Music is the mirror presenting us a glimpse into the lives and culture of the people of Punjab. There is a great repertoire of music, right from the time of birth to death, of love and separation of dance and rejoicing, of marriage and fulfilment. It is a rich source of the culture of generous, large-hearted people who are devoid of any fanaticism, narrow minds for religion and ideology.

It’s difficult to classify how deep the folk music and dance of the land is, but perhaps we can draw a broad division for every season and every festive occasion that has music associated with it. Even food is associated with a change in season.

It is the time when people gather to bid farewell to the biting cold of winter that begins to taper off. In the olden days, it was more of a community festival, where the birth of a son, the first year of marriage was celebrated all through the village in front of the sacred fire. Songs like 'Sunder mundriye, tera kaun vichara, Dulla Bhathi Wala' (a story of an ancient Indian Robin Hood named as Dhulla Bhatti, who saved a beautiful girl and people tease the girl "beautiful girl, whom are you thinking of, Dhulla Bhatti?") are sung to the beat of vigorous claps. Groups of little children would go singing round the village collecting eatables (of course, for themselves) made out of jaggery known as Gur and Rewari.

It follows the Lohri, where the Bhangra dance takes the centre stage. It’s an energetic dance associated with the ripening of crops, performed by the menfolk of the villages. The dance is the true reflection of the vigour and vitality of the people, who through the dance anticipate money coming in after the cutting of a good harvest. The beating of the dhol (Indian drum) sents pulses racing as the atmosphere becomes electrifying.

The season of the monsoon, or 'sawan' is the time when married girls come home for a vacation, meet their old friends, wear the colourful Phulkaris (a 3-metre long thin cloth worn by Punjabi girls over their shoulders) , swing under the trees, adorn themselves with various 'mehndi patterns', and glass bangles and exchange news, singing songs. 'Ni Lia De Mai, Kallian Bagaa Di Mehendi' (Mother, bring me Myrtle (mehendi) from the fields). No occasion goes off without the association of music in Punjab. Right from the moment a woman announces she’s going to become a mother of a baby, singing starts. The third month, the fifth month, and then at last the actual birth of baby is associated with joyous songs.

There are songs that tell about the love of a brother or a sister. For the process of washing and cleaning the grain, making new clothes, and household items, songs are sung by the woman in the family as they work through the night, the 'dhol' is not used as the menfolk who are sleeping wouldn't have their sleep disturbed.

There are numerous songs associated with weddings. In the girls side 'Suhag' is sung, and in the boy's side, 'Sehra' and 'Ghodi' are sung as he mounts the mare. When the two sides meet 'Sithaniyan' are exchanged, a kind of raunchy humour making it easier for both the parties to show off their wit and repartee, provides an opportunity to get to know each other. After the Barat is received 'Patal Kaavya' is sung after tea, while the 'Barat' is eating food.

Jugni, Sammi are basically songs centring around love, in the Jugni normally the bachelors gather together and sing about their beloved’s. The Sammi is more of a gypsy dance, which are performed as an expression of joy and victory, around the fire at night. Sammi is an imaginary female character of folk poetry, belonging to the Marwar area of Rajasthan who fell in love with the young prince, and it is around their love story that the music and dance is set to.

The list of happy songs includes, Luddie, Dhamal and of course the Giddha and the Bhangra, which is all set to music, which is typical of Punjab. Along with the 'Dhol', 'Bolis' are sung that can be divided into two categories, 'single boli' and' lengthy boli'. They centre on mother-in-laws, father-in-laws, sister-in-laws and relationships.

Being a frontier state, war has played an important part in the lives of the people of Punjab. The traditional wrestlers practised at the 'Akhara' around the music called 'akhara singing'. The drum plays a very important part in the folk music of Punjab as it provided the basic utility of folk music. The 'Dhol' and 'Dholik', the male and female drum, had it's own relevant use. The information of an invading army was communicated by the sound of the 'Dhol', when information was given to the neighbouring villages through a particular beat. The instruments used in Punjabi folk are typical to the region. The 'toombi', 'algoza', 'chheka', 'chimta', 'kaanto', daphali', dhad' and 'manjira' are some of the popular traditional folk instruments.

There are songs, which are specific to death called 'Siapah', which are of different kinds of 'siapah'. Special to individuals, the song of mourning deals with the loss of a brother, sister, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and are sung in a particular format.

A glossary of music and ragas are given at the end of the Guru Granth Sahib, the tradition started with Mardana, who accompanied Guru Nanak on his travels who sang the bani of Guru Nanak with an ‘ektaara’ and the ‘rhubarb’. Classical ragas are used in the ‘shabad kirtan’, gayaki of Punjab. The sixth Guru Hargobind gave patronage to sect of singers who sang only martial songs. Called ‘Dhadis’, they sing at shrines and festivals, ballads, vars, and about the heroic feats of the Sikhs. Along with the 'Dhad' the ‘dhadi’ also uses a sarangi, as a musical accompaniment.

A strong tradition of the ‘kissa sahity’ of Punjab is very much part and parcel of Punjabi folk music. The legends of Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal, Sassi Punnu, Puran Bhagat are sung more in a semi classical style. The Punjabi ‘kaffi and kali’ are part of this genre. Related to this is the ‘sufiana kallam’ of Punjab as a result of a strong Sufi tradition in the state. The Heer in particular has a strong Sufi base.