Long winter nights and hot summer evenings were often spent gathering with friends and family for some down home music and old time mountain songs. Whether on the front porch or gathered around a roaring fire in the living room, music and dancing were a welcome relief from the rigors of pioneer life. Fortunately most anyone can learn these folk songs and play them on traditional instruments. You can even mimic lots of the old time instruments with today's modern keyboards.
Play Mountain Songs By Emulating Any Instrument On A Keyboard
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Using instruments that they had or made, old time musicians brought a brand of music alive in the Ozark hills that has lasted for centuries. Many of these artists did not read music but simply played by ear. From early in the 1800's frontier the banjo had become the preferred accompaniment for the fiddle (violin). They played the same melody in most mountain songs but the banjo gave harmony and rhythm.
An old-time group usually played whatever instruments were available, but the most common instruments are acoustic string instruments. Early banjos were fretless instruments and frequently made from gourds, most commonly picked by the clawhammer style.
Old time string bands frequently used other instruments like the cello, piano, hammered dulcimer, tenor guitar, mouth bow, the jug, harmonica, autoharp, jaw harp, concertina, accordion, washboard, spoons, and bones. Music was usually accompanied by dancing like clogging, flatfoot dancing, contra dancing, square dancing and step dancing depending on where the people were originally from.
Play Me Some Mountain Music – Alabama Music And Lyrics
Here's is words and chords to Alabama's song “Play Me Some Mountain Music”
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Old Time music developed from local people getting together and bringing their talent and unique styles into a home. There lasting relationships were made that included both young and old, and youth learned the basics of music to go on and establish their own styles. This was the roots of such American icons as Blues, Country music and even Southern Rock.
Many a tall tale was told at these get togethers, but it was the music that kept everyone together.
