Hey everyone

I made this list for myself because I wanted to sing something interesting! Everybody seems to do stuff from the standard folk repertoire in the “traditional song” section of their singing exam... songs everybody knows, such as “Scarborough Fair” and “The Gypsy Rover”. They’re pretty good songs, but why not choose something different? A slightly more original song would stand out from the rest, and you wouldn’t have to compete with loads of different versions of it. These are all songs I’ve considered myself (me = 18, mezzo soprano-ish, just done Grade 5) because they all have strong melodies which work well unaccompanied. If you’re also running away from "Scarborough Fair" there may be something for you here...

Irish stuff: Danny Boy, The Water Is Wide, Blow the Wind Southerly, Paddy’s Lament (listen out for the Sinead O’Connor version), Killarney

Scottish: Loch Lomond, Barbara Allen, The Keel Row, The Blood Red Rose (try this on a guitar sometime – gorgeous!), Land of the Leal, Hills of Ardmorn

Welsh: The Ash Grove, David of the White Rock (so beautiful), All Through The Night

English (least well known): Linden Lea, Sweet and Low, Worcester City, Tam Lin, Barbara Allen (another version), The Cuckoo, My true love once he courted me, Black is the colour, Lovely Joan (a bit rude, but well worth a go), The Snow It Melts The Soonest

And of course, folk doesn’t have to be from the British Isles. Maybe you’ve got friends from another country? They could teach you something. Searching the web will also reveal loads of good stuff, and some of the songs in the exam syllabus are actually folk songs, such as Linden Lea. For extra coolness sing songs from overseas in their original language

Sea shanties: Way Down Rio, Botany Bay

American spirituals: Every Time I Feel The Spirit, Motherless Child (this one is so haunting), Shenandoah, Let My People Go (I LOVE this one), Oh Sinner Man, Balm In Gilead, Joshua fit de battle of Jericho, Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?

American: House of the Rising Sun, Joe Hill, Blue Lake and Rocky Shore, Rainbow Warrior (which isn’t strictly folk, but is lovely anyway)

Russian: Moscow Evenings

Australian: Waltzing Matilda!

Israeli: Donna Donna

Jamaican: Banana Boat Song, Jamaica Farewell, Last thing on my mind

Sometimes you can get away with modern composed songs in folk style, like Song for Ireland (1980 but sounds traditional) because the examiners don’t mind or don’t know the difference. Listen to the Kathleen Ferrier album “Blow the Wind Southerly” for more folk songs of the British Isles. Eliza Carthy, Joan Baez and June Tabor are also great sources of inspiration. If you’re taking the exam in December, there are plenty of traditional Christmas songs which might fit the bill. It took me ages to decide which song to actually do, but in the end I chose Shenandoah. God knows what I'll do next year. Happy folksinging guys

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singingsiren
xx

Donna donna is Israeli? I didn't know that!

Well, that's what my dad said when he taught me the song! It's definitely of Jewish origin, anyway, and the original lyrics are Yiddish. More than that I don't really know... there's probably stuff on the web about it...

singingsiren
xx

I would like to do some more, opera and stag things in exams!