Acoustic and Folk
Origins
Singing along to an acoustic guitar has been around for centuries, but you only need to know about commercialised folk and acoustic music from the 1960s, which is when it became popular. Acoustic and folk has its roots to blues and country music.
Musical Fingerprints
Instrumentation: Primarily vocals and acoustic guitar; the genre has evolved to include instruments such as double bass, banjo, percussion and drums, fiddle, mandolin and steel guitar.
Lyrical Content: Focus is on the storytelling, rather than on the harmonic or melodic content.
Harmony: Simple chord progressions and keys.
Melody: Simple melodies with regular rhythms.
Textures: Originally quite thin, but as more instruments were added and arrangements became more complicated, the texture started to thicken.
Technological Fingerprints
Recording is generally minimalistic.
Most folk artists/bands prefer to do a full band recording to maintain live, natural feel.
Little to no effects applied to recording.
Some reverb and compression may be applied.
Invention of the loop pedal was revolutionary for folk artists, as it meant that they could “record and layer multiple sounds using only their voice and sounds created by their instrument."
Artists
Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Kate Rusby.