Old-time music is a type of folk music from North America. It developed alongside traditional dances such as square dancing, contra dancing, and buck dancing. This music is played using acoustic instruments, often including a fiddle, a 5-string banjo without a resonator, guitar, and mandolin. These instruments together form a group called a string band, which, along with a simple fiddle and banjo pair, are the most common ways to play old-time music. Some people believe old-time music came before modern country music, and it is still played today by musicians in many parts of the United States. Old-time music is different from bluegrass music in several ways. For example, old-time fiddles often use cross-tunings, all melody instruments play the same notes together, and no single instrument takes turns playing solo parts. Music sessions usually stay in one tuning or key for a long time because the fiddle and banjo are often tuned specifically for that key or song. Banjos in old-time music are usually played with a strumming technique called fraile and do not have resonators, which makes their sound softer. In contrast, bluegrass banjos have resonators to make them louder and are often played using a three-finger style with steel finger picks.

History

Old-time music has roots in the traditional music of the British Isles, Europe, and Africa. African influences are seen in singing, playing instruments, and dancing, as well as in the use of the banjo. In some areas, music from Native American, Spanish, French, and German cultures is also important. Many dance songs and ballads come from Europe, but others were created in North America.

Old-time music, especially when it includes ballads and other songs, is likely the oldest form of North American traditional music besides Native American music. This is why the term "old-time" is used. In modern times, at events like fiddlers' conventions and music camps, "old-time" often refers to music played on fiddle and banjo before bluegrass became popular in the southern United States. However, the meaning of the term has changed over time and across regions. In the 1920s and 1930s, record catalogs used racially separate names for music. Later, in the 1960s, the term was used to describe traditional music by rural white and black musicians, different from the "folk revival" music that included urban performers.

Today, events like fiddlers' conventions and festivals often use "old-time" and "old-time string band" interchangeably. These events focus more on instrumental music and sometimes place singing in a separate category called "folk songs."

In the early 1900s, the Okeh record company used the term "old-time music" to describe the music of white artists, such as Fiddlin' John Carson, who started recording in 1923. This term was used as a polite way to replace other words that were considered offensive. It became the preferred term for both musicians and listeners. Some people also call it "old-timey" or "mountain music."

In the early 1800s, music groups called minstrel shows included instruments like the banjo, fiddle, and tambourine. At first, they played songs learned from Black musicians, but later added songs from White musicians and created new songs, like those by Stephen Foster. These songs are still played today. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, guitars and mandolins became more common, and music from Tin Pan Alley, gospel, ragtime, blues, and other styles was adapted into old-time music. People played similar music across the United States in the 1700s and 1800s, but by the 1900s, it was mostly associated with rural areas, especially the Appalachian region.

Important figures like Mike Seeger and Pete Seeger helped bring banjo and string band music to New York City in the 1940s. A group called the New Lost City Ramblers, made up of Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley, later spread the revival of old-time music across the country. When Tom Paley left the group, Tracy Schwarz joined. This group helped raise interest in old-time music and wrote about it in records, magazines, and songbooks.

Folkways Records, started in 1948, used the term "old-time music" to highlight traditional music by performers like Mike Seeger, the New Lost City Ramblers, and others. They also supported events like the "Old Time Fiddler's Convention" and a group called "Friends of Old-Time Music" based in Greenwich Village. This group aimed to bring traditional music by rural musicians to New York City. They included performers like Clarence Ashley, Dock Boggs, and Doc Watson, who played styles ranging from ballads to bluegrass and blues.

In 2006, Folkways released a three-CD collection called "Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961-1965," which included essays and reissued concerts. The group wanted to use the term "old-time" instead of "folk" to avoid the commercialization of traditional music by the music industry and to focus on rural performers.

