Traditional / folk music of Montenegro

Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia and folk music of Montenegro is very close to traditional music in its cousin countries Croatia and specially Serbia.

Yugoslavia was formed after World War I in an attempt to unite Slavic and west Balkan region. After World War II it became socialist country under the rule of war hero, Marshal Tito. He was the most beloved leader in Balkan area. Tito was not a Soviet Union Puppet. Until his death Yugoslavia functioned together in a peaceful union, enjoying relative freedom and little interference with artistic endeavors, including folk music. But after his death, ethnic hatred erupted into ethnic cleansing and devastation. After the war, Yugoslavia separated into different territories of Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia.

The folk music in Montenegro has big similarity with Serbia and Croatia.

Gulse

Gusle is the most famous traditional instrument in Montenegro and represent the whole musical culture. Gusle is a one string bowed instrument. The player hold the instrument vertically between his knees. Usually it has a long song with epic poetry. The instrument is also common in other countries like Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia with different names. Gulse songs are about war and love and stories from the past which are passed through generations with the use of Gusle. People gathered around gusle players and listened epic songs about Serb heroes and suffering of Serb nation. Very often, large crowd and players began to cry touched by very emotional contents.

Some other traditional music instruments used in Montenegro are davul (kind of drum), tamburica (long-necked lutes), accordion, bagpipes, flutes, zumara (kind of reed instrument), clarinet, etc.

Some gypsy and Eastern European klezmer style music are also part of traditional music in Montenegro. It is high-energy music the same as many Balkan and Eastern Europe music.

If you have more information about folk music of Montenegro, it's genres or instruments or you know specific song on each genre, please kindly contact us and let us know about it or send them through “Post a Song” link on top of the page. Also if you see any wrong information about the song tags on the list below please kindly let us know.