The material here analysed was collected in the mountainous region of western Serbia, in villages of widely scattered houses, often far from lines of communication. From the remote past until the first decades of this century, the development of culture, including the development of folk music, has proceeded slowly. The characteristics of each epoch have been retained, however, so that at a later date a culture may reflect once new elements in a tradition persistently held. Owing to the slowness of development, musical materials observed and analysed at the present day may reveal the various strata of social and economic development from the past to the present.

The greater part of the material collected is vocal music, there is no purely instrumental music. The latter may serve as accompaniment to dances but very seldom to songs; indeed, vocal music is the most important music in this region. A further characteristic is that this vocal music is generally sung in two parts.