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KCJones , Folkies did not get the joke and missed the fun of popular culture.
Don't get me wrong, I pretty much agree with you. It's a nuanced conversation and people tend to get weirdly defensive about it.
I'm actually on my local traditional music cooperative board of directors, and I always make the board mad by arguing that Bluegrass (my favorite genre) is not actually traditional music, and that Old Time (my 2nd favorite) has only been a tradition for a few decades and it's really based on anachronistic faux "history". They really don't like that, and I don't think I'll win my next board election.
Edited by - KCJones on 06/15/2026 12:59:05
You know, I've taught banjo full tme for about 4 years and I've seen my student demographic go that way as well. From mostly scruggs style to mostly clawhammer. I love and play both styles so it's fine by me.
Alot of younger students are excited about paying modern music clawhammer style and I love that too. They may or may not develop a love of the old stuff.
Even though I started learning banjo because I love singers like Pete Seeger and Don McLean, But in 2026, if all I can play are songs like "Red River Valley" or "This Land Is Your Land," I don't think any band my age would want me.
Don't get me wrong, I love playing those old tunes by myself on a quiet afternoon. But who wouldn't want to join a band during their school days?
students don't like to learn songs with no Chords whatsoever as they can't have anyone accompany them. Chords help define the melody but they just see a bunch of notes which they have never heard of before...
I think it goes beyond the practical issue of "who do I actually play this music with and/or for" (which is certainly a legitimate question to ask your music teacher) to a much wider loss of melodic sensibility.
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