Middle East & Caucasus›Caucasus›Georgia
Georgian Polyphony
Three voices, no conductor, and harmonies that predate Western tonality. A guide to the table songs, work songs and chant of the Caucasus.
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Music of Georgia
Georgian three-part polyphony, Armenian duduk and sharakan chant, Azerbaijani mugham, Chechen and Dagestani dance music.
Sung and searched in Georgian. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.
Roots and traditions
Folk music
The folk music of Georgia consists of at least 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. The Eastern Georgian group of musical dialects consists of the two biggest regions of Georgia, Kartli and Kakheti (Garakanidze united them as "Kartli-Kakheti"); several smaller north-east Georgian mountain regions, Khevsureti, Pshavi, Tusheti, Khevi, Mtiuleti, Gudamakari; and a southern Georgian region, Meskheti. Table songs from Kakheti in eastern Georgia usually feature a long drone bass with two soloists singing the top two parts. Perhaps the best-known example of music in Kakhetian style is the patriotic "Chakrulo", which was chosen to accompany the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Known performers from the north-eastern region Khevsureti are the singers Dato Kenchiashvili and Teona Qumsiashvili (-2012).
Popular music
Urban music
In the context of Georgian musical tradition, Urban Music mainly refers to specific regional musical styles with Georgian influences, especially in the capital, Tbilisi. Perhaps the most prominent style of Urban Georgian Music is the duduk or duduki. The “duduki (in Georgian), also known as balaban, yasti balaman, and duduk (in Azerbaijan) and mey or ney (in Turkish), is a double-reed aerophone with a cylindrical bore, widely used in the Middle East and Transcaucasia, mostly in ensembles.” While duduki refers to an individual instrument or ensemble, this one musical tradition itself encapsulates a variety of other Georgian musical traditions and styles, such as the dasta (ensembles which are often hired for celebratory events). The duduki dasta has a number of influences, including “Azeri-Persian, Turkish, and Armenian derivation.” The duduki, as well as other Georgian musical traditions, has a number of influences. For example, from the second part of the 19th century, European classical music, based on parallel thirds and triadic harmonies, became popular in Georgia.
Read the full article: Music of Georgia (country) Text under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Live radio
Radio from Georgia
Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.
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