Vanguard Records used the title "Old Time Music at Newport" for one of its records from the 1963 Newport Folk Festival. This record included musicians like Clarence "Tom" Ashley, Doc Boggs, and Doc Watson, who had also performed at events organized by "Friends of Old-Time Music" and Folkways Records. The New Lost City Ramblers were on a record called "Country Music and Bluegrass at Newport," and Mississippi John Hurt performed on "Blues at Newport."

In 1962, Arhoolie Records started a label called "Old Timey," which reissued music from old 78s recordings. These included songs from old-time string bands, Cajun accordion players, and other musicians. Examples are "Old-Time Southern Dance Music: Ballads And Songs," "Pioneers Of Cajun Accordion 1926-1936," and "Classic Country Duets."

Instrumentation

Old-time music is played using many different stringed instruments. The instruments used in an old-time group often depend on what is available and traditional practices. The most common instruments are acoustic string instruments. Historically, the fiddle was usually the main instrument for playing melodies. In many cases, especially when no other instruments were available, dances were played only by a single fiddler, who sometimes also called the dance.

By the early 19th century, the banjo became an important instrument to play with the fiddle, especially in the southern United States. The banjo, which originally had no frets and was made from a gourd, provided rhythm for songs, dances, and the fiddle. It had a high, continuous sound from its short "drone string." The banjo used in old-time music is typically a 5-string model with an open back (without the resonator found on most bluegrass banjos). Today, old-time banjo players often use the clawhammer style, though many other styles were also used. Major styles include down-picking (called "clawhammer" today), two-finger index lead, two-finger thumb lead, and a three-finger "fiddle style" influenced by late-19th-century urban classical music. Young players might learn from family members, phonograph records, radio, traveling performers, local musicians, or other musicians they met while traveling. The most common form of Appalachian old-time music today is a fiddle playing the melody while a banjo provides rhythm.

Individual musicians developed unique three-finger styles, including Uncle Dave Macon, Dock Boggs, and Snuffy Jenkins. The techniques used by these musicians, especially Jenkins, influenced Earl Scruggs to create the three-finger Scruggs style in the 1940s. This helped separate old-time music from the solo-focused style that became bluegrass. Jenkins developed a three-finger "roll" method that inspired Scruggs to create smoother, faster, and more complex rolls now common in bluegrass.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, musicians added other stringed instruments to the fiddle-banjo pair, such as guitar, mandolin, and double bass (or washtub bass). These instruments provided chords, bass lines, and rhythmic support, and sometimes played the melody during a "break" section. A Dobro (resonator guitar) is also part of bluegrass music, but old-time music usually uses fewer instruments than bluegrass. A group of musicians using any combination of stringed instruments is called a "string band." Less common instruments include cello, piano, hammered dulcimer, Appalachian dulcimer, tenor banjo, tenor guitar, lap-steel guitar, mandola, mouth bow, jug, harmonica, autoharp, jaw harp, concertina, button or accordion, washboard, spoons, or bones.

Sometimes, two people play the fiddle at the same time. One person uses the bow and fingers, while another person stands nearby and taps rhythm on the strings with small sticks called fiddlesticks (also spelled "fiddle sticks"). This technique, sometimes called "beating the straws," is used by the duo Al and Emily Cantrell.

Old-time music from different regions often accompanies different dance styles. These include clogging and flatfoot dancing (Appalachia), contra dancing (New England), square dancing (Southern states), and step dancing (Nova Scotia, especially Cape Breton Island). Some styles overlap between regions.

Regional styles

Old-time music has many different styles in different areas, each with its own songs and ways of playing. However, some songs, like "Soldier's Joy," are found in nearly every style, though they are played slightly differently in each region.

Appalachian folk music came from music brought by English and Scottish settlers and African-American slaves and settlers. This music later influenced country music and old-time music.

