The United States of America is home to a variety of regional and culturally significant music forms. From hip hop scenes in Los Angeles, to mariachi in San Antonio, to Cajun music in New Orleans, music represents more than just sounds. Music is also a marker of identity.

The Ozark Region of the United States is home to regional music transplanted from Appalachia and the British Isles. Ozark music, to some, would sound nothing more than “bluegrass” or “Appalachian folk tunes”, but this music is specific to the region and pulls on its ancestry from other traditions. Sonically it may be difficult to hear any difference, but lyrically, there are some important elements that American balladry uses versus Irish/Scottish balladry. Ozark-specific American ballads distinguish themselves even further.

“Relief map of the Ozarks” by Tosborn is licensed under Public Domain.

The Ozarks stretch from St. Louis, Missouri, south and west to Mountain View, Arkansas, and  Northwest Arkansas. Ozarksmusic includes many musics imported through time, but also has local characteristics demonstrated below. A common element to American folk music and prevalent in the Ozarks are ballads. For popular music produced today, a ballad is typically a slow love song, but traditionally a ballad is narrative song.  Similar to the poetic “ballad form,” balladry is defined by particular rhyming and couplet schemes. Most ballads in the Americas and their Irish/Scottish ancestors, follow a strict ABAB couplet form. Note that the four-line couplets are set with a rhyme on the second and fourth lines. This pattern continues throughout the song.

BALLAD FORM

“Barbara Allen” is an example of old-world balladry. Full of vague references but vivid with imagery and poetic understanding. The “Scarlet town” is not a specific place, and for that matter, neither is Barabara Allen a specific person in history. The story is meant to use the imagery of the rose and briar as any couple that may have lovers who may be unrequited or who may be sweet and difficult. This vagary helps the tradition to bring the music anywhere and at any time, the songs become timeless.

New world balladry are songs that came with Irish and Scottish settlers to the Americas and are either newly composed or reinterpretations of old-world ballads. A key difference is the inclusion of specific details on time, place, and people. For example, the song below is a beloved Ozark tune. If you are from Northwest Arkansas, you will know many of the towns described. If you are not from that area, you can trace the towns on a map as the singer describes the story.

INSTRUMENTS

While balladry is very important in American folk music and in Ozark traditions, these musics are more commonly associated with instrumental music. There are three main instruments of Ozark music: the fiddle, banjo, and mountain dulcimer. The fiddle and banjo are often accompanied by guitars, basses, and other incidental instruments while the dulcimer is often a solo instrument, an accompaniment instrument to songs, or used in a dulcimer ensemble.

The fiddle is a transplant from Irish and Scottish culture brought to North America. Fiddles are constructed in the same manner as violins, but the playing style, musical characteristics, and social aspects of the instrument are different. The banjo is also a transplant instrument based on an instrument of West Africa. As African slaves were brought to the Americas, the akonting of the Jola people (now predominantly from Gambia), is likely the ancestor to the American banjo. Finally, the mountain dulcimer is a wholly unique American-made instrument. This zither, played on the lap or a tabletop, developed as a rural instrument in the mountains of Appalachia.

Mountain Dulcimer