Old-Time Music Ensemble

Catalog description

Stanford's Old-Time Music Ensemble explores tunes, songs, and ballads from distinct regions of rural North America. Ensemble members sing and play acoustic instruments such as fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and bass. Taking a jam session model, we learn music by ear through call-and-response oral transmission. As we play, we discuss the history and contexts of particular melodies and songs, several of which became canonized as Appalachian folk music. Old-time music's historical imbrication with race, class, and gender will emerge as the central thematics that guide our repertoire choices. No previous experience required. The course culminates in an end-of-quarter gig.