Evolution of Folk Music to Semi-Classical Music with Special Reference to Kajri and Chaiti

Folksong is summarily a tradition, mostly oral, which is carried forward generation after generation among the people of a community, area or country that has a unique identity. Folksong is an important component of folk tradition and folk culture, which originated among the people of a country, community or area, passed by oral tradition from one singer or generation to the next, often existing in several versions, and marked generally by simple, modal melody and stanza or narrative verse. Classical and semi-classical song has got a national or international character in terms its style and presentation. the status of semi-classical song.The style of singing a verse or lyric decides the type of song whether it is folk or classical. The study is a qualitative research started with an objective to study and analyse the style of singing a folksong as well as semi-classical music with the help of tools like books, journals, CDs, internet searching, you-tube searching, interviews etc. When a folk song becomes popular and chosen up by the school classical music, and presented in the style of classical and semi-classical song nationally or internationally, it getstatus of semi-classical song. The popular folk song Kajri and Chaiti originated in the north part of India and sung in its traditional style from generation to generation. Because of its popularity and beauty these are picked up by the exponents of the school of classical music and are presented in the style of classical music world-wide and become part of semi-classical music. It can be concluded that a folksong, because of its popularity and characteristics, taken and performed by the classical musicians in their style got the status of semi-classical music.