Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

is one of the major divisions of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, now often divided into traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. There are many styles of folk music, all of which can be classified into various traditions, generally based around some combination of ethnic, religious, tribal, political or geographic boundaries. *

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

: East, Southeast, Northern, Central, Caucasus and South Asia *

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

: Northern, Eastern, Southeastern, Western and Southern Europe *

Middle East and North Africa MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

: Southwest Asia, North Africa * Oceania and Australia: Polynesia, Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia *

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

: East, Southern, Central and West Africa As well as dividing songs according to geography, it is possible to categorise them by subject matter: *

War song A war song is a musical composition that relates to war, or a society's attitudes towards war. They may be pro-war, anti-war, or simply a description of everyday life during war times. It is possible to classify these songs by historical confl ...

Anti-war song Some anti-war songs lament aspects of wars, while others satirize war. Most promote peace in some form, while others sing out against specific armed conflicts. Still others depict the physical and psychological destruction that warfare causes to ...

Tamang Selo Tamang Selo ( Nepali: तामाङ सेलो) is a genre of Nepali folk song sung by the Tamang people of Nepal and is widely popular among the Nepali-speaking community in Nepal, in India, and around the world. It is usually accompanied by t ...

Sea songs ''Sea Songs'' is an arrangement of three British sea-songs by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It is based on the songs "Princess Royal", " Admiral Benbow" and "Portsmouth". The work is a march of roughly four minutes duration. It fo ...

, including

sea shanties A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a specific ...

Drinking song A drinking song is a song sung while drinking Alcoholic beverage, alcohol. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. ...

* Epic song *

Work song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

Love song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''T ...

(tragic ballads) *

Children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...

Protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

Murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...

Sporting song A sporting song is a folk song which celebrates fox hunting, horse racing, gambling and other recreations. Although songs about boxers and successful racehorses were common in the nineteenth century, few are performed by current singers. In part ...

Other folk music relates to social events: *

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

Pub session A pub session (seisiún in Irish; seisean in Scottish Gaelic; seshoon in Manx Gaelic) is performing music in the setting of a local pub, in which the music-making is intermingled with the consumption of ale, stout, and beer and conversation. ...

See also