Ten Appalachian folksongs, which this study centered around, are discussed in reference to field recordings that were accessed by the author at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The study identifies traits in performance practice, including singing style, vocal and instrumental timbre and performance traditions for specific types of songs. An overview of popular traditional instruments is given, comprised of the fiddle, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, mandolin, Jew's harp and mouth bow. Information on folksongs and their transmission, musical styles in Appalachia, and importance of instruments within the culture are provided. This chapter documents key experiences in the collectors' lives that led them to Appalachia as well as their significance in advocacy and dissemination of the music from that region.

The narrative includes a brief history of collection in the region and the work of Francis James Child as a catalyst for folk collecting in the United States. Seven significant collectors of Appalachian music, whose bodies of work provided the framework for this study, are highlighted. The historical narrative also examines the relationship between the people and the land, Appalachian stereotypes, and labor and literacy. It examines the changing definition of the region's borders over the last century. The study includes a discussion of the Appalachian region and its history. The author seeks to facilitate informed performance and arranging of these works and provide a general resource for conductors who have an interest in performing Appalachian folksongs.

The selected works share three common traits: (1) they are folksongs that were collected by Olive Dame Campbell, Cecil Sharp, Maud Karpeles, Robert Winslow Gordon, John Lomax, Alan Lomax, or Jean Thomas (2) there are multiple field recordings available and (3) they are in print as of March 2014. The purpose of this study is to provide a conductor's analysis of a specific set of choral arrangements of Appalachian folksongs within a cultural context.

Music collector appalachian music