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108Ex. 48. Bulgaria. (Kaufman, 1968:24, #3)Ex. 49. Bulgaria. Three-part singing. (Kaufman, 1968:130, #205)SerbiaUnlike the Bulgarian traditions of vocal polyphony that are spread through onlythe Southwestern part of the country, a big part of Serbian ethnic territory is quitehomogenous in terms of the distribution of the tradition of vocal polyphony. The onlyregion where vocal polyphony has not been documented is Southwest Serbia and Kosovo(where Serbs actually represent the minority. Forry, 2000a:953).Two main regional styles of vocal polyphony can be distinguished in Serbia:eastern and western. The difference between them is mostly expressed in the position ofthe main melody and the accompanying part. The eastern Serbian polyphonic style (ormore precisely, the Southeastern style) is quite close to the Bulgarian and Macