India has a very rich legacy of traditional music, which has been created due to the extreme cultural diversity and endless varieties of folk styles. The arrival of films and pop music is seen as the most important reason, for weakening folk music`s popularity, but cheaply recordable music has made it easier to find and helped revive the traditions. Folk music has been a very influential part on the Indian classical music, which is viewed as a higher art form. The music instruments and styles always have had an effect on classical ragas. Some of the famous traditional music styles are given below as follows:

1. Bhangra: Bhangra music has always been popular amongst Punjabi people all over the world. It is a fusion of music singing and the beat of the dhol drum, a single stringed instrument called the iktar (ektara), the tumbi and an instrument reminiscent of an enlarged pair of tongs called chimta. The dholaki, is also sometimes used instead of or in addition to the dhol. Additional percussion, including tabla, is frequently used in Bhangra. The accompanying songs are small couplets written in the Punjabi language called bolis. They relate to harvest celebration, love, patriotism or current social issues. However, the word Bhangra is more associated with the style of dance pop music derived from the above-mentioned musical accompaniment.

Started as a form of dance-oriented folk music that has become a pop sensation in the United Kingdom and North America, over the last ten years or so. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Punjab called by the same name, Bhangra. Its raw traditional sound is often supplemented with contemporary musical styles. In its more recent history, Bhangra has been fused with disco, reggae, techno, house, ragga and jungle. In fact, these new styles have been so successful that modern Bhangra is now being re-exported back to India.

2. Lavani: Lavani is a form of music popular in Maharashtra and southern Madhya Pradesh, India. The word Lavani comes from the word Lavanya, which means beauty. A combination of the traditional song and dance, it is performed to the enchanting beats of the Dholak. Traditionally, female artistes sing the songs, in a fast tempo, but male artistes may occasionally sing Lavanis. In most of the songs, meaningless chants are introduced to fill up the gaps between the lines. The dance format associated with Lavani is known as Tamasha. The Nirguni Lavani (philosophical) and the Shringari Lavani (erotic) are the two types of Lavanis. The devotional music of the Nirguni cult is popular all over Malwa.

3. Thumri: Thumri is a common genre of semi classical Indian music from the North. The text is romantic and devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl`s love for Krishna. The language is a dialect of Hindi called Braj bhasha. Many classical singers pay considerable attention to the lyrics, this is especially where the focus is on love, and many lyrics deal with separation or viraha. This style is characterized by a greater flexibility with the rag. Most commonly used rags are Pilu, Kafi, Khamaj, Tilak Kamod, Bhairavi. The compositions are usually set to kaherava of 8 beats, addha tal of 16 beats, dipchandi of 14 beats or jat of 16 beats. It arose in popularity during the 19th century in the Lucknow court of navab Wajid Ali Shah. Today, thumri is mainly sang at the end of khyal concerts as a concluding item. With tabla and the tanpura, other typical instruments in thumri are sarangi and harmonium.

4. Gujarati Folk Music: Gujarat has made a lot of contribution in the field of music. Various ragas have come into being, with regards to the territorial names of this state, such as Gujaqri Todi, Bilaval, Sorathi, Khambavati, Ahiri and Lati. The instrument - Vichitra Veena was the creation of Jesingbhai from Ahmedabad. The folk music of Gujarat is well-preserved even now, by the community called the Charans and the Gadhavis. The community, whose hereditary profession is folk music and folk arts, have made sure that the folk arts have remained in its most pure and pristine form. The different types of folk songs of Gujarat include the lullaby, nupital songs, festive songs and rannade songs. Even marsias is a peculiar form of singing at the time of death. Thus, this traditional music includes variety of occasions and songs befitting the same.

Songs specially meant for recital at morning, evening, marriage, child-birth, festival songs, war-time and death-time songs, story-telling and season songs and number of other occasions are celebrated or marked with specific type of folk-songs and folk-music. Besides its contribution to classical and folk music, Gujarat has produced its own folk instruments. Wind type instruments like Turi, Bungal, Pava, String type Ravan Hattho, Ektaro, and Jantar, percussion type like Manjira and Zanz pot drum. Even the traditions of Charans, Gadhavis, Ravals and the Bhajaniks are still very much alive. Gujarat has given outstanding artists and exponents of vedic saamgan, Haveli-sangeet and classical Indian music.

5. Bauls: The Bauls of Bengal were a mystical order of musicians in 18th, 19th and early 20th century India who played a form of music using a khamak, ektara and dotara. The word Baul comes from Sanskrit batul meaning divinely inspired insanity. They are a group of mystic minstrels. They are influenced greatly by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as by Sufi sects. Bauls travel in search of the internal ideal, Maner Manush (Man of the Heart).


6. Ghazal: A Ghazal is a poetic form consisting of couplets, which share a rhyme and a refrain. The word means "the mortal cry of a "Kastori" doe". A Ghazal, thus, is a collection of couplets (called sher), which follow the rules of Matla, Maqta, Beher, Qafiya, Radif, Khayaal and Wazan. The traditional complete ghazal has a matla, a maqta, and three other shers in between. The first two shers of a ghazal have the form of a qatha. The ghazal is a common song form in India and Pakistan today. Strictly speaking, it is not a musical form, but a poetic recitation. Today, however, it is commonly conceived of as an Urdu song, with prime importance given to the lyrics. In some modernized ghazals the poet`s name is hidden somewhere in the last verse, usually between the front and end of a word.

7. Qawwali: Qawwali is a Sufi form of devotional music based on the principles of Hindustani classical. It is performed with one or two lead singers, several chorus singers, harmonium, tabla, and dholak.

8. Dhrupad: Dhrupad is the oldest surviving genre of classical singing in India. It denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung. Dhrupad has a repertoire of short songs (dhrupads), which are performed by a solo singer, or a small number of singers in unison, to the beat of a double-headed barrel drum, the pakhawaj. Thus, it is modal, with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts. The modes are called raga, and each raga is a complicated framework of melodic rules. It includes the music in a slower tempo, slower melodic development, and less ornamentation.

Traditionally, the only instrument used for playing dhrupad was the "been", which is technically a fretted stick zither with strings set along a bamboo or wooden neck with a large gourd mounted at each end. Some players have used other instruments for dhrupad. Preferably, such instruments should have a deep bass register and long sustain. As in all Indian classical playing, the instruments must support bending of the note.

9. Bhajan & Kirtan: A bhajan or kirtan is a Hindu devotional song, often of ancient origin. Great importance is attributed to the singing of bhajans with Bhakti, i.e. loving devotion. Kirtans are deeply rooted in Vedic tradition. Bhajans are often simple songs in lyrical language expressing emotions of love for the Divine, whether for a single God/Goddess, or any number of divinities. Many bhajans feature several names and aspects of the chosen deity, especially in the case of Hindu sahasranamas, which list a divinity`s 1008 names. Traditionally, the music has been Indian classical music, which is based on ragas and tala (rhythmic beat patterns) played on the Veena (or Been), Sarangi Venu (flute), Mridanga(or Tabla) (traditional Indian instruments). The Sikh Scripture contains 31 ragas and 17 talas, which form the basis for kirtan music compositions.

Traditions of bhajan - singing, such as Nirguni, Gorakhanathi, Vallabhapanthi, Ashtachhap and Madhura-bhakti, have been formed over the ages. Each sect has their own sets of bhajans and methods of singing. The traditional form of bhajan in south india is known as Sampradya Bhajans. In the past few decades, this has seen a lot of upswing in popularity. While most Hindus devoutly sing bhajan in its more traditional form, there are smaller groups that experiment with the incorporation of non-Indian instruments like the guitar and interspersing Western themes like jazz.

10. Shabad: Shabad is a style similar to bhajan, but these are more popular among the Sikhs. Shabad literally means word, generally from the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the holy book of the Sikhs. The shabad has historically been performed in very traditional styles. The Guru Granth Sahib is very specific in the rags that the various shabads are to be sung in. These are very typical of the more classical rags of north Indian music (Hindustani Sangeet). The traditional shabads are also in the more classical tals, such as teental and ektaal. Special classes of performers sing the shabads and they are known as raagis. However, it is a very difficult task to be a good raagi because it requires a rare combination of musical training, raw talent, years of study of the scriptures, and a high level of spiritual development. In the modern times, however the shabad is performed in lighter forms. The latitude that is sometimes taken is very great. Some merely perform the shabad in rags different from those specified in the Guru Granth Sahib. Sometimes the light forms tend to resemble film songs, or folk songs, rather than the austere and meditative rags specified in the Guru Granth Sahib.

11. Rajasthani Folk Music: The folk music of Rajasthan, is a mixture of different flavors as these are dedicated to many of the religious customs, festivals, fairs and deities in the villages. Various folk musicians have kept the folk music alive by passing on the tradition of music from one generation to the other. A typical Rajasthani folk song usually has an alap or an introduction that is followed by dooba or the recital of the couplet. All the folk songs have a taan, i.e. the pitch of the song and the variations of tunes or the tibias. Even Ballad singing has a special place in the Rajasthani tradition of folk music. The musicians sing heroic tales of folk heroes like like Tejaji, Gogaji and Ramdeoji and narrate stories of battles fought and tales of love and intrigue.