In order for us to approach traditional music making and to return to the values that we have inherited through these musical instruments, we must first clarify some concepts that the science of ethnomusicology uses.
stylistic elements
When playing a traditional tune, we must keep in mind to use thethat were inherited from the musicians that were born and raised in the communities that gave birth to these tunes. Given the fact that traditions were oftentimes well preserved due to geographical or psychosocial factors, these stylistic elements can differ wildly from one ethnological zone to another; as such, traditional music can be divided into dialects, subdialects and, in some more extreme examples of communities completely isolated from the rest of the world, we can observe the existence of a musical language that barely resembles the ones of the surrounding areas. The uniformity that we can see in the way of playing of modern musicians is a byproduct of the influence the communist regime of Romania has had on folklore, with the added contribution of artless populism and bad taste. This website’s purpose is to help those who are looking to approach traditional music making the proper way.
Old field recordings
There are multiple reliable sources of authentic traditional music that are worth studying. One of these sources are old field recordings made by reputable specialists in this area of expertise: they can show us the authentic usage of stylistic elements. The newer ones are less reliable, given the fact that the playing style of modern musicians has already been altered.
Living style of old people
Another source worth looking into is the playing style of old people that haven’t moved from the countryside and whose style resembles the one from the old recordings. Its worth trying to get in touch with these old players, in order to learn their playing style first hand.
On this way i have collections from my and other musicians, our virtual frends help us to discover this heritage
Spacial thanks for translating to
Alex Manea