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The focus of this collection of music is what is usually called "folk music", i.e.: music
not composed by professional, trained musicians but by people who play or sing for the
enjoyment of the music by themselves and others. Some of this music is centuries old,
having been passed on by ear from person to person and generation to generation. It has entered into
the tradition of a culture.
Michael Cooney has said the definition of a folk song is "if you don't know who wrote it, it's a folk song". To that I would add "if you know who wrote it, it's not a folk song yet". The "folk process" of learning by ear and passing on songs and tunes by ear is a selective one. The good is retained and the less good is forgotten. One characteristic that good material tends to lose in this process is the name(s) of the originator(s). This doesn't mean that commercially produced music will eventually pass into folk tradition because the professional songwriter's names are forgotten, but who knows what will be remembered a hundred years from now as electronic and broadcast media change the way music is heard and remembered. Having come of age musically in the 1960's, I must admit to an interest in the "folk-style" music created by singer-songwriters of the time. Even though their music is not truly traditional, I have included some of my favorites in this collection. My intended audience for this includes two types of folk music people:
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