Editing Polyphony (section)

===Balkan region===<!--[[Iso-polyphony]] redirects directly here-->
[[File:A traditional male folk group from Skrapar.JPG|thumb|Albanian polyphonic folk group wearing [[qeleshe]] and [[fustanella]] in [[Skrapar]].]]

Polyphonic singing is traditional folk singing of this part of southern Europe. It is also called ''ancient'', ''archaic'' or ''old-style'' singing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mdw.ac.at/ive/emm/index.php?id=238|title=Startseite - Forschungszentrum für Europäische Mehrstimmigkeit|website=www.mdw.ac.at|access-date=14 November 2011|archive-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109121855/http://www.mdw.ac.at/ive/emm/index.php?id=238|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V9zpAAAAIAAJ|title=Music-cultures in contact: convergences and collisions|first1=Margaret J.|last1=Kartomi|first2=Stephen|last2=Blum|date=9 January 1994|publisher=Currency Press|isbn=9780868193656|via=Google Books}}</ref>

*[[Ison (music)|Byzantine chant]]
*[[Ojkanje singing]], in [[Croatia]], [[Serbia]] and [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*[[Ganga (music)|Ganga singing]], in Croatia, [[Montenegro]] and [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*[[Bosnian root music]] in the [[Podrinje]] region of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*[[Polyphonic song of Epirus|Epirote singing]], in northern [[Greece]] and southern Albania (see below)
*[[Albanian iso-polyphony|Iso-polyphony]], in southern Albania (see below)
*[[Gusle]] singing, in [[Serbia]], [[Montenegro]], Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania
*[[Izvika]] singing, in Serbia
* ''Dvuglas'' singing in [[Southern Bulgaria]]: woman choirs in [[Shopluk]] ([[Bistritsa Babi]]) and in [[Rhodope Mountains|Rhodopes]] ([[Nedelino]]), as well as men choirs in [[Bansko]], [[Pirin Macedonia]]<ref>Александър Заралиев, Двугласът в българския фолклор, [https://www.istorici.com/публикации/2013/03/08/двугласът-в-българския-фолклор/ Младежка историческа общност, 08.03.2013.]</ref>

Incipient polyphony (previously primitive polyphony) includes [[antiphony]] and [[call and response (music)|call and response]], [[drone (music)|drones]], and [[parallel interval]]s.

Balkan drone music is described as polyphonic due to Balkan musicians using a literal translation of the Greek {{Transliteration|grc|''polyphōnos''}} ('many voices'). In terms of Western classical music, it is not strictly polyphonic, due to the drone parts having no melodic role, and can better be described as ''multipart''.<ref name="Koço2015">{{cite book|last=Koço|first=Eno|title=A Journey of the Vocal Iso(n)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5_zBgAAQBAJ|date=27 February 2015|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-7578-3|page=xx}}  A free, unpublished version of this passage is available on [https://books.google.com/books?id=zoPI3exolloC&pg=PR22 Google Books].</ref>

The [[Polyphonic song of Epirus|polyphonic singing tradition of Epirus]] is a form of traditional folk polyphony practiced among [[Aromanians]], Albanians, Greeks, Bulgarians and [[ethnic Macedonians]] in southern Albania and northwestern Greece.<ref>Bart Plantenga. [https://books.google.com/books?hl=el&id=3BzBBq48O6AC&q=polyphonic ''Yodel-ay-ee-oooo'']. Routledge, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-415-93990-4}}, p. 87 Albania: "Singers in Pogoni region perform a style of polyphony that is also practised by locals in Vlach and Slav communities [in Albania]."</ref><ref>Engendering Song: Singing and Subjectivity at Prespa by Jane C. Sugarman, 1997, {{ISBN|0-226-77972-6}}, p. 356, "Neither of the polyphonic textures characteristic of south Albanian singing is unique to Albanians. The style is shared with Greeks in the Northwestern district of Epirus (see Fakiou and Romanos 1984) while the Tosk style is common among Aromanian communities from the Kolonje region of Albania the so-called Farsherotii (see Lortat-Jacob and Bouet 1983) and among Slavs of the [[Kastoria]] region of Northern Greece (see N.Kaufamann 1959 ). Macedonians in the lower villages of the Prespa district also formerly sang this style "</ref> This type of folk vocal tradition is also found in [[North Macedonia]] and [[Bulgaria]].

Albanian polyphonic singing can be divided into two major stylistic groups as performed by the Tosks and Labs of southern Albania. The drone is performed in two ways: among the Tosks, it is always continuous and sung on the syllable 'e', using staggered breathing; while among the Labs, the drone is sometimes sung as a rhythmic tone, performed to the text of the song. It can be differentiated between two-, three- and four-voice polyphony.

In [[Aromanian music]], polyphony is common, and polyphonic music follows a set of common rules.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iga91qAoeDYC|title=European Voices I: Multipart singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean|chapter=Multipart singing among the Aromanians (Vlachs)|first=Thede|last=Kahl|editor-first1=Ardian|editor-last1=Ahmedaja|editor-first2=Gerlinde|editor-last2=Haid|publisher=[[Böhlau Verlag]]|pages=267–280|year=2008|isbn=9783205780908}}</ref>

The phenomenon of Albanian folk iso-polyphony ([[Albanian iso-polyphony]]) has been proclaimed by UNESCO a "[[Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]]". The term ''iso'' refers to the drone, which accompanies the iso-polyphonic singing and is related to the ison of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] church music, where the drone group accompanies the song.<ref>European voices: Multipart singing in the Balkans and the ..., Volume 1 By Ardian Ahmedaja, [[Gerlinde Haid]] p. 241 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Iga91qAoeDYC&dq=festivali+i+folklorit+gjirokaster+5+years&pg=PA241]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00155|title=Albanian Folk Iso-polyphony|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=31 December 2010}}</ref>