Chapter 27 Quiz: Music of the Mountains — From Ballads to Bluegrass to Country to Beyond

Multiple Choice

1. The Child ballads — the oldest layer of Appalachian music — originated in:

a) The Appalachian Mountains, composed by early settlers b) The British Isles, brought to the mountains by Scots-Irish and English settlers and transmitted through oral tradition c) West Africa, brought to the Americas by enslaved people d) Nashville, composed by early country music songwriters

2. Cecil Sharp, the English folk song collector who traveled through the Appalachians in 1916-1918, was significant because:

a) He invented the banjo and introduced it to mountain communities b) He documented hundreds of British Isles ballads that had survived in the mountains but died out in England c) He was the first person to record Appalachian music on a phonograph d) He organized the first commercial country music festival in Bristol, Tennessee

3. The banjo — the instrument most closely associated with Appalachian music — originated in:

a) Scotland, where it was developed as a variant of the lute b) Germany, where it was brought by immigrant settlers c) West Africa, where instruments with gourd bodies and skin heads were played by enslaved Africans brought to the Americas d) The Appalachian Mountains, where it was invented by Joel Walker Sweeney in the 1830s

4. The Bristol Sessions of 1927 are historically significant because they:

a) Were the first recordings of any kind of American music b) Recorded the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, establishing the foundations of commercial country music c) Were the first time African American musicians were recorded in the South d) Led to the immediate creation of the Grand Ole Opry

5. The Carter Family's musical contribution included all of the following EXCEPT:

a) A vast repertoire of traditional songs that became the foundation of the country music catalog b) The "Carter scratch" guitar technique developed by Maybelle Carter c) Sara Carter's clear, emotionally direct vocal style d) The invention of the three-finger banjo picking style

6. Bill Monroe is credited with:

a) Inventing the banjo b) Creating bluegrass music through a fusion of old-time, blues, and gospel traditions played at accelerated tempos with virtuosic instrumental solos c) Founding the first recording studio in Nashville d) Writing "Which Side Are You On?"

7. Earl Scruggs revolutionized banjo playing by:

a) Inventing the banjo itself b) Developing a three-finger picking style using metal finger picks that transformed the banjo into a virtuosic lead instrument c) Playing the banjo with a bow, like a violin d) Electrifying the banjo for use in rock and roll

8. Shape-note singing (Sacred Harp) is distinctive because:

a) It uses a notation system based on the shapes of notes to indicate pitch, and everyone present sings — there is no audience b) It is performed only by trained professional choirs c) It originated in Nashville as a commercial product d) It uses only stringed instruments and no vocals

9. Florence Reece's "Which Side Are You On?" was written:

a) As a commercial Nashville recording in the 1950s b) During the Harlan County labor conflicts of the 1930s, after gun thugs raided her home looking for her union organizer husband c) By Cecil Sharp during his collecting trips in the Appalachian Mountains d) As a campaign song for a Kentucky political candidate

10. The Nashville Sound of the 1950s and 1960s involved:

a) Preserving the raw, unaccompanied ballad singing tradition of the mountains b) Replacing fiddles and banjos with string sections and polished production to make country music palatable to a broader audience c) Recording only African American musicians d) Promoting shape-note singing to national audiences

Short Answer

11. Explain the African American origins of the banjo and describe how those origins were systematically erased from the standard narrative of Appalachian music. Identify at least two mechanisms of this erasure.

12. Describe the difference between "participatory music" and "commercial music" as these concepts apply to Appalachian musical traditions. Provide an example of each and explain how the shift from one to the other changed the social function of music in mountain communities.

13. Compare the musical approaches of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers — the two foundational acts of the Bristol Sessions. How did each represent a different model of what country music could be?

14. The chapter describes Hazel Dickens as a voice of resistance in Appalachian music. Explain who Dickens was, what her music addressed, and why her voice was significant both musically and politically.

Essay Question

15. This chapter argues that Appalachian music was always a product of cultural exchange between European and African traditions — that the standard narrative of "white mountain music" is historically inaccurate. Write an essay (500-750 words) that evaluates this argument.

Address the following: What evidence supports the claim that Appalachian music was interracial from its origins? How was the African American contribution erased, and who benefited from the erasure? What efforts have been made to recover the African American roots of mountain music, and how successful have they been? Conclude by reflecting on why the racial history of Appalachian music matters — not just as a matter of historical accuracy, but as a matter of justice.

Use evidence from at least three sections of this chapter and its case studies to support your argument.