List of folk music traditions

Folk music is one of the major divisions of music, 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, Central, South American and the Caribbean
Asia: East, Southeast, Northern, Central, Caucasus and South Asia
Europe: Northern, Eastern, Southeastern, Western and Southern Europe
Middle East and North Africa: Southwest Asia, North Africa
Oceania and Australia: Polynesia, Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia
Sub-Saharan Africa: East, Southern, Central and West Africa

As well as dividing songs according to geography, it is possible to categorise them by subject matter:

Other folk music relates to social events:

v t e Lists of music genres and styles
General lists	Music genres and styles A–F G–M N–R S–Z Microgenres Uses accordion
Genres	Classical and art music traditions Electronic Ambient Breakbeat EDM Hardstyle House Industrial Techno Trance Jazz Popular Country Hip hop Reggae Rock Heavy metal Punk rock Hardcore punk
Themes and movements	Historically informed performance Martial Progressive Psychedelic
Cultural and regional genres	Caribbean Folk traditions American Central North South Asian Caribbean European Middle Eastern and North African Oceanic and Australian Sub-Saharan African Gamelan