Folk Music from the Revolution to the Civil War

3 Credits.

Before radio, recording, and mass culture forever changed how music is performed and consumed, vibrant, vernacular musical cultures thrived across the young United States. Singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments were activities central to the cultural practices of every community present (immigrants and settlers, indigenous peoples, enslaved and free, etc.) during the formative century between the American Revolution and the Civil War. This graduate seminar will explore the diverse musical sounds and traditions that emerged during the nation’s first century and consider how vernacular music is shaped by the experiences and conditions of those who make it. Through a series of case studies of particular musics and communities we’ll consider the nineteenth-century origins of some of today’s folk music idioms and explore rich intersections of sound, material culture, and social practice.