Exploring Folk Music

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling

This week Wyatt is learning about the Great Smoky Mountains, and I thought it would be a great time to add in some music! He is a huge music lover of all kinds, and while we almost always have music of some sort playing in the house, I have never purposely included it in our plans – mostly because I am not well versed on music, at all. But I thought this was a good basic intro for him!

I found these folk instrument flash cards online and used them not really as flashcards to quiz him but as a way to talk about the different instruments used in folk music. Then I collected any instruments that we had around our house that were listed and set them out for him to play with. I usually have his small instruments out for him in a basket, but the guitar and ukulele are usually put away and for occasions with supervision. The guitar was his grandfather’s and is special to me for that reason. I want him to to use but treat it with respect which is sometimes hard for five year olds who are learning still.

We talked about all the instruments, the types that they are, played around with them, and then listened to music on YouTube. I specifically searched for fiddle music, banjo music, etc so that we could hear what each sounded like, and also threw some in just for fun.

We watched a few Lindsey Stirling videos because I personally love her style. I was surprised that they were not Wyatt’s favorites, because they are so lively and upbeat but I think she was his least favorite! He really loved the harmonica pieces we listened to and Abby the Spoon Lady.

Afterward we constructed a cereal box banjo/guitar but we are still working on the neck – I will update with photo later! I turned it inside out, taped it all back together and had Wyatt decorate it before adding the rubber band strings. His grandfather was an artist and was so talented with calligraphy and design – Wyatt decorating his little art project while we listened to country music just really made me feel like his grandfather was with us for a bit.

So it was a very basic intro but a good one! I am going to look into music for homeschooling as this kid seems to have music in his very soul!

17 thoughts on “Exploring Folk Music”

    1. Abby the Spoon Lady

      Mountain Dulcimer is a GREAT beginner instrument, and noter-style is very linear, easiest for smaller kids and fingers. Just a thought.

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    1. Oh my gosh!! Thank you for visiting and commenting!! We had so much fun listening to you play yesterday and today. Wyatt is simply fascinated and tried to even mimic the sound of the spoons by clucking his tongue. I tried to follow your instructions to play the spoons and I got them to make noise, not music, but he thought it was amazing. Lol.

      Thank you again for stopping by!!!

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  9. I admire Lindsey Stirling’s style and how she makes playing the violin hip and modern. The Spoon Lady was awesome. I like that the first gal was so coordinated with playing and tapping at the same time.

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    1. I do too!!! I think that is what I love about her the most. And the Spoon Lady is so cool! We tried learning to play spoons using her video tutorial and I was not great. Wyatt still thought I was though so that was cool. Wyatt enjoyed smacking his spoons together a great deal though. Lol.

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