List of classical music traditions - Definition and Overview

This is a list of classical music traditions including non-Western traditions:

• Andalusian (North African) classical music
• Arab classical music
• Azerbaijani classical music: Mugam
• Burmese classical music
• Byzantine classical music: Orthodox Byzantine music
• Cambodian classical music: Pinpeat
• Central Asian classical music: Uzbek and Tajik shashmaqam
• Chinese classical music
• Ancient Greek music
• Indian classical music: Marga
  • Bengali classical music
  • Carnatic music
  • Hindustani and Pakistani classical music
    • Odissi classical music
  • Kashmiri classical music: Sufiana Kalam
• Indonesian classical music: Gamelan
• Iranian classical music: Musiqi-e assil
• Japanese classical music: Gagaku
• Korean court music
• Laotian classical music: Sep nyai
• Nepalese classical music: Charya
• Ottoman classical music: Sanat
• Thai court music
• Tibetan classical music: Nangma
• Vietnamese classical music
• Western classical music: Western and European traditions

There are many definitions or criteria used to create specific lists of classical music traditions, most commonly including: the tradition must be fairly old, the tradition must possess some sort of notation, the tradition must require study or training to become an acceptable performer or composer. Lou Harrison, for instance, includes European classical music, Indian classical music, an Arabic tradition of classical music, and Chinese classical music. However, the most reliable indication that a tradition is a classical one is the self-identification as such by members of that tradition, for instance Ravi Shankar's questionable assertions that there are two superior musical traditions in the world, Indian classical music and European classical music.