Folklore
Qawwali
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Sufi devotional singing performed by a group with harmonium, tabla and hand-clapping, building in intensity. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan brought it to a world audience.
Kind: Devotional music
Voices and sacred song
Throat singing, yodelling, qawwali and fado: traditions where the voice is the instrument.
The places
Folklore
Tuvan throat singing
Kyzyl, Tuva, Russia
Singers in Tuva produce two or more notes at once, imitating the sounds of wind and water on the steppe. The tradition is also known in nearby Mongolia.
Kind: Overtone singing
Folklore
Yodelling
Appenzell, Switzerland
Yodelling jumps between chest and head voice. It began as a way to call across alpine valleys and is part of Swiss folk music, often alongside the alphorn.
Kind: Alpine singing
Folklore
Pansori
Namwon, North Jeolla, South Korea
A solo singer and a drummer perform long stories with dramatic singing and spoken passages. Namwon is closely linked with the tale of Chunhyang. It is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
Kind: Epic storytelling in song
Folklore
Fado
Lisbon, Portugal
Fado is a Portuguese song style full of longing and nostalgia, often sung with Portuguese guitar in the Alfama district of Lisbon.
Kind: Urban folk song
Folklore
Delta blues
Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States
The blues came out of the Black communities of the Mississippi Delta and shaped jazz, rock and soul. Clarksdale has been called a cradle of the style.
Kind: Folk music
Folklore
Griot tradition
Kaolack, Senegal
West African griots are hereditary storytellers, praise singers and historians who preserve genealogies and histories through music, often accompanied by the kora.
Kind: Oral storytelling and music
Folklore
Isicathamiya
Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
A harmony singing style that grew among Zulu migrant workers, made globally famous by groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Kind: A cappella singing