Folk

Resources in this category:

Airs, Anthems, Ballads, Canons, Ditties, Folksongs, Hymns and War Songs
http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/

A database of folksongs of the world including the areas of Germany, England, France, Ireland, Austria, Scotland, and Wales. Both the lyrics and sound files (MIDI format) are available for many songs.

The American Nyckelharpa Association
http://www.nyckelharpa.org/

A site dedicated to the nyckelharpa, a Swedish folk instrument. Included on this site are a history of this string instrument, tips for learning how to play the nyckelharpa, sound files and You Tube links, and articles from the monthly magazine, Nyckel Notes.

Australian Folk Songs
http://folkstream.com/

An extensive collection of Australian folk tunes. Both sheet music and audio files are provided for each song. A glossary of Australian words is also included. Provides information on the history and development of the tunes, as well as articles about selected songs and a search option.

Beat of India
http://www.beatofindia.com/index.html

A collection of folk music resources including information about and examples of wedding and childbirth songs. Other features consist of artist biographies and a calendar of events.

California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties - American Folklife Center
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afccchtml/cowhome.html

This WPA project documents a representative collection of folk music being actively performed in Northern California in the 1930s. It comprises 35 hours of folk music recorded in 12 languages representing numerous ethnic groups and 185 musicians, as well as song transcriptions and research, photographs, drawings, field reports, and articles.

The Colonial Music Institute
http://www.colonialmusic.org/

A source for a variety of resources related to American colonial music including instructions on how to dance a Country Dance, a Minuet, a Cotillion, or a Reel. Essays about American colonial music are also featured.

Digital Tradition Folk Song Database
http://www.mudcat.org/threads.cfm

A searchable database "containing the words and music to thousands of folk songs." Each entry has the lyrics, some also have the music and an .au file of the melody. Titles or full text can be searched.

The Folk File : a Folkie's Dictionary
http://www.folklib.net/folkfile/

A dictionary of terminology from the world of folk music, including entries for folk artists. Browsable alphabetically.

folkmusic.org
http://www.folkmusic.org/

Information on folk and other acoustic music.

The Great Empire of China: The Internet Chinese Music Archive
http://www.ibiblio.org/chinese-music/

A vast collection of audio resources. Genres represented include children’s songs, traditional, popular, and ceremonial genres. The site is available in both Chinese and English.

Herodotus Project
http://losttrails.com/pages/Hproject.html

The focus of this educational website is to document and translate the works of Greek historian Herodotus. In addition to the text of his works, you can also find extensive photography of the locations and artifacts mentioned in the book. In keeping with the interests of Herodotus in ethnography and history, there are also field recordings and examples of authentic traditional folk music from Greece and Romania. Music from Turkey and Bulgaria will be added soon.

Hispano Music and Culture from the Northern Rio Grande: The Juan B. Rael Collection
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/rghtml/rghome.html

"Hispano Music and Culture of the Northern Rio Grande: The Juan B. Rael Collection is an online presentation of a multi-format ethnographic field collection documenting religious and secular music of Spanish-speaking residents of rural Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. In 1940, Juan Bautista Rael of Stanford University, a native of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, used disc recording equipment supplied by the Archive of American Folk Song (now the Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center) to document alabados (hymns), folk drama, wedding songs, and dance tunes. The recordings included in the Archive of Folk Culture collection were made in Alamosa, Manassa, and Antonito, Colorado, and in Cerro and Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. In addition to these recordings, the collection includes manuscript materials and publications authored by Rael which provide insight into the rich musical heritage and cultural traditions of this region."

Latvian Folklore and Traditional Culture
http://folklora.lv/en.shtml

Find out more about Latvian Folklore groups, activities, traditional instruments and performance styles. Traditional performance groups are divided by location and alphabetically, and some include musical samples.

Music Information Centre Norway
http://www.mic.no/english

Genres on this website include: world/folk/ethnic; jazz; classical/contemporary; pop/rock/electronica. There are also sections dedicated to artist biographies, CD reviews, and music downloads. Available in both English and Norwegian.

Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lohtml/lohome.html

"Covering a three-month period in 1939, the John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip documents a wide variety of musical styles from eight different states." This online presentation provides access to over 600 audio recordings of folksongs, related photos and other graphic images, as well as transcribed, searchable text for all the print material in the Lomax collection.

The Virtual Gramophone: Canadian Historical Sound Recordings
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/index.html

"A multimedia Web site devoted to the first half-century of recorded sound in Canada." The site provides information on famous Canadian musicians and composers, Canadian recording companies and images of 78rpm records. It also includes videos, audios of classic records and podcasts. Available in both English and French.

The Traditional Ballad Index
http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/BalladSearch.html

"An Annotated Bibliography of the Folk Songs of the English-Speaking World." Described as "a collaborative effort designed to help people find reference information on folk ballads. It is not itself a source of song texts or of discussion of ballads, although it contains some summary information." Searchable and downloadable.