[[quoteright:350:[[Music/WoodyGuthrie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thismachinekillsfascists.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You might say that the greatest weakness of a fat cat is ThreeChordsAndTheTruth.]]

One of three vague main categories of music, alongside ClassicalMusic and Popular (or {{Pop}}) Music.

The easiest way to understand the differences between the three would be: in Folk Music, the author is often ambiguous, and music is often distributed by rote; Classical Music refers to the tradition of music being performed from the score; and Popular Music refers to the tradition of music being played from recordings to reach a wide audience.

Despite it being the oldest category of music out there, no one seems to be quite able to define what folk music really ''is'', or if it even constitutes a proper genre. To many modern commentators, it is any music played by a lone singer-songwriter with a guitar, [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth three chords and the Truth]]. Except, that is, when it's played by a band, with complex arrangements, and there are no acoustic instruments in sight. The Leslie Fish definition (somewhat tongue in cheek) is "music played on instruments small enough to pick up and run when the cops show up."

To understand what folk music is and the kind of genres it covers, it is best to look at the history of the term. It is derived from folklore; i.e., the culture, traditions and customs of agrarian and working-class society. According to its original definition, it was distinguished from classical (or "art") music and popular music. The main characteristics of folk music were that it enjoyed mainly local popularity and was played by non-professional musicians. Later, it became largely synonymous with traditional music; i.e., songs that had been handed down orally for many generations and were still known to some segments of the population, and ''weren't'' part of one of the newfangled musical genres (like Tin Pan Alley, music hall, ragtime, or {{Jazz}}).

In this context, it was soon used to describe music that was peculiar to a particular part of the world and that did not fit the mold of academic or popular music. WorldMusic is now the more commonly used term for this category.

In the British Isles and North America, a renewal of interest in folk music took place between the 1890s and the 1960s. As singers such as Music/WoodyGuthrie and Music/LeadBelly led the scene during TheGreatDepression, it culminated in the American folk music revival, which began in 1948 with the rise of Pete Seeger and the Weavers. There was something of an interruption during the RedScare of TheFifties, since even playing a guitar was grounds for suspicion for communist sympathies, and some of the major figures like Pete Seeger and Ewan [=MacColl=] openly identified as socialists. However, the revival continued into TheSixties with the likes of Music/JoanBaez, Music/BobDylan, Music/PeterSarstedt and Music/PhilOchs.

Although all these musicians, from Guthrie through Dylan, drew heavily from tradition and were well versed in ancient ballads, it was at this point that many of them began to write their own material, addressing highly relevant political issues of the day; some of these songs had enough universal resonance to become standards themselves. Folk music became strongly associated with progressive politics and the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement.

A similar movement took place in Britain and Ireland, with perhaps a little more focus on the traditional aspect (although especially in Ireland, singing traditional songs ''itself'' is a political act).

It was from this Folk Revival that a new conception of folk emerged. Music/BobDylan, the [[EnsembleDarkhorse major breakout figure]] of the movement, soon abandoned politics in favour of more poetic, introspective songs. In 1965, he released two albums- ''Music/BringingItAllBackHome'' and ''Music/Highway61Revisited'' that blended folk music with blues rock. In the same year, Music/TheByrds released their hit single "Mr. Tambourine Man", a Dylan cover, which brought a pop-influenced upbeat and rhythmic element to the song. Bob Dylan and The Byrds were now the TropeMakers of a new genre: Folk Rock. From folk rock emerged Psychedelic Folk, Indie Folk and countless other genres. While it ultimately derived from the Folk Revival, folk music was not a classification anymore, but a particular style of music influenced by the one that emerged in TheSixties. It is a popular genre, if a somewhat alternative and underground one, to this day.

This is only one narrative drawn from the history of folk. Along the way, its many subgenres and regional variants spawned {{Blues}}, CountryMusic, {{Bluegrass}}, FolkPunk, FolkMetal and some of its elements incorporated into {{Slowcore}}. Depending on which definition you use, all music was at some point derived from folk. Before there were [[Music/JohannSebastianBach Bach]] and [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]], before Music/TheBeatles and The Buzzcocks, there were a few lone singers and instrumentalists who made songs purely for the love of it.

