Georgian folk music has a rich tradition of vocal polyphony that predates the introduction of Christianity in the 4th century. It consists of 15 regional styles with their own traditions of a cappella singing. Songs are commonly performed at community gatherings and feasts. Traditional instruments include panpipes, flutes, bagpipes, harps, lutes, and drums. The study of Georgian folk music began in the 19th century and Georgia is now an international center for research on traditional polyphony.

1. Music of
Georgia

2. • Georgia has rich and still
vibrant traditional
music, which is primarily
known as arguably the
earliest polyphonic
tradition of the Christian
world. Georgian
performers are well
represented in World’s

3. Folk Music
• Folk music of Georgia consists
of fifteen regional
styles, known in Georgian
musicology and
ethnomusicology as "musical
dialects". According to Edisher
Garaqanidze, there are sixteen
regional styles in Georgia.
These sixteen regions are

4. Traditional vocal polyphony
• Georgian folk music is predominantly vocal and
is widely known for its rich traditions of vocal
polyphony. It is widely accepted in
contemporary musicology, that polyphony in
Georgian music predates the introduction of
Christianity in Georgia (beginning of the 4th
century AD. All regional styles of Georgian
music have traditions of vocal a'cappella
polyphony, although in the most southern
regions (Meskheti and Lazeti) only historical
sources provide the information about the
presence of vocal polyphony until the 20th
century.
• Both east and west Georgian polyphony is based

5. Social setting
• Singing is mostly a community activity in
Georgia, and during big celebrations
• all the community is expected to participate in
singing. The tradition of "trio" (three singers only) is
very popular in western Georgia, particularly in
Guria.
• Georgian folk songs are often centered around
banquet-like feasts called supra, where songs
and toasts to God, peace, motherland, long
life, love, friendship and other topics are
proposed.

6. • Traditional feast songs include "Zamtari" (“Winter”)
, which is about the transient nature of life and is
sung to commemorate ancestors, and great
number of "Mravalzhamier" songs Work songs are
widespread in all regions. The orovela, for
example is a specific solo work song found in
eastern Georgia only. Extremely complex three
and four part working song naduri is characteristic
for western Georgia. There are great number of
healing songs, funerary ritual songs, wedding
songs, love songs, dance
songs, lullabies, traveling songs. Many archaic
songs are connected to round dances.

7. Performance practices
• Georgian vocal polyphony was
maintained for centuries and
millennia by village
singers, mostly local farmers.
Despite the poor technical quality
of the old recordings, they often
serve as the model of high mastery
of the performance of Georgian
traditional songs for
contemporary ensembles. During
the Soviet period folk music was

8. • From the 1970s Georgian folk music
was introduced to a wider audience in
different countries of the World.
Ensembles Rustavi and later Georgian
Voices were particularly active in
presenting rich polyphony of various
regions of Georgia to western
audiences. Georgian Voices performed
alongside Billy Joel, Rustavi Choir
was featured on the soundtrack to
Coen Brothers' film, The Big Lebowski .
During the end of the 1960s and the
1970s an innovative pop-ensemble

9. Study of Georgian folk music
• Th e 1861 a r t i c l e b y J a m b a k u r -
Or b e l i a n i a n d 1864 a r t i c l e
b y Ma c h a b e l i a r e
c o n s i d e r e d a s t h e f i r s t
p u b l i s h e d w o r k s w h e r e s o me
a s p e c t o f Ge o r g i a n f o l k
mu s i c we r e d i s c u s s e d .
• Di mi t r i A r a k i s h v i l i a n d
Za k a r i a Pa l i a s h v i l i a r e
c o n s i d e r e d t h e mo s t
i n f l u e n t i a l f i g u r e s o f
s t u d y o f Ge o r g i a n f o l k
mu s i c . Ar a k i s h v i l i
p u b l i s h e d s e v e r a l s t a n d a r d
b o o k s a n d a r t i c l e s o n
Ge o r g i a n s i n g i n g

10. • Hi s t o r i a n I v a n e
J a v a k h i s h v i l i p u b l i s h e d a n
i n f l u e n t i a l wo r k o n t h e
h i s t o r y o f Ge o r g i a n
mu s i c , wh i c h i s s t i l l
c o n s i d e r e d a s t h e mo s t
c o mp r e h e n s i v e wo r k o n
h i s t o r i c a l s o u r c e s o n
Ge o r g i a n mu s i c . O t a r
Ch i j a v a d z e , Va l e r i a n
Ma g r a d z e , Ka k h i
Ro s e b a s h v i l i , Mi n d i a
J o r d a n i a , Ku k u r i
Ch o k h o n e l i d z e we r e t h e
f i r s t Ge o r g i a n s c h o l a r s
t h a t we r e e d u c a t e d i n

11. • I n t h e 21s t c e n t u r y
Ge o r g i a h a s b e c o me
o n e o f t h e
i n t e r n a t i o n a l
c e n t r e s o f t h e s t u d y
o f t h e p h e n o me n o n o f
t r a d i t i o n a l
p o l y p h o n y . I n 2003 t h e
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Re s e a r c h Ce n t r e f o r
Tr a d i t i o n a l
Po l y p h o n y wa s
e s t a b l i s h e d (d i r e c t o r

12. Traditional musical instruments
• Rich variety of musical instruments are known from
Georgia.
• SoinariGeorgian panpipe
• Stviri flute
• Gudastviribagpipe
• Sting instruments changiharp
• Chongurifour stringed unfretted long neck lute
• Pandurithree stringed fretted long neck lute
• Dimitri Arakishvili and particularly Manana
Shikaladze contributed to the study of musical
instrument in Georgia

13. • Wind instruments: larchemi-
soinari, salamuri, pilili, gudastviri and stviri
• Brass wind instruments: sankeri
• String instruments:
panduri, chonguri, chunir, chianuri and changi
• Percussion instruments: doli, daira and diplipito
• Chuniriused to describe two types of three-
stringed bowed musical instruments: a bottle-shaped
lute and a pear-shaped bowl lyre
• Chibonidroneless, double-chantered, horn-belled
bagpipe
• ChangiTurkish harp
• Panduria medium or long-necked lute with a small
resonating chamber.

14. • Chonguria plucked string musical instrument
• Salamurichromatic end-blown flute
• Dudukia traditional woodwind instrument indigenous
to Armenia
• Dolidrum
• Dairamedium-sized frame drum
• Tsintsilaancient Georgian percussion instrument
that represents a couple of oval plates with
handholds.
• Gudastviria musical instrument, a form of bagpipe
• Zurnaa multinational outdoor wind instrument