Folk Music
 Folk music is a style of music that is common to one area or group of people. Either the names of the authors of the music are not remembered, or they prefer to remain anonymous. It is passed down from generation to generation orally. The music is normally not recorded because the players learn the music simply by hearing it. With time, though, the music can change greatly, due to either bad memory or modernization of the music.

Unlike other genres of music, a great amount of musical skill isn't needed to play the music, although, for some folk songs, it would help. This is because folk music cannot be generalized. The folk music can be one type of music in one country or group of countries, or it can be completely different in other areas of the world. It could even differ inside of lands. This may have something to do with the fact that the genres of music influence the folk music in any area. For instance, in the United States, rock music has had an influence on folk music, and now we have a rock version of "The Star Spangled Banner," which is the national anthem of the US. Likewise, folk music can affect the styles of more modern music. For instance, the jazz genre adopted some of the styles of Latin folk music, such as the beats and rhythms.

The instrumentation in folk music can vary greatly. In some places, it consists of mainly the common mainstream instruments. Other times, it can consist of hand-made instruments, such as a wooden flute. Whichever the instrument, though, its talented player produces music that is enjoyed by others.

Folk music has many different uses. For example, the lyrics of folk songs can tell stories about famous events that happened in the past, whether fact or fiction. This is called a ballad. Another type of folk song is the epic, a long story arranged as poetry (that is accompanied by some form of music) that explaines the heroic actions of a person during an event. Then there are folk songs to mark the birth, puberty, marriage, and death of a person. Along with those, there are folk songs for troubled eras such as war and diseases. But some folk songs are just there to go along with work.

Today, many of these folk songs from around the world can be heard in other places as well. For instance, immigrants to the United States like to keep their heritage, so they bring their traditions along with them. With this, many ethnic folk events take place, and the music can be heard by others who are unfamiliar with the music.
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