Around the 80's a genre called antifolk emerged, the shtick being subversion of the earnestness of 60's style folk, mocking pretension and seriousness and often being raw and experimental. Its definition is as loose and broad as folk itself. An example of a band influenced by this is the [[Music/TheMountainGoats Mountain Goats]].

European musicians, particularly in Eastern Europe, have followed in exploring their own folk traditions through the use of electric or electronic instruments. This music tends to be more traditional and folklore-orientated. However, the "sung poetry" genre in the Baltic States and Poland also focuses on setting the works of national poets to music. Other movements include "turbofolk", which had UnfortunateImplications in Serbia, where it was largely sponsored by the Milosevic clan, particularly Mira Markovic.

One of the more unusual outgrowths of Folk Music is [[FilkSong Filk]], the music of SF and Fantasy fandom; while it can be in almost any style, the majority of Filk is stylistically folk music, and indeed the name of the genre stems from a misspelling of 'folk' in a an essay submitted to a fanzine.

Perhaps all this confusion is best summarised by a quote from Music/LouisArmstrong: "All music is folk. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song".

!!Common Tropes:
[[index]]

(Also discussed in [[SoYouWantTo/WriteAFolkSong So You Want To Write A Folksong]])

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Occasionally subverted by the [[IWillWaitForYou woman who does wait]] and then double subverted by her lover in disguise who [[SecretTestOfCharacter tests her]] by trying to woo her away from her promise.
* ACappella: Many folk songs are intended for unaccompanied voices, sometimes with a chorus joining in on the refrain.
* AlwaysMurder: Too many murder ballads to count!
* BalladOfX: With bonus points for giving the trope its name from actual ballad form.
* BawdySong: Probably as many of these as murder ballads, if not more.
* BrokenRecord: Repeated lines and refrains will be heard a lot.
* CallAndResponseSong
* DeterminedHomesteader and related tropes, sometimes used ironically.
* DisguisedInDrag
* DrunkenSong: Folk song sessions can often be found in pubs and bars, and are just as often about drinking. As Creator/TerryPratchett observed, any song that begins "As I was a-walking..." is rarely sung sober.
* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes
* GoodLookingPrivates: Most of the time when a song is about lovers, the man is a soldier. In Scottish songs, becomes ManInAKilt.
* GoodOldWays: By definition, folk music is traditional, or at least looking back to tradition.
* TheHighwayman, which leads to:
** DefiantToTheEnd
** FaceDeathWithDignity
** PublicExecution
* HillbillyMoonshiner (and plenty of other drinking tropes)
* HistoricalBiographySong
* JobSong: Very common, especially if the job involves ships, farming, or trains.
* MurderBallad
* PirateSong
* ProtestSong:
** Common in 20th century American folk music. The tradition began with Music/WoodyGuthrie, whose music was defined by left-wing, pro-labor messages, and whose guitar famously proclaimed "This machine kills fascists", and many folk singers in the 60's wrote songs with pro-environment and anti-Vietnam war messages.
** Also in earlier periods in some countries, the use of traditional music and instruments was outlawed by colonial occupying powers, so performing any folk music at all was ''de facto'' protest music.
* RevengeBallad
* SweetPollyOliver
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth
* TrainSong
* TrueCrime: Many {{murder ballad}}s and broadsheets were early examples of a creative take on the genre. Naturally, though, any truth behind the murders in question usually takes second place at best to ArtisticLicense.
* UnpluggedVersion: Much folk music was created in eras or settings where acoustic instruments were the norm. Then again, Folk Rock is also a thriving form. There's naturally a very BrokenBase here among folk purists, as infamously demonstrated when Music/BobDylan [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dylan_controversy switched to electric guitar]].
* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Sea shanties, and songs about sailing, are a major subgenre of folk music in many cultures.
* WorkingClassAnthem: Quite a few folk songs are written as anthems for solidarity with labor unions. Especially notable contributions can be found from Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Ewan [=MacColl=].
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Applies especially to IRA songs, but most outlaw ballads and a few protest songs also fit.

