Folk & Trad Music in the U.S.

Students in this course will examine a wide range of community music traditions in the United States from bluegrass festivals to local punk scenes in settings ranging from urban night clubs to rural front porches. Students will examine these cultural events and practices through an ethnographic perspective and focus on the relationship between music production and participation and the broader cultural contexts in which they occur. Through the discussion of course readings, audio and video examples, discussions with guest speakers, and primary ethnographic research, students will both become more familiar with a number of specific folk and traditional music practices and also gain a clearer understanding of the roles these music traditions play in their specific performance contexts as well as the broader US cultural system with which they interact every day. It is also the aim of this study to enable students to more clearly understand their own participation in community music cultures of the United States and to more closely consider the role of this music in their own lives and cultural practices as well as in the lives of others both nearby and across the country.