Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dancing and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle (see old time fiddling) and plucked string instruments, most often the 5-string banjo without a resonator pan, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which along with the simple banjo–fiddle duet have historically been the most common configurations to play old-time music.Huber, Patrick, Linthead Stomp, The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South; University of North Carolina Press, 2008 The genre is considered by some to be a precursor to modern country music, but it also has a contemporary active subculture of musicians in various parts of the United States. Old-time music can generally be distinguished from the more widely known bluegrass genre by the use of cross-tunings on the fiddle, by all melody instruments playing in unison, by a lack of individual instruments taking breaks to improvise, by sessions remaining in one tuning or key for an extended period (because fiddles and banjos are tuned especially for that key or even for one tune), and by banjos being frailedFrailing is not really the same as clawhammer. Frailing is done with the outermost knuckles or the backs of fingernails (instead of fingertips), and it is prevalent in old-time string band music. Fingerpicking (clawhammer style) of banjos is not confined to old-time music and may be found in sessions for other genres such as Cape Breton fiddle tunes. instead of finger-picked and lacking resonators, giving them a softer, mellower sound. In contrast, bluegrass banjos usually have a resonator pan attached (making them louder) and are typically played 3-finger-style with steel finger picks.
History Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of old-time music are in the traditional musics of the British Isles,Ritchie, Fiona and Orr, Doug; Wayfaring Strangers The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia, University of North Carolina Press 2021, 2nd ed. Europe, and Africa. African influences are notably found in vocal and instrumental performance styles and dance, as well as the often cited use of the banjo; in some regions, Native American, Spanish, French and German sources are also prominent. While many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of North American origin.Jamison, Phil; Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance, University of Illinois Press 2015
Etymology Old-time music, particularly when encompassing ballads and other vocal forms, is likely the oldest form of North American traditional music other than Native American music, and thus the term "old-time" is an appropriate one. In popular usage at 21st century fiddlers' conventions and summer music camps, it frequently describes styles of pre-bluegrass fiddle and banjo music as played in the Southern United States, so that "bluegrass banjo" and "bluegrass fiddle" can be judged separately. However, definitions of the phrase vary historically and geographically, including racially segregated titles used in record catalogs of the 1920s and 1930s, literal use to describe nostalgic song and tune collections over the years, and concert organizers' and record companies' use of the phrase in the 1960s to identify traditional instrumental and vocal music by rural white and black musicians, distinct from the then-commercialized "folk revival" music that included urban "interpreters" and singer-songwriters (See "Revival" below).
Contemporary fiddler's conventions, music camps and festivals often use the terms "old-time" and "old-time string band" interchangeably, heavily weighted toward instrumental performance and often placing vocal music in a separate folk song category.
When some of its early country music recordings became hits, the Okeh company, which had previously coined the terms "hillbilly music" to describe Appalachian and Southern fiddle-based and religious music and "race record" to describe the music of African American recording artists, began using "old-time music" as a term to describe the music of white artists including Fiddlin' John Carson, who began recording in 1923.
The term thus originated as a euphemism, but proved a suitable replacement for other terms that were considered disparaging by many inhabitants of these regions. It remains the term preferred by performers and listeners of the music. It is sometimes referred to as "old-timey" or "mountain music" by long-time practitioners.
Other sources The early 19th century Minstrel Show configuration of banjo, fiddle, rhythm bones and tambourine, at first performing tunes learned from black players, soon added tunes adapted from white players previous European-roots repertoire, and songs composed specifically for those ensembles, such as those of Stephen Foster, some of which are still in the old-time string band repertoire.Toll, Robert C., "Blacking Up, the Minstrel Show in 19th Century America," Oxford University Press; New edition (February 3, 1977) During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the guitar and mandolin became increasingly available, as well as factory made banjos, and tunes originating in Tin Pan Alley, gospel, ragtime, blues and other musics were adapted into the old-time style. People played similar music in all regions of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, but by the mid 20th century it was associated primarily with rural areas, particularly the Appalachian region.
Revival Important revivalists including Mike Seeger and Pete Seeger brought banjo and string-band music to New York City as early as the 1940s. The New Lost City Ramblers in particular took the revival across the country and often featured older musicians in their shows. The band was originally Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley. When Tom left the band, he was replaced by Tracy Schwarz. New Lost City Ramblers sparked new interest in "old-time" or "old-timey" music, and wrote about it in record notes, magazine articles, and the New Lost City Ramblers Songbook, later reissued as the Old-Time String Band Songbook.John Cohen, Mike Seeger, Hally Wood, eds.; Old-time string band songbook, Oak Publications, New York, 1976.