!!Some folk music artists are:
* Music/AlexanderJamesAdams
* Music/AfroCeltSoundSystem
* Music/{{AJJ}}
* Music/TheAlarm
* Music/{{America}}
* Music/AmericanMurderSong
* Music/IkueAsazaki
* Music/NicoleAtkins
* Music/TheAustinLoungeLizards
* Music/EvaAyllon
* Music/JoanBaez
* Music/JulienBaker
* Music/TheBand
** 1969 - ''Music/TheBandAlbum''
* Music/WildWillyBarrett
* Creator/JoeyBatey
* Music/JamesBay
* Music/TheBeards
* Music/BenAndBen
* Music/GeoffBerner
* Creator/MattBerry
* Music/{{Beyonce}}: While her roots are in Main/RAndB and Main/{{Pop}}, she has taken to exploring a plethora of other genres, including [[Main/CountryMusic Country]] and Main/SouthernRock.
** 2024 - ''Music/CowboyCarter''
* Music/BigRedMachine
* Creator/TheodoreBikel
* Music/{{Bjork}}: Recorded one album almost entirely in a cappella, with lots of throat singing. Her other albums sometimes include folk elements, too.
** 2001 - ''Music/{{Vespertine}}''
** 2004 - ''Music/{{Medulla}}''
* Music/MichelleBlades has most of her musical inspirations tied to the FolkMusic of Latin America.
** 2015 - ''{{Music/Ataraxia}}''
** 2016 - ''{{Music/Polylust}}''
** 2017 - ''Music/PrematureLoveSongs''
** 2019 - ''{{Music/Visitor}}''
** 2020 - ''Music/NombrarLasCosas''
* Music/CarsieBlanton
* Music/BluesTraveler
* Music/EricBogle
* Music/BonIver
* Music/BillyBragg
* Music/PhoebeBridgers
* Music/BrightEyes
* Music/JeffBuckley
** 1994 - ''Music/{{Grace}}''
** 1998 - ''Music/SketchesForMySweetheartTheDrunk''
* Music/TimBuckley
* Music/BuffaloSpringfield
* Music/JakeBugg
* Music/TheByrds
** 1965 - ''Music/MrTambourineMan''
* Music/{{Calexico}}
* Creator/HamiltonCamp
* Music/{{Capercaille}}
* Music/VanessaCarlton
* Music/HarryChapin
* Music/TracyChapman
* Music/CharmingDisaster
* Music/CheerUpCharlieDaniels
* Music/ChasAndDave
* Music/{{Chumbawamba}}
* Music/GerryCinnamon
* Music/CityAndColour
* Music/TheCivilWars
* Music/ClamaviDeProfundis
** 2020 - ''Music/{{Chieftain}}''
* Music/BruceCockburn
* Music/CocoRosie
* Music/LeonardCohen - Very good writer, less good singer, [[CoveredUp gets covered frequently]] as a result.
** 1967 - ''Music/SongsOfLeonardCohen''
** 1969 - ''Music/SongsFromARoom''
** 1971 - ''Music/SongsOfLoveAndHate''
** 1974 - ''Music/NewSkinForTheOldCeremony''
** 1977 - ''Music/DeathOfALadiesMan''
** 1979 - ''Music/RecentSongs''
** 1992 - ''Music/TheFuture''
* Music/ShawnColvin
* Music/{{Comus}}
* Music/TheCorrs
* Music/JonathanCoulton
* Music/TheCraneWives
* Music/CrashTestDummies
* Music/JimCroce - With elements of blues, country, and pop.
* Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung
** 1970 - ''Music/DejaVu1970''
** Music/DavidCrosby
* Music/SherylCrow — Also a bit of rock and country
* Music/HeatherDale
* Music/{{Danielson}}[[note]]Also see Music/SufjanStevens, Music/WovenHand[[/note]]
* Music/DaveMatthewsBand
