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
leading opera troupes and concert stages.

3.  Folkmusic 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 traditionally
grouped into two, eastern and western Georgian
groups.

4.  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 on wide use
of sharp dissonant harmonies.

5.  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.  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 highly praised, the
revered folk musicians were rewarded by governmental
prizes and were awarded salaries. Also, singing and dancing,
usually closely interconnected in rural life, were separated
on a concert stage.

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 Orera featured mixture of
traditional polyphony with jazz and other popular musical
idioms, becoming arguably the most popular ensemble of
Soviet Union in the 1970s.

9.  The 1861 article by Jambakur-Orbeliani and 1864
article by Machabeli are considered as the first
published works where some aspect of Georgian folk
music were discussed.
 Dimitri Arakishvili and Zakaria Paliashvili are
considered the most influential figures of study of
Georgian folk music. Arakishvili published several
standard books and articles on Georgian singing
traditions, musical instruments, scales, and is widely
considered as “founding father” of Georgian
ethnomusicology.Grigol Chkhikvadze and Shalva
Aslanishvili,received professional education in Russia
and became important figures of the study of
Georgian traditional music.

10.  Historian Ivane Javakhishvili published an influential
work on the history of Georgian music, which is still
considered as the most comprehensive work on
historical sources on Georgian music. Otar Chijavadze,
Valerian Magradze, Kakhi Rosebashvili, Mindia Jordania,
Kukuri Chokhonelidze were the first Georgian scholars
that were educated in Georgia and contributed to the
study of different aspect of Georgian folk music.From the
end of the 20th century a new generation of Georgian
ethnomusicologists appeared, among them Edisher
Garakanidze, Joseph Jordania, Nato Zumbadze, Nino
Tsitsishvili, Tamaz Gabisonia, Nino Makharadze, David
Shugliashvili, Maka Khardziani.

11.  Inthe 21st century Georgia has become one of the
international centres of the study of the
phenomenon of traditional polyphony. In 2003 the
International Research Centre for Traditional
Polyphony was established (director Rusudan
Tsurtsumia). The tradition of biannual conferences
and symposia started in Georgia in the 1980s. These
symposia are drawing leading experts of traditional
polyphony to Georgia.

12.  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