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What is Gypsy (Rroma) music? This seemingly innocuous question has fed quite an industry. From the 18th century onward, musicians, scientist have tried to answer this question and only partially lifted the veil. This essay, without scientific pretension, is the result of our work with Rroma from different regions and of listening to hours of archives and musicians. It just aims to provide a glimpse of what we've learned to recognise as Rroma music. 

So what is Rroma music? What are the common threads and the common points between say, Flamenco, Hungarian Gypsy Music and Balkan Wind Orchestras? For even though Rroma all came from the same country, India, speak the same language - local variations notwithstanding - have common laws and traditions, their music varies tremendously from region to region and from group[1] to group. There are nevertheless characteristics which represent what one can call Rroma music.

There are 5 main characteristics of Rroma music trancending the local musical traditions. Some of these are obvious, some more subjective which sometimes makes it hard to "scientifically" describe them. What are they? Without formal musical schooling, one can call them, rather arbitrarily, voices, timing, phraseology, harmonies and singing.

Voices: The first and for me foremost characteristic of Rroma music is the presence, in one way or the other of three voices in every song, sometimes only in parts of them. These voices can either be sung or be played by instruments. Typically, the three voices are the melodic line, the terce and the quint. Russian Rroma traditionally sing these and use instruments only to provide the rhythm and harmonies. In the Balkan, quite the opposite is true. The instruments take this role, as for example in the wind orchestras of Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Even very traditional songs such as the one that can be heard with Lovara and Kelderara contain this element. There, the usual repertoire consists only of ballads, sung by one or more person, where the text is usually improvised. In the chorus, when more than one singer is present, one almost always hears chords, that is, these three voices. Flamenco is maybe the only exception to this "rule". Though in the Cante Rondo, this element is also present.

Timing: This element is one that allows you to recognise a Rrom playing in an orchestra, regardless of the kind of music that is played or sung. It is the "attack" or beginning of the variations and song. Whereas in classical or, more generally, in Western music, a variation is always begun on the beat, Rroma have a tendency to wait. To make matters somewhat clearer, they time their attack to start just after the beat, keeping the rhythm but nevertheless providing a rhythmic tension to the music.

Phraseology: This is the most subjective criterion. It is very difficult to provide a precise description of what Rroma phraseology is. The point is, there's one! The best analogy is the one of waves. This music is sung or played with intonations and small rhythmic stretches and compressions that reminds one of the passing of a wave. Depending on the country, a variation, be it vocal or instrumental can either begin as a forte and then decrease or as a medio voice and then to forte.

Harmonies: Most experts texts are centred upon this aspect of the Rroma music. They speak about Gypsy scales, special harmonies and the like. It can, however, be simply explained. When your musical mind and culture tells you to expect a major chord, Rroma usually replace them with a minor chord. Not to say it always happens but it is very present in every song or melody. To take a simplistic example, consider the progression Dm - G - C in Dm. Next, you'd expect a major chord. Typically, you'll get a minor such as Am.

Singing: Voices are an element which provides the last constant of Rroma music. Again, it is not so much the technique of singing as the natural sound of the voices and the way it is used. Think about Flamenco and them listen to Russian Rroma or even better, to Lovara songs. You'll be astonished at the similarities in the sound of the voices and the way of singing.

Well, does this "make" Rroma music? Of course not. It just provides a thread by which one is able to deduce what is truly Rromanes. Rroma build a closed society to which access for a non Rrom, a Gadžo, is truly difficult. Rroma musicians, even though they have contacts with gadje - after all, they mostly play for them - will choose a different repertoire than the one they will play among themselves. This Rroma characteristic has biased many a study of Rroma music. Just look at what is nowadays (and almost always has been) marketed as Gypsy music: Hungarian restaurant music is perhaps the best example. This is a style of music which, even though it displays some of the elements that have been described above[2], is what Rroma call gadžikani muzika, music for the non Rroma.  It is Hungarian folk music played by Rroma, nothing more, nothing less, played with a lot of flair and some specificities.  This attitude is pervasive. Russian Rroma have included Russian romances, Romanian Rroma play Romanian folk tunes etc...

So besides the "characteristics", there's another component, the repertoire. This cannot that easily be explained. What is truly old, truly Rrom and what is not? With the passing of time, with every year that Rroma stayed in a given region, their music was influenced and they, in turn, influenced the local folklore. This accounts for the variety of styles, rhythms and musical traditions among Rroma: In the Balkan, the Turkish presence can be felt through oriental rhythms (7/9, 9/11 or 9/13), Flamenco reflects in part the Arabic culture that still shortly existed in Spain after the arrival of the first Rroma. Is there a common ground? Or even a common source? Yes and this still exists and can be heard nowadays! So what is this "original", or, to borrow a German word "Ur" music? It is represented by all the Rroma songs which are just ballads, without rhythmic component and which are almost always improvised. The best example of what this Ur-music could have been is reflected in the Lovara traditions. Specifically in the ones that you can hear when seated at a table with several of them. When they improvise on a theme, a toast or any other topic. Why can one claim this? Well, this is the part of the Rroma repertoire which can be found from North to South and East to West. Ask any old Rrom to sing you something, you'll get at least one of these.

This is, of course not to say that some of the other songs are not a real Rroma heritage. Some of them can be traced quite far back, in Russia, for example, through the literature. In some places, unfortunately, through political will, no archives or documentation can be found. In those cases, one has to rely on one's ears and soul to decide if that particular tune is old or new. 

Richness of Rroma music comes from its manifold forms. You can listen to many groups and song and still find something new, something which you hadn't heard. Especially since it is a music which still evolves. Unfortunately, few people really know that music, even among Rroma themselves. The old Rroma generations are slowly disappearing and with them, an entire slide of Rroma culture vanishes. To take a somewhat simplistic example, consider the Sinti. Their music is currently the one created by Django Reinhardt in the 1930's as a blend of New Orleans Jazz and Blues and Sinti music. Who remembers nowadays what the Sinti used to sing and play before? This is a tragic event in the sense that in order to realise a successful blend - as Django did - one needs to have strong roots in ones own culture. Otherwise, what distinguishes the new blend from it source? It just become a plagiat. 

Fact is, Rroma music is an integral part of our European cultural heritage and it is worthwhile to know more about it!