* Music/DaysNDaze
* Music/DeathInJune
* Music/TheDecemberists
* Music/DeltaRae
* Music/LanaDelRey - Swung this direction from Sadcore during the late 2010s.
** 2019 - ''Music/NormanFuckingRockwell''
* Music/JohnDenver
* Music/{{Devotchka}}
* Music/AniDiFranco
* Music/{{Donovan}}
* Music/TheDoubleclicks, purveyors of nerd folk.
* Music/DouweBob
* Music/NickDrake
* Music/TheDubliners
* Music/BobDylan
** 1962 - ''Music/BobDylanAlbum''
** 1963 - ''Music/TheFreewheelinBobDylan''
** 1964 - ''Music/TheTimesTheyAreAChangin''
** 1964 - ''Music/AnotherSideOfBobDylan''
** 1965 - ''Music/BringingItAllBackHome''
** 1965 - ''Music/Highway61Revisited''
** 1966 - ''Music/BlondeOnBlonde''
** 1967 - ''Music/JohnWesleyHarding''
** 1969 - ''Music/NashvilleSkyline''
** 1970 - ''Music/SelfPortrait''
** 1970 - ''Music/NewMorning''
** 1974 - ''Music/PlanetWaves''
** 1975 - ''Music/BloodOnTheTracks''
** 1975 - ''Music/TheBasementTapes''
** 1976 - ''Music/{{Desire}}''
** 1978 - ''Music/StreetLegal''
** 1979 - ''Music/SlowTrainComing''
** 1989 - ''Music/OhMercy''
** 1992 - ''Music/GoodAsIBeenToYou''
** 1997 - ''Music/TimeOutOfMind''
** 2009 - ''Music/ChristmasInTheHeart''
** 2020 - ''Music/RoughAndRowdyWays''
* Music/EntertainmentForTheBraindead
* Music/{{Ergyron}} - Chukchi (Russian [[EskimoLand Eskimo]]) song and dance ensemble.
* Music/FairportConvention
** 1969 - ''Music/WhatWeDidOnOurHolidays''
** 1969 - ''Music/{{Unhalfbricking}}''
** 1969 - ''Music/LiegeAndLief''
* Music/MarianneFaithfull
* Music/FatherJohnMisty
* Music/FishermansFriends
* Music/FleetFoxes
* Music/FirstAidKit
* Music/ShelbyFlint
* Music/FloofAndTheTimeBandits
* Music/TheFugs
** 1965 - ''Music/TheFugsFirstAlbum''
** 1966 - ''Music/TheFugsSecondAlbum''
** 1968 - ''Music/ItCrawledIntoMyHandHonest''
* Music/GaelicStorm
* Music/LisaGermano
* Music/{{Girlyman}}
* Music/GoA
* Music/MatthewGood
* Music/GraceAndTony
* Music/JohnGrant
* Music/TheGratefulDead: From the 1970s on.
** 1970 - ''Music/AmericanBeauty''
* Music/DavidGray
* Music/DosGringos
* Music/GrizzlyBear
* Music/{{Gryphon}}
* Music/GreatBigSea
* Music/FerreGrignard: specializes in skiffle
* Music/MadelineHarperGuest
* Music/WoodyGuthrie
** 1940 - ''Music/DustBowlBallads''
* Arlo Guthrie
** 1967 - ''Music/AlicesRestaurant''
* Music/HalfManHalfBiscuit
* Music/LisaHannigan
* Creator/MikeHarding
* Music/PJHarvey
** 2007 - ''Music/WhiteChalk''
* Music/AHawkAndAHacksaw[[note]]Also see Music/NeutralMilkHotel[[/note]]
* Music/{{Hayden}}
* Music/{{Heilung}} describe their sound as "amplified history."
* Music/JoeHill
* Music/{{Horslips}}
* Music/BenHoward
* Music/{{Hozier}} is heavily influenced by this genre
* Music/TheHu
* Creator/MichielHuisman (around the mid-oughts)
* Creator/MariIijima
* Music/TheIncredibleStringBand
* Music/IndigoGirls
* Music/IronAndWine
* Music/GregoryAlanIsakov
* Music/TakeoIschi