Because of the difficult mountain terrain, the people in the area were mostly separated from outside influences. In 1916, Cecil Sharp came to Appalachia and recorded many folk songs. He found 1,600 versions of 500 songs from 281 singers, mostly from English and Scottish ballads. After his study, he published a book called English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. Some songs he recorded include "The Hangman Song" and "Barbara Allen." Most of his recordings came from families near Shelton Laurel, North Carolina. These families kept a special way of singing and using traditional English words for many years. Their style became famous in the 1960s and 1970s through recordings by John Cohen. People related to these families still use this unique singing style today.

Scottish fiddler Niel Gow is usually credited with creating the short bow sawstroke technique in the 1740s, which became a key part of Appalachian fiddling. This technique changed over the next century, especially with the influence of European dances like waltzes and polkas.

African Americans, both enslaved people and free workers in industries like timber and coal mining, influenced Appalachian music. The banjo, which came from African American traditions, was later played by white musicians like Joel Walker Sweeney before the Civil War.

Appalachian folk music became a major influence on styles like country music and bluegrass. It is one of the few regional styles of old-time music that has been widely practiced in the United States, Canada, and other countries since World War II. In some areas, like the Midwest and Northeast, Appalachian music is more popular than the traditional old-time music of those regions. Many people who play Appalachian folk music live on the East and West Coasts, especially in cities like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Pacific Northwest. Some American classical composers, like Henry Cowell and Aaron Copland, have combined Appalachian folk music with classical traditions in their works.

Appalachian old-time music includes many regional traditions. Some important ones are from North Georgia (the Skillet Lickers), Mount Airy, North Carolina (the Round Peak style of Tommy Jarrell), Grayson County/Galax, Virginia (Wade Ward and Albert Hash), West Virginia (the Hammons Family), Eastern Kentucky (J. P. Fraley and Lee Sexton), Middle Tennessee (Uncle Dave Macon, the McGee Brothers, Thomas Maupin, and Fiddlin' Arthur Smith), and East Tennessee (Charlie Acuff, the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers, G.B. Grayson).

Bascom Lamar Lunsford, a native of North Carolina, collected traditional music and started an old-time music festival in Asheville, North Carolina. Notable North Carolina banjo players and makers include Frank Proffitt, Frank Proffitt Jr., and Stanley Hicks, who learned to make and play fretless mountain banjos from their families. These musicians learned their skills mostly from family and had less influence from commercial recordings. Their style, which is older than many stringband traditions, has been recently copied by modern musician Tim Eriksen.

Southern states, especially Virginia and North Carolina, have some of the oldest old-time music traditions in the United States. States in the Deep South, like Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana, also have their own old-time music traditions. The Ozark Mountains in Arkansas and Missouri, as well as the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas, have their own styles, though they are sometimes confused with the Ozarks. While Louisiana Cajun music shares similarities with other old-time traditions, it is usually treated as a separate tradition.

Some Native American and First Nations groups, like the Métis and Athabaskan people, have their own old-time traditions. Native American musicians, such as Walker Calhoun of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Matthew Kinman of the Apache Tribe, and Wovoka Herrera of the Northern Paiute people, have also played old-time music using traditional methods.

New England states, among the first settled by Europeans, have one of the oldest old-time music traditions. Although early settlers called the Puritans avoided instrumental music, dance music became popular in both cities and rural areas by the 17th century. Today, common instruments include the fiddle, piano, and guitar, with the wooden flute sometimes used. Like Appalachian folk music, some classical composers, such as Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, and John Cage, have used New England folk music in their works. This style has more varied rhythms than southern old-time music, including schottisches, hornpipes, and waltzes in addition to reels.

Starting in the early 19th century, when the Midwest was settled by immigrants from the eastern United States and Europe, the region developed its own old-time music styles. The Missouri style is known for its energetic bowing, while Michigan has a continuous tradition of hammered dulcimer music throughout the 20th century.

Central and southern Illinois also has its own distinct old-time music style and songs.

In the Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota, old-time music often includes Scandinavian styles, like Norwegian and Swedish music.

