India`s tradition and culture to a great extent revolves round music and spirituality. And in the ancient times, it was combined to achieve a better purpose in life. Folk music and dance however were an exception to this because here the purpose was to celebrate life for various reasons. As vast is the Indian culture, caste and communities, equally variant are the folk music present in India.
There are more than fifty types of Folk music in India that has something different to offer to the audience. Folk music for Bhangra, Dandiya have fast pace tunes whereas Gharba, Koli have medium paced melody. The music set up for Lavani, moves from slow to fast. Similarly, with other folk music also there is lot of variety observed.
The musical instrument used for folk music also varies from region to region. However, the common ones are Dhol (Drums), Bansuri (Flute), Pungi (Blow Pipe), Manjeera (Hand cymbals). These are the basic instruments used for folk music but the usage of each instrument may be more or less depending upon the folk dance. For instance, if it`s a Bhangra more of Dhol can be heard, if its Tera talli more of Manjeera is used and so on.
Folk music has even given musical instruments to Indian music. A popular Indian musical instrument Sarangi is said to be developed from a Rajasthan folk music instrument. The acceptability rate of Folk music is so high that even after all these years of existence; its popularity has not reduced. On the contrary, it has gained more popularity and spread out of its regional boundaries.