Lăutărească music

Lăutărească music is a professional music tradition of the Romanian lands, rooted in court and urban life and distinct from peasant and shepherd culture. Its practitioners, known as lăutari (singular lăutar), are predominantly Romani musicians who perform at weddings, village dances, christenings, funerals, and other social events. The tradition is oral: repertoire, technique, and musical knowledge are passed on by ear, within families or from an experienced master, rather than through notation or written theory. In a narrower sense, the term also names an urban vocal and dance genre that developed among lăutari in southern Romania in the early 20th century and did not spread beyond the southern cities.