Texas developed a unique twin-fiddling tradition that later became known as Western swing music, popularized by Bob Wills. Fiddle music has also been popular in Western states like Oklahoma and Colorado since the 19th century. The National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest has been held in Weiser, Idaho, since 1953.

Oklahoma, with many Native American residents, has produced Native American old-time string bands, such as Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band, which was recorded in 1929.

A California old-time music scene grew from folk music communities in the 1960s and 1970s, including places like Fresno and Berkeley, as well as music camps like Sweets Mill.

Contemporary musicians

The old-time music scene is still active today, beginning in the mid-1990s because of movies, easier access to music sources, groups like the Field Recorders Collective, and performances by touring bands such as the Freight Hoppers, the Wilders, Uncle Earl, Old Crow Medicine Show, Glade City Rounders, Foghorn Stringband, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Modern old-time music often mixes styles with similar genres, such as bluegrass or other kinds of folk music.

A new group of musicians performs as solo artists and band leaders across the United States, including: Brad Leftwich, Dan Levenson, Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, Bruce Greene, Rhys Jones, Rayna Gellert, Riley Baugus, Leroy Troy, Alice Gerrard, Dirk Powell, Walt Koken, Clifton Hicks, and Martha Scanlan. The Appalachian dulcimer has been used in string bands in Galax, Virginia, for many years and is becoming popular again as an important instrument in old-time music, influenced by musicians like Don Pedi, David Schnaufer, Lois Hornbostel, Wayne Seymour, his students Milltown and Stephen Seifert. American hammered dulcimer players such as Ken Kolodner, Mark Alan Wade, and Rick Thum continue this tradition. Family bands, like The Martin Family Band from Maryland, keep old-time music traditions alive by playing music on instruments such as fiddle, banjo, lap dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, mandolin, piano, guitar, bass, and percussion. The Carolina Chocolate Drops and the solo careers of former members Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons have helped revive the nearly forgotten tradition of black stringband music.

Other musicians who practice old-time music include Charlie Acuff from Alcoa, Tennessee; Chester McMillian from Mount Airy, North Carolina; Lee Sexton from Line Fork, Kentucky; Thomas Maupin from Murfreesboro, Tennessee; George Gibson from Knott County, Kentucky; Michael Defosche from Jackson County, Tennessee; Rob Morrison from Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Jimmy Costa from Talcott, West Virginia; Curtis Hicks from Chattanooga, Tennessee; Clyde Davenport from Monticello, Kentucky; Delmer Holland from Waverly, Tennessee; and Harold Luce from Chelsea, Vermont.

Festivals

Well-known traditional music festivals (some also include bluegrass, dance, and other related arts) include the Northern Lights Bluegrass and Old Tyme Music Camp and Festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (established 2005), the Old Fiddler's Convention in Galax, Virginia (established 1935), the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville, West Virginia (established 1950), the National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest in Weiser, Idaho (established 1953), the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention in Mount Airy, North Carolina (established 1972), Uncle Dave Macon Days in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, West Virginia (established 1977), the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, Fayette County, West Virginia (established 1990), Breakin' Up Winter in Lebanon, Tennessee, the Winfield Music Festival in Winfield, Kansas, and the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree and Crafts Festival in Smithville, Tennessee (established in 1972).

Dancing

Old-time fiddle music is often played at dances, so it is considered dance music. There are also traditions of music meant for listening, such as solo fiddle songs. Erynn Marshall documented these traditions in her book Music in the Air Somewhere: The Shifting Borders of West Virginia's Fiddle and Song Traditions (WVU Press, 2006). In dance music played by old-time string bands, the focus is on creating a strong, steady beat. Instrumental solos, or breaks, are rarely performed. This is different from bluegrass music, which began in the 1940s as a type of concert music. Bluegrass music developed from old-time music and uses many of the same songs and instruments, but it is more focused on solo performances than old-time music.

Many types of dancing are done to old-time music, including square dancing, contra dancing, and buck dancing.

