I’ve been listening to a few sea shanties lately, like The Wellerman and Barrett’s Privateers. I’ve noted down a few things:
-These songs always sound very ‘Celtic’ to me
-They have a strong beat behind them, the type you could easily stomp your foot to
-The harmonies tend to be thin in the verses, but strong in the chorus
-The melody does not linger on one note very long, instead moving quickly up and down
I’m inexperienced in music theory, however, and was wondering if someone could explain how songs get this distinct folksy, Celtic feel. Does it have something to do with the key? Are triplets used? Is there a backbeat? Whenever I try to write a song with a folk feel, I simply cannot replicate it. Can anyone help me out?
Submitted January 14, 2021 at 02:14PM by SaraRabinowitz https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/kx9y1r/what_makes_songs_sound_folksy/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Thursday, January 14, 2021