Traditional singer

A traditional singer or source singer, sometimes called an "old time musician" in the USA, is someone who has learned folk songs in the oral tradition, usually from older people within their community. This was the only way for ordinary people to learn songs before modern inventions such as the radio and the large scale distribution of printed sheet music. Traditionally, songs would be passed on during day-to-day activities, for example sailing a ship or working on a farm.

From around the beginning of the twentieth century, song collectors such as Cecil Sharp went to rural areas to find and publish songs. Originally these were simply written down, but figures such as Percy Grainger and James Madison Carpenter, followed by Alan Lomax and Peter Kennedy, made field recordings from traditional singers. Many old ballads, including the famous Child Ballads, were found within the oral tradition in the twentieth century.

By 1950, traditional music became almost completely extinct in its original form due to the globalisation of music and the popularity of the music recording industry. Many musicians tried to emulate the older styles, particularly during the folk revival, but these are not considered traditional singers.