “Discovering the Roots of Appalachian Music.” The North Carolina 

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