Folkways Records, founded in 1948, began to use the phrase "old time music" prominently in conjunction with Mike Seeger, the New Lost City Ramblers, other performers (e.g., Canadian fiddler Jean Carignan), and events ("The 37th Old Time Fiddler's Convention at Union Grove North Carolina"), including a 1960s New York City organization called the "Friends of Old-Time Music" (F.O.T.M. for short), with headquarters at Izzy Young's Folklore Center in Greenwich Village. The group's mission, as outlined in Richard Rinzler's booklet accompanying a concert collection, was to "reach deep into the grassroots and bring traditional folk music, performed by traditional artists, to the New York City area." Under its "Old-Time Music" umbrella, rather than the phrase "folk music" then being used heavily by commercial record companies and young singer-songwriters, the group presented a wide range of older black and white traditional and "roots" musicians, including Southern singers, fiddlers, banjo players, guitarists and string bands in styles ranging from unaccompanied and banjo-accompanied ballad-singing to bluegrass and blues artists, some of whom had recorded as early as the 1920s. (Among the concert performers were Clarence Ashley, Dock Boggs, Gus Cannon, Jesse Fuller, Roscoe Holcomb, Mississippi John Hurt, Furry Lewis, Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Doc Watson.)
A 2006 three-CD box set from Folkways reissued more of the original 14 concerts, under the title "Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961-1965," accompanied by a 60-page book by Peter K. Siegel, with essays by John Cohen and Jody Stecher. Among its observations, "When Ralph Rinzler, Cohen and Young decided to call their new organization the Friends of Old Time Music, they were referring to language that had been used by the commercial recording industry almost four decades earlier." In a separate essay, Cohen observes, "Ralph and I looked for name for our proposed organization, one that would avoid the pitfalls of the word 'folk,' for we needed to establish our own distinct identity as something apart from the folk revival," with its "commercialization of folk music by the music industry" and "urban performers who were interpreting and inventing folk music".
Vanguard Records used "Old Time Music at Newport" as the title for one of its several LPs from the Newport Folk Festival of 1963, including several Southern players who had performed at FOTM concerts and Folkways records, and others: Clarence "Tom" Ashley, Doc Boggs, Maybelle Carter, Jenes Cottrell, Dorsey Dixon, Clint Howard, Fred Price, and Doc Watson. The New Lost City Ramblers were included on a "Country Music and Bluegrass at Newport" record, and Mississippi John Hurt was among performers on "Blues at Newport." Ashley, whose band featured Doc Watson, appeared on both the "Old Time" and "Country Music and Bluegrass" collections.
Arhoolie Records in 1962 started a label called "Old Timey," reissuing dozens of LPs based on old 78s by old-time string bands and more – not only volumes of "Old-Time Southern Dance Music: Ballads And Songs," but "Pioneers Of Cajun Accordion 1926-1936," "Amadé Ardoin* – The First Black Zydeco Recording Artist (His Original Recordings 1928-1938)," "Classic Country Duets," and collections of "Western Swing, Blues, Boogie And Honky Tonk."
Instrumentation Old-time music is played using a wide variety of stringed instruments. The instrumentation of an old-time group is often determined by what instruments are available, as well as by tradition. The most common instruments are acoustic string instruments. Historically, the fiddle was nearly always the leading melodic instrument, and in many instances (if no other instruments were available) dances were accompanied only by a single fiddler, who often also acted as dance caller.
By the early 19th century, the banjo had become an essential partner to the fiddle, particularly in the southern United States. The banjo, originally a fretless instrument made from a gourd, provided rhythmic accompaniment to song, dance and the fiddle, incorporating a high drone provided by the instrument's short "drone string." The banjo used in old-time music is typically a 5-string model with an open back (i.e., without the resonator found on most bluegrass banjos). Today, old-time banjo players most commonly utilize the clawhammer style, but there were numerous styles, most of which are still used to some extent today. The major styles are down-picking (generally referred to today as "clawhammer," though historically myriad names were used to describe it), two-finger index lead, two-finger thumb lead, and a three-finger "fiddle style" that seems to have been influenced in part by late-19th century urban classical style. Young players might learn whatever style a parent or older sibling favored, or take inspiration from phonograph records, radio, traveling performers and migrant workers, local guitarists and banjo players, as well as other musicians they met when traveling to neighboring areas. Having a fiddle play the lead melody with a banjo playing rhythmic accompaniment is the most common form of Appalachian old-time music today.