What's Old-Time Music?
Old-time is a specific genre of music which is a precursor of
"bluegrass" and "country music." Like many
genres ("folk," "blues," "classical,"
etc.) it is a concept which is sometimes fuzzy at the edges, and we're
not real puritanical about the concept.
It was the music played in the Appalachian region of the United
States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and in the
twentieth century until the time when radio came into the region, about
1930. After radio came in, everyone could hear music on the radio and
the styles of music changed. Old-time music incorporates both Celtic
influences from Europe and New England, and African-American influences
via the slaves who were brought over. The banjo was originally an
African instrument.
While the music is indigenous to Appalachia it is seldom heard there
now. I am from this region (east Tennessee), but during my
childhood I never heard this music and even today it is not widely known
in the area. When I go back to visit my relatives in East
Tennessee, I have to explain what "old-time" music is.
So-called popular music (what you hear on the radio) has completely
taken over. Obviously, though, many tunes have been composed since the
1930's (e. g. "Nixon's Farewell," "Sweet Nell," and
other popular tunes), though in the same general style.
Bluegrass music is more popular than old-time music and old-time is
often confused with it. Because bluegrass is so much more popular,
old-time bands are very sensitive to this distinction and may lecture
you at length on how old-time is not bluegrass. In fact, the Euphoria
String Band even wrote a song about the differences called "Gold
Plated Banjo" -- which was sharply critical, though in a
humorous way, of bluegrass music. The song goes on to humorously
describe how the singer is going to join a bluegrass band -- he's going
to play loud tunes no one can follow at a very fast speed and use weird
chord progressions.
This is a caricature of bluegrass music, but (minus the
editorialization) it does have some elements of truth. Old-time music is
different from bluegrass in several ways. In the first place, old-time
music was originally dance music, and even today that's how old-time
music is played the most. Bluegrass is oriented towards a performance
style, where people sit and listen to the music, and has flashy
performances and intricate melodies. Old time music is more rhythmic,
and the fiddle carries more of the rhythm with a somewhat exaggerated
bowing style. The banjo in old time is played "clawhammer
style" in which the hand hits the banjo strings in a down stroke.
In bluegrass the players use picks on their fingers and use an upstroke.
Bluegrass is also often at a quite rapid tempo. Old-time music is rarely
played much faster than about 120 or 130 beats per minute.
Having said that, though, old-time, country, and bluegrass however
often do overlap and often it's difficult to tell the difference between
them. Benten Flippen plays using a fiddle style that is clearly
old-time, but accompanied by a banjo player who uses a subdued, but
clearly bluegrass, picking style. The Carter Family, who were very popular during the Great
Depression, is claimed by several genres: old-time, country, bluegrass,
and even folk. They're really old-time, of course, but that's just
our opinion!
There are no really nationally well-known old-time bands. The
most famous recent band was the Freight Hoppers, but alas the band
members have now gone their separate ways. Old-time music is
growing in popularity as a form of music that can be heard
"live," not just on a radio or a CD, and as a participatory
form of music. People can become involved just by showing at your
local contra dance or community dance and listening or dancing.
Old-time music can also be played by many people at a variety of
different levels -- from the group of amateurs at a local jam session,
to the highly polished tunes of groups like the Freight Hoppers, Cathy
Barton and Dave Para, Rayna Gellert, the makers of the "Sweet
Nell" CD, Dan Levinson and the Boiled Buzzards, the Euphoria Stringband, and others.
Learn more about it and get involved with the scene as a dancer,
musician, or appreciative listener!
-- Keith Akers