Songs popular among the people and given a national color are called ballads or folk songs.
Ballads have a long history, so their authors are mostly unknown. The content of ballads is rich, including religion, love, war, work, drinking, dancing, music, ceremonies and so on.
Ballads express the feelings and habits of a nation, so each has its own unique scale and mood style. For example, the exuberance of French ballads, the passion of Italian ballads, the simplicity of English ballads, the grief of Japanese ballads, the wildness of Spanish ballads, and the sorrowfulness of Chinese ballads all express strong national temperament and color.
Expanded Information: Categorization of ballads 1. Germanic ballads The melodies of popular songs and of terroir music had a great influence on the German national music that had occurred, and both popular songs and terroir music were part of their outdoor life and group activities. 2. Dutch Folk Music German folk music is not only passed down in Germany, but in fact, it is also prevalent in several countries around the North Sea. Holland is one of them, mainly because the countries neighboring Germany in the north, their language and customs are similar to Germany, so the German folk music is naturally accepted by them. 3, Swedish ballads Swedish ballads, it is said that in 1631 was collected by the people, which recounts the ancient warrior's story of valor for the most, the tune of the majestic, exciting and inspiring. 4. Ballads of Wales The traditional music of Wales is mostly based on harp tunes, including ballads, dances, chants, hymns, and most of them are accompanied by the harp. 5, Italian folk music Italian folk music, most of the melody is passionate and beautiful and accompanied by harmony, because of its music is moving, has now spread around the world. The accordion and the six-stringed organ are the main instruments used to accompany such songs, which can also be said to be the characteristics of Italian folk music. Baidu Encyclopedia - Folk Music