What is folk music?

What kind of songs do you consider to be folk songs?
Its not that clear what exactly is a folk song especially when we have such themes in music shows.

Sonya, I know what you are talking about 😆 Actually folk music becomes more of tradional based songs.. the folk music can be Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music etc where the music got originated and is particularly sung by the people there. They also have songs for each occasion like birth, wedding.. even the instruments used for such music are different from the usual once..

When it comes to theme in reality shows, the contestants are bound to sing songs that have are folk based.. But yes, its always better to sing the non-filmi songs which fall under the folk category.. Unfortunately that is not followed..

Few examples for folk in Hindi films are - Morini bhagama.. They are more inspired from the regional folk music.

I think they had folk song theme in II yesterday not in SRGMP!

Originally posted by: gopalbhai

I think they had folk song theme in II yesterday not in SRGMP!

But we can still discuss folk music, right? Would like people's inputs.

Its not a very obvious genre like sad songs, music director special, wedding songs etc.

Informative article on Indian folk music.

INDIAN FOLK MUSIC

by David Courtney

India has a very rich tradition of folk music. The extreme cultural diversity creates endless varieties of folk styles. Each region has its own particular style.

There is a tendency to lump folk music along with tribal music. There is actually a difference. Where folk music is a mere rustic reflection of the larger Indian society, tribal music often represents cultures that are very different. Some of these tribal cultures are throwbacks to cultural conditions as they were thousands of years ago.

Tribal and folk music is not taught in the same way that Indian classical music is taught. There is no formal period of apprenticeship where the student is able to devote their entire life to learning the music, the economics of rural life does not permit this sort of thing. The musical practitioners must still attend to their normal duties of hunting, agriculture or whatever their chosen profession is.

Music in the villages is learned almost by osmosis. From childhood the music is heard and imbibed along with ones mother's milk. There are numerous public activities that allow the villagers to practice and hone their skills. These are the normal functions which syncronize village life with the universe.

The music is an indispensable component of functions such as weddings, engagements, and births. There is a plethora of songs for such occasions. There are also many songs associated with planting and harvesting. In these activities the villagers routinely sing of their hopes, fears and aspirations.

Folk music is also used for educational purposes. For instance sex education has traditionally been taught in Andhra Pradesh by song. There is a function when a girl has her first menses. In this function the elderly women in the community gather at the house (men are definitely excluded), the girl is given her first woni and langa (half sari which is worn by unmarried girls), rich food and other gifts. During this function the women sing songs that are extremely bawdy. To an outsider this would seem uncharacteristic of obviously respectable community members. However the function of such songs is to provide the girl's first instructions on her emerging womanhood and what her future marital duties will be.

Musical instruments are often different from those found in classical music. Although instruments like the tabla may sometimes be found it is more likely that cruder drums such as daf, dholak, or nal will be used. The sitar and sarod which are so common in the classical genre are absent in the folk music. One often finds instruments such as the ektar, dotar, saringda, rabab, and santur. Quite often they will not even be called these names, but may be named according to their local dialect. There are also instruments which are used only in particular folk styles in particular regions. These instruments are innumerable.

The instruments that folk musicians use are generally not as refined as the classical musicians use. The instruments of classical music are crafted by artisans whose only job is the fabrication of musical instruments. In contrast the folk instruments are commonly crafted by the musicians themselves.

It is very common to find folk instruments that have been fabricated of commonly available materials. Skin, peritoneum, bamboo, coconut shells, and pots are but a few commonly available materials used to make musical instruments.

https://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/folk_musi c.html

Folk Music and Dance: Lavani, Bhangra, Dandiya, Rajasthani, Garba

Indian folk music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indian folk music is diverse because of India's vast cultural diversity. It has many forms including bhangra, lavani, dandiya and Rajasthani. The arrival of movies and pop music weakened folk music's popularity, but cheaply recordable music has made it easier to find and helped revive the traditions. Folk music (desi) has been influential on classical music, which is viewed as a higher art form. Instruments and styles have impacted classical ragas. It is also not uncommon for major writers, saints and poets to have large musical libraries and traditions to their name, often sung in thumri (semi-classical) style. Most of the folk music of India is dance-oriented.]]

Contents [] 1 Bhavageete 2 Bhangra 3 Lavani 4 Dandiya 5 Rajasthani 6 Bauls 7 Garba 8 Dollu Kunita 9 Kolata 10 Veeragase

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[edit] Bhavageete

Main article: Bhavageete

Bhavageete (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Most of the poetry sung in this genre pertain to subjects like love, nature, philosophy etc, and the genre itself is not much different to Ghazals, though ghazals are bound to a peculiar metre. This genre is quite popular in many parts of India, notably in Karnataka and Maharashtra. This genre may be called by different names in other languages. Kannada Bhavageete draws from the poetry of modern, including Kuvempu, D.R. Bendre, Gopalakrishna Adiga , K.S. Narasimhaswamy, G.S. Shivarudrappa, K. S. Nissar Ahmed, N S Lakshminarayana Bhatta etc. Notable Bhavageete performers include P. Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy, C. Aswath, Shimoga Subbanna, Archana Udupa, Raju Ananthaswamy etc.

[edit] Bhangra

Main article: bhangra

bhangra is a form of dance-oriented folk music that has become a pop sensation in the United Kingdom. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Punjab called by the same name, bhangra.

[edit] Lavani

Main article: lavani

lavani is a popular folk form of Maharashtra. Traditionally, the songs are sung by female artists, but male artists may occasionally sing Lavanis. The dance format associated with lavani is known as Tamasha.

[edit] Dandiya

Main article: dandiya

dandiya is a form of dance-oriented folk music that has also been adapted for pop music worldwide. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of dandiya called by the same name, dandiya.

[edit] Rajasthani

Rajasthani music has a diverse collection of musician castes, including langas, sapera, bhopa, jogi and manganiyar

[edit] Bauls

The Bauls of Bengal were an order of musicians in 18th, 19th and early 20th century India who played a form of music using a khamak, ektara and dotara. The word Baul comes from Sanskrit batul meaning divinely inspired insanity. They are a group of Hindu mystic minstrels. They are thought to have been influenced greatly by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as by Sufi sects. Bauls travel in search of the internal ideal, Maner Manush (Man of the Heart).

[edit] Garba

[edit] Dollu Kunita

Main article: [[]]

[edit] Kolata

Main article: Kolata

[edit] Veeragase

Main article: Veeragase

Dance-oriented folk music popular in Western India, especially during Navaratri.

I think there should be another question "Does the style of singing make it a folk song or it has to be a song sung by the ethnic folks traditionally ?"
I have not really seen folk songs which are that ancient. Almost all of them have languages not older than 500 /600 years.
IMO folk songs are those which are sung in a traditional style by working class people during their work , festivities ... which they have heard from their immediate ancestors and which are easily sung people from that cultural group without any significant musical training.