| 1. | music, usually of simple character and anonymous authorship, handed down among the common people by oral tradition. |
| 2. | music by known composers that has become part of the folk tradition of a country or region. |
| folk music n.
|
A kind of music originating from the ordinary people of a region or nation and continued by oral tradition. The ballad is a typical form of folk music. Music is also called “folk” when it is made by artists and composers who are inspired by, or imitate, true folk music. Composers such as Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie are folk musicians of the second kind.