It was formed in the first half of the XX century, reproducing and reinterpreting pre-modern, mainly rural folk music, which is detached from its original ritual and everyday contexts. This is done in two main directions - attempts to preserve traditional music in a form as close as possible to its authentic form, and its adaptation to different needs of modern audiences - from high culture to popular music. [2]

In its nature and means of expression it varies according to the regions in which it originated, so it is divided into several folklore and ethnographic areas.

In early 1930, .Mustafa Kemal Ataturk transformed the world of music in turkey entirely, by providing a speech that led to the banning of Alaturca music. The only music that was acceptable to the public was the one following the principle of Western tonal music

Estonian epic poetry  has been extensively recorded and studied, especially those sung by women. They can come in many forms, including work songs, ballads and sung legends. Much of the early scholarly study of epic poetry was done in the 1860s by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, who used regilaul themes to compose the Estonian national epic, Kalevipoeg. By the 20th century, though, regilaul singing had largely disappeared from Estonia, with vibrant traditions existing only in Setumaa and Kihnu.

Traditional wind instruments derived from those used by shepherds, such as the karjapasun and vilepill, were once widespread, but are now more rarely played. Other instruments, including the fiddle, zither, concertina and accordion are used to play polka or other dance music. The kannel is a native instrument that is probably even more popular among the Estonian diaspora in North America than in its homeland, where well-known kannel musicians include Igor Tõnurist and Tuule Kann.

A notable example of an Estonian folk song is called "The herring lived on dry land", or simply "The herring song". According to its lyrics, in the ancient times the herring used to have legs and live on dry land. It used to destroy vermin, like rats and it was kept like a cat. One time a two masted sailing ship was transporting a large load of salt. Back then salt was expensive. Some unit of it called saam cost 100 of something in gold. There was a herring aboard the ship. The specific herring liked to eat salt, so it started to tunnel its way around the salt sacks. Eventually it accidentally chewed its way through the ships wooden hull, causing it to sink. This angered Neptune (the god of sea), who said to the herring: "Hey herring, because you chewed a hole into the ship and sunk the new ship, you will now have to live in seawater as punishment." The salt from the ship was released into the sea, resulting in the seas now having a salt composition.