7369 old music 2402 - KET

An Historical
and Musical
Background
on the
Appalachian
Region
Editor’s Note: Mike
Seeger, who performs in
several programs, prepared this
essay to give teachers some
background on one type of
music featured throughout Old
Music for New Ears.
© 1984, Mike Seeger;
reprinted with permission.
I play and sing traditional mountain
music, mostly of the Appalachian
mountain region, from Virginia and
West Virginia southward through
eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee,
and the Carolinas and on into Georgia
and Alabama. Roughly speaking, these
mountains rise to the west of the flat
tidewater and piedmont areas of the
Atlantic coastline. Included in the
mountain areas are some broad valleys
with good agricultural land, such as the
Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, as well
as many smaller valleys, some just
wide enough for a creek or stream.
The eastern mountains are not as tall
as the Rockies; generally, they rise
1,000 to 3,000 feet (a maximum of
6,000 feet) and are forested with a
variety of both deciduous and evergreen
trees and many smaller bushes
and flowers. Some mountains are green
rolling hills, but in certain areas, such
as in the southeastern areas of Kentucky
and in much of West Virginia,
the mountains are quite steep and
rocky.
The first people to settle the mountains
were from the British Isles in the
mid-1700s. Later, some settlers came
from Germany. There was some
slavery in the area, but it was not as
profitable in the mountains as in the flat
land to the south. The mountains, in
general, were more difficult to farm,
and therefore less desirable, so less
wealthy people, or people wanting to
be more independent or isolated, sought
to live there. Until the late 1800s, there
was little industrial development.
For the most part, people were pretty
self-sufficient in these rural mountain
areas, although they often had furniture,
tools, and food utensils made by
experienced regional craftspeople.
Clearing of land and the building of
houses and barns in the new country
were often community events and were
followed by socializing, music playing,
and dancing. Most food was raised by
each household, and only a few items
were store-bought. Little money was
needed. The work was very hard, but
many older people say it was a more
satisfying, less hurried existence than
most people live today.
Communities were also nearly selfsufficient
culturally, and almost
everyone could either sing, play an
instrument, dance, or tell a story,
usually in a style distinctly his own.
Most of the songs were initially from
England, but some were from Scotland
and Ireland. The most popular instruments
were the jaw harp, fiddle, quills
(pan pipes), and occasionally a plucked
or hammered dulcimer and possibly a
few homemade instruments. Old
stories, tunes, and songs were unwritten
and passed down through oral tradition
or were traded with travelers and new
settlers. And, of course, new songs and
tunes were created.
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