In the British Isles, both reels and jigs are still popular. However, in the United States, the reel is the most common rhythmic pattern used by old-time musicians (though some hornpipes are also played). In Canada, especially in the Maritime provinces where Scottish traditions are strong, musicians perform both reels and jigs, as well as other types of music like marches and strathspeys.

Education

Players often learn old-time music by listening instead of reading sheet music, even if they know how to read music. Many written versions of old-time music are available, but some people believe that the style of this music is hard to write down accurately. This is partly because there are many different ways to play old-time tunes depending on the region, and some famous players often change how they play a song each time.

Players usually learn old-time music by joining local jam sessions and festivals held across the country. With the help of the internet, more old-time music recordings are now available online through small publishers and websites. This makes the music easier for people to find and listen to.

Old-time music is one of the oldest and most important types of traditional music in the United States and Canada. However, it is not usually taught in schools in North America, except for square dancing, which is sometimes included in elementary schools using recorded music. Old-time instruments and dances are not part of school curriculums and must be learned outside of school.

The Digital Library of Appalachia is an online collection of historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian region. These materials include audio recordings and are taken from special collections in Appalachian College Association member libraries.

East Tennessee State University, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, offers programs focused on bluegrass and old-time music. These programs include both performance and academic courses. Students can also earn minors in Bluegrass and Appalachian Studies.

There are many summer programs that teach old-time music and dance, such as the Augusta Heritage Festival in West Virginia, the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College, Blue Ridge Oldtime Music Week at Mars Hill University, the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, and the Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Clifftop, West Virginia. These programs are open to all ages and help both beginners and experienced players improve their skills with guidance from expert musicians.

In Floyd, Virginia, The Handmade Music School offers music lessons, workshops, and long-weekend camps focused on old-time music. This school is a non-profit organization that started from a local music venue called The Floyd Country Store.

Many community-based, non-profit folk music schools in the United States now teach old-time music. For example, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois, started in 1957. Pinewoods Camp in Massachusetts, founded in 1935, has included Appalachian music and dance in its summer programs for many years, along with music from the British Isles. Other camps, such as the Ashokan Center in New York, offer special weeks focused on old-time music.

These schools and the communities they create help keep old-time music alive. Universities such as Berklee College of Music, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Brown University, UCLA, and Florida State University also have "Old Time Ensembles" to teach and preserve old-time music. Regular jam sessions are important for spreading and teaching this music. These sessions happen not only in the United States but also in places like Beijing, China, where groups such as the Beijing Pickers and the Hutong Yellow Weasels have formed. In the UK, the Friends of American Old Time Music and Dance was started in 1995, and the Sore Fingers Summer School began the following year.

Films

• Appalachian Journey (1990). Created and directed by Alan Lomax. Produced by Dibbs Directions for Channel Four TV, in partnership with Alan Lomax. Presented by North Carolina Public TV. A 1991 videocassette release of an episode from the 1990 television series American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America.
• Just Around The Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Styles – Mike Seeger's Last Documentary (2019). DVD, CDs, and an 80-page booklet by Alexia Smith. Song notes written by Bob Carlin.
• My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1994). Directed by Les Blank. Published by Flower Films in El Cerrito, California. ISBN 0-933621-61-2.
• Songcatcher (directed by Maggie Greenwald, 2000). A film about a musicologist studying Appalachian folk music in western North Carolina.
• Sprout Wings and Fly (1983). Produced and directed by Les Blank, CeCe Conway, and Alice Gerrard. Published by Flower Films in El Cerrito, California. ISBN 0-933621-01-9.
• Cold Mountain (2003). Directed by Anthony Minghella. Produced by Miramax, Mirage Enterprises, and Bona Fide Productions.
• The Mountain Minor (2019). Directed by Dale Farmer. Produced by Susan Pepper. Released by Alt452 Productions. ASIN B0863R7B9F.