* Creator/BurlIves
* Music/LosJaivas
* Music/JeffersonAirplane
** 1966 - ''Music/JeffersonAirplaneTakesOff''
** 1967 - ''Music/SurrealisticPillow''
** 1968 - ''Music/CrownOfCreation''
* Music/{{Jewel}}
* Music/JackJohnson
* Music/JerryJoseph
* Music/LosKjarkas
* Music/MeganJeanAndTheKFB
* Music/NoahKahan
* Music/DanielKahnAndThePaintedBird
* Music/KaizersOrchestra
* Music/{{Kalush}}
* Music/CaroleKing
** 1971 - ''Music/{{Tapestry}}''
* Music/KingCharles
* The Kingston Trio (original line-up from 1957 to 1967)
* Music/NataliaLafourcade
* Music/JonLajoie
* Music/LadyLamb
* Music/LeadBelly
* Music/JennyLewis
* Music/GordonLightfoot
* Music/{{Lindisfarne}}
* Music/{{Loituma}}
* Music/TheLongestJohns
* Music/LordHuron
* Music/TheLovinSpoonful
* Music/TheLumineers
* Lyube
** 1992 - "Music/DontPlayTheFoolAmerica"
* Music/{{Manel}}
* Music/LauraMarling
* Music/AndyMckee
* Music/LoreenaMcKennitt
* Music/TheMamasAndThePapas
* Music/JohnMartyn
* Music/DonMcLean
** 1971 - ''Music/AmericanPie''
* Music/BrianMcNeill
* Music/MegAndDia
* Music/JohnMellencamp
* Music/TheMenTheyCouldntHang
* Music/JeremyMessersmith
* Music/IngridMichaelson
* The Microphones
** 2001 - ''Music/TheGlowPt2''
* Music/MischiefBrew
* Music/AnaisMitchell
** 2010 - ''Music/{{Hadestown}}''
* Music/JoniMitchell
** 1971 - ''[[Music/BlueJoniMitchellAlbum Blue]]''
** 1976 - ''Music/{{Hejira}}''
* Music/VanMorrison
** 1968 - ''Music/AstralWeeks''
* Music/TheMountainGoats
* Music/MoxyFruvous
* Music/JasonMraz
* Music/MumfordAndSons
* Music/MarissaNadler
* Music/{{Namgar}} - the best and only Buryat-Mongolian folk-rock fusion band.
* Music/JoannaNewsom
** 2006 - ''Music/{{Ys|2006}}''
** 2010 - ''Music/HaveOneOnMe''
* Music/SineadOConnor - Known for her folk-rock, along with various other genres.
* Music/OfMonstersAndMen
* Music/OkkervilRiver
* Music/{{Oliver}}
* Music/AngelOlsen
* Music/AnetteOlzon - She's better known for her work in SymphonicMetal bands, but her two solo albums are a mix of folk rock, AlternativeRock, and IndiePop.
* Music/NataliaOShea - Russo-Celtic folk-rock.
* Music/OtavaYo
* Music/PeterPaulAndMary
* Music/GracePetrie
* Music/PhillipPhillips
* Music/ConorOberst
* Music/PhilOchs
* Music/TheOhHellos
* Music/BabatundeOlatunji
** 1960 - ''Music/DrumsOfPassion''
* Music/AmandaPalmer
* Music/{{Pentangle}}
* Music/PhilemonArthurAndTheDung
* Music/{{Poco}}
* Music/KarinePolwart
* Music/PoxyBoggards
* Music/TheProclaimers
* Music/RadicalFace
* Music/RankoUkulele
* Music/{{Rasputina}}
* Music/DamienRice
* Music/JonathanRichman
* Music/{{Rodriguez}}
* Music/StanRogers
* Music/RoseWithTeeth
* Music/DavidRovics
* Music/KateRusby
* Music/SaidTheWhale
* Music/BuffySainteMarie
** 1969 - ''Music/{{Illuminations}}''
* Patrick Schneeweis, better known as Music/PatTheBunny
* Music/PeterSarstedt
* Music/TheSawDoctors
* Music/TheScript
* Music/SeaWolf
* Music/EdSheeran
** 2017 - ''[[Music/{{Divide}} ÷]]''
* Music/PattiSmith occasionally ventures into this, especially her first couple of albums after her husband died.
* Music/ReginaSpektor is heavily influenced by it, and is considered to be one of the founders of anti-folk
* Music/RachelSermanni
* Creator/SamShepard
* Music/SimonAndGarfunkel
** 1970 - ''Music/BridgeOverTroubledWater''
* Music/PaulSimon
** 1986 - ''Music/{{Graceland}}''
*** "Music/YouCanCallMeAl"
* Music/NinaSimone
* Music/TheSingingKettle
* Music/JillSobule
* Music/BruceSpringsteen generally ventures into this area when not pursuing full-band arrangements with the E Street Band. Folk influences can be found on his first album. He would venture fully into folk with the album ''Nebraska''.
** 1973 - ''Music/GreetingsFromAsburyParkNJ''
* Creator/SashaSpielberg
* Music/SteeleyeSpan
** 2013 - ''Music/{{Wintersmith}}''
* Music/SufjanStevens[[note]]Also see Music/{{Danielson}}, Music/TheNational[[/note]]
** 2005 - ''Music/{{Illinois}}'' (Combines straightforward folk with more ornate BaroquePop arrangements)
** 2015 - ''Music/CarrieAndLowell''
* Music/AlStewart
* Music/JohnStewart
* Music/RodStewart
* Music/StephenStills
* Music/SunKilMoon
* Music/OysteinSunde - Norwegian singer with satirical songs
* Music/BillSutton
* Music/TaylorSwift - made her foray into this genre with two surprise albums, written in isolation during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic quarantine.
** 2020 - ''Music/{{folklore|2020}}''
** 2020 - ''Music/{{evermore|2020}}''
* Music/JamesTaylor
* Music/TeganAndSara
* Music/ViennaTeng
* Creator/GerryTesch (though probably better-known as "Günter Tesch" in his homeland Germany where he released several religious folk music albums). "Gerry" is more notable for his bizarre history of promotional scams and charity fraud via the Literature/MaradoniaSaga.
* Music/RichardThompson
* Music/TheTragicallyHip
* Music/TroutFishingInAmerica
* Music/SJTucker
* Music/FrankTurner
* Music/TheTurtles
* Music/UncleBonsai
* Music/TownesVanZandt
* Music/{{Varttina}}
* Music/SuzanneVega
* Music/MaiaVidal
* Music/VladimirVysotsky
* Music/TomWaits
** 1999 - ''Music/MuleVariations''
* Music/ColterWall
* Music/{{Wardruna}}
* Music/JasonWebley
* Music/TheWeepies
* Music/WeyesBlood
* Music/JackWhite
* Music/ChelseaWolfe
* Music/ChrisWoodMusician
* Music/WovenHand[[note]]Also see Music/SixteenHorsepower, Music/{{Danielson}}[[/note]]
* Music/TheWurzels
* Music/{{Xera}}
* Music/RayaYarbrough
* Music/PeteYorn
* Music/NeilYoung, including some of his work with Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung.
** 1969 - ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere''
** 1970 - ''Music/AfterTheGoldRush''
** 1979 - ''Music/RustNeverSleeps''
* Music/WarrenZevon
* Music/TheWolfeTones
* Music/RoyZimmerman
[[/index]]
----