Bulgaria is a European country situated in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula / South-Eastern Europe/. The state was founded in the end of VIIth century and included three main groups of tribes - thrako-iliri (the oldest one), proto-Bulgarians and Slavs, who came from Northwest. Gradually folk music that carries the characteristics of these three groups was formed. This is the reason for the variety of folk songs and instrumental melodies.
Every region in Bulgaria has its own folk music. These are the folk music regions - Thrace, Pirin, Shopluk, Rhodopies and North Bulgaria. Even today village people sing olden folk songs about the peasant’s labour; ritual songs - for wedding, carols, Eastern songs, old Lazar’s songs and many others. Bulgarians use to play the ancient folk instruments - strings: rebec, pandore; wind: kaval, wooden pipe, shepherd’s pipe; percussions - drums and others.
It is particularly typical for Bulgarian music having a tremendous fund of songs and instrumental melodies constructed in asymmetric measures - from 5/16 till 8/16 in hundreds of varieties and combinations. Bulgarian musicians are the first who find these measures and present them into the theory of the world music in the beginning of XXth century. Bella Bartok, the famous Hungarian musicologist and composer, called them "Bulgarian measures" in 1929.

Bulgarians are born and die with music. Special songs are sung when a child is born; at wedding - a number of songs for different moments of the ceremony, that lasts for several days; and when he dies - they weep him over with special funeral laments till the 40th day of his death.
Dance-songs and instrumental music are particularly rich in asymmetric measures. Melodies accompanying dances are full with dynamics and strength. Bulgarians play dances at every time - they start dancing in the afternoon and continue till midnight or sometimes even till next morning. In the field, at harvest time, women use to sing wondrous songs, connected with hard labour. Beautiful rich ornamented melody floats over the field and delights the harvesters. When sitting at the table, men prove themselves, singing epic, historic, novels songs, accompanied by rebec. Such a song sometimes lasts for 3 or 4 hours like Omyr’s "Iliad" or "Odyssey". In the biggest part of the country songs are constructed in one voice but in South -Western part they are in two voices. This kind of singing carries an old -time sound, there is heavenly beauty in shapr sound combinations that bring us in Orpheus’ times...
For everyone who wants to feel the strength of Bulgarian music and songs, to delights the folk dances of these ancient people, it is enough to visit National folk fair in the old Koprivshtitza town. 20 000 folk players, dancers, singers show their arts there, retell legends, show folk traditions and rituals from the whole country. Three days and three nights the fields around are sounded by old en Bulgarian music. The audience - several hundred thousands people - enjoy playing, dancing, singing together with performers, who carry the folk costumes from Trace, Pirin, Rhodopies, North Bulgaria and all other regions.