Folk Music Journal (FMJ) is a unique specialist scholarly journal. Published by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, it is the annual publication of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. It is edited by David Atkinson.
How can you get a copy?
FMJ is published annually in December. It is mailed by the English Folk Dance and Song Society to all individual members who have asked to receive it, and to all institutional subscribers.
EFDSS members can now log in to our members-only area. Here you can search FMJ content published since 2014; and you can also access JSTOR to view all editions of FMJ and its predecessors. After logging in, go to My Membership / Publications.
FMJ is also available online to registered users of the JSTOR digital library.
What you can expect
Folk Music Journal publishes articles on folk song, music, dance, and related customs, interpreted in the broadest sense, and welcomes a wide range of disciplinary approaches, both theoretical and empirical, historical and contemporary. The journal seeks to combine erudition and accessibility in a manner that is intelligible to non-specialists and academics alike. The main area of coverage lies in, but is not confined to, the English-speaking world.
Sample reviews from the 2023 edition
- Complete Dance Music from the Sharp Collection: Volume 1 – Tunes for Social Dance and Step-Dance (ed. Townsend) Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe Read the PDF
- The Captain’s Apprentice: Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Story of a Folk Song (Caroline Davison) Malcolm Taylor Read the PDF
- The Folk: Music, Modernity, and the Political Imagination (Ross Cole) Brian Peters Read the PDF
History
The publication first appeared in 1899 as the Journal of the Folk-Song Society. From 1932 onwards, it incorporated dance within its brief as the Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. It assumed its current title in 1965. Many eminent scholars have been associated with the Journal. These include Lucy Broadwood, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frank Kidson, Percy Grainger, Lady Gomme, Cecil Sharp, Frank Howes, Anne Geddes Gilchrist, Patrick Shuldham-Shaw, Maud Karpeles, Margaret Dean-Smith, Douglas Kennedy, AL Lloyd, and more recently, Mike Yates, David Buchan, Roy Palmer, and Keith Chandler.
Before its amalgamation with the Folk-Song Society in 1931, the English Folk Dance Society also had a distinguished publishing programme. Its journal was published in two series, the first as EFDS Journal in 1914–1915, the second as Journal of the English Folk Dance Society from 1927 until the merger.
Ordering back issues
To buy a back copy of the printed FMJ please contact [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7485 2206.
To request a digital copy of a particular article, please contact the Library: [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7241 8950.
All profits from EFDSS membership and FMJ subscriptions support the charitable activities of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Past Editions
For the links below for a summary of each edition’s articles
Volume 12 (2021-2025)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 12 Number 1 (2021)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 12 Number 2 (2022)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 12 Number 3 (2023)
See links above for three sample reviews from this edition
Folk Music Journal: Volume 12 Number 4 (2024)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 12 Number 5 (2025)
Volume 11 (2016-2020)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 11 Number 1 (2016)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 11 Number 2 (2017)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 11 Number 3 (2018)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 11 Number 4 (2019)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 11 Number 5 (2020)
Volume 10 (2011-2015)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 10 Number 1 (2011)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 10 Number 2 (2012)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 10 Number 3 (2013)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 10 Number 4 (2014)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 10 Number 5 (2015)
Volume 9
Folk Music Journal: Volume 9 Number 1 (2006)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 9 Number 2 (2007)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 9 Number 3 (2008)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 9 Number 4 (2009)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 9 Number 5 (2010)
Volume 8
Folk Music Journal: Volume 8 Number 1 (2001)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 8 Number 2 (2002)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 8 Number 3 (2003)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 8 Number 4 (2004)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 8 Number 5 (2005)
Volume 7
Folk Music Journal: Volume 7 Number 1 (1995)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 7 Number 2 (1996)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 7 Number 3 (1997)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 7 Number 4 (1998)
Folk Music Journal: Volume 7 Number 5 (1999)
Volumes 1 to 6
Folk Music Journal: Volumes 1 to 6 (1965–1994)
Contributing to the Journal
Contributions are invited for Folk Music Journal. Submissions should be sent as an email attachment to the Editor at [email protected] and should be formatted in 12pt Times New Roman. Illustrative material should be submitted as separate files. Endnotes should follow the recommendations of the MHRA Style Guide.
Contributions are accepted throughout the year, but potential contributors are advised that decisions on content are taken in November each year, and submissions intended for consideration in November should reach the Editor by the first week in September.
Please read our Notes for Contributors for more details.
