The music of Assam consists various genres of folk and modern music, drawing its artistic basis from the history of Assam, from Assamese culture and its ancient traditions. In recent times, starting from the late eighties, popular artistes have modernized the music catering to local popular demand. A basic characteristic of the indigenous ethnic music of Assam is its descending scale similar to East Asian music which distinguishes it from the Mode-based or folk music (Raaga-based) forms from the rest of India. The tunes are structured in a pyramid and are always in pentatonic scale similar to other traditional music of Asia like China, Mongolia etc and dissimilar from the seven-scaled Indian music, (in contrast to the music of rest of India which is Meend based), such as the Bihu songs, (common in South-East Asia and East Asia) besides languorous music of other forms. The legend of Princess Usha of Sonitpur and her cohort Chitralekha also enlighten us on the musical expertise of the Assamese women. The connoisseurs however, have divided the classical Assamese music into two parts – Borgeet and Ojapali. The composers of Borgeets, Sankardev and his disciple Madhavdev added versatility to Assamese music. Musical genres Devotional Vivek Dihanaam Harinaam Indigenous Traditional Folk Bihu Bhawaiya Popular Goalpariya Lokogeet Kamrupi Lokgeet Ojapali Tokari Geet Musical instruments Bahi Sifung Bihu or Uja Dhul Tukari Dotara Gogona Khol Mridongo Nagara Pepa Taal Xutuli Doba Xinga Bor Tal Bin Paat Toka Kham Kham Muri Pati Dhul Joi Dhul Bor Dhul Dhepa Dhul Kahlia Toka Xinga Bortaal Huluxi Hutulietc other indigenous musical instruments Early contributors to Assamese music Ambikagiri Raichoudhury Anima Choudhury Bishnuprasad Rabha Bhupen Hazarika Dipali Barthakur Jayanta Hazarika Jyoti Prasad Agarwala Khagen Mahanta Madhavdeva Parvati Prasad Baruva Pratima Baruah Rameshwar Pathak Sankardev Moghai Oja Tarulota Bori Mili Other notable composers, musicians and singers Angaraag Mahanta Anurag Saikia Axl Hazarika Beauty Sharma Barua Dhrubajyoti Phukan Dipak Sarma Jim Ankan Deka Jitul Sonowal Joi Barua Kalpana Patowary Mayukh Hazarika Nirmalendu Choudhury Queen Hazarika Rameshwar Pathak Rudra Baruah Tarali Sarma Zubeen Garg References Phukan, Mitra (2003) Musical Identity and being an Assamese, , October 2003. Assam Portal Assam