Is Folk Music Just One Small Thing or One Huge Connection of Every Music Put Together?

This is the question I asked myself while reading Nettl's take on what folk music is. For many years of my life I've said folk music is just a whole bunch of people coming together and just playing their guitars just for fun. Little did I realize that folk music is more than that. I have come to realize that every kind of folk music. In my opinion, Folk music is music that sounds differently from other music that everyone knows about. It does not have to be simple like Nettl says in his essay.

How did music start? There had to be an origin somewhere. At the music started, there was no term for what music was but it was played by the people for religious reasons or just to have fun. If there was a term for what that kind of music it was, it would have been folk music. One can absolutely say the primitive music is folk music. Many people at the time when music started had only been not to entertain an audience but it was to bring people together to enjoy life. They found natural things that could make sound and where able to make it into music. When Nettl talks about cultivated music he believes that their is a distinction between it and folk music. As I think of it, I believe if a person wants to make music, then it should be able to be called folk music. What if a person did not make it for everyone to hear? That person may have wanted to show only a couple people, say for instance a church, a song that expresses something about that religion. Not everyone would want to hear that music. Folk music is not simple. There are many instruments that go into folk music. Whether it is a guitar, drums, synthesizer or the voice, it all has a factor into the music. Even if it the same beat played over and over in the song, the lyrics usually have a meaning of some sort that grabs the attention of people. Music has expanded to many different roots. Throughout history we have seen many different instruments add on to music and have changed what people listen too. Why can new music not be folk music? People like to listen to different kind of music but then becomes to mainstream in an instant. Everyday there is new music appearing out of nowhere and there is at least one person that can enjoy that kind of music. I understand what Nettl is trying to say how folk music is "changing through communal recreation" but there is always something different in every song that one produces or makes. In general, music does tell a story in song there is. In every kind of music, either the lyrics or the instruments that are playing seems to tell people a narrative. Folk music is also a participatory since everyone joins and helps each other make music. Sometimes Folk music can not just be made by one person. There are other instruments that are needed to be played. Especially when one is trying to get their message out in their song, they need help from other to make it "perfect." Nettl also points out that some "school songs and religious songs are passed on by oral tradition" is not a folklore. I fully agree with what Nettl says. When one person learns a song, and likes it, they want to teach others what they have learned. When people have children, they want to sing songs the children would like and be happy. This does not mean that it is folk because it is from a different generation, it means that it is  music that one can enjoy. 

Folk music is everyone's music. Everyone has their definition of folk music but my definition of folk music consist of every music ever made. Every music is different which makes it by the people and for the people. Everyone wants to create different music and they can with composing and producing different music. In this way one can say that folk music is every music created that has been ever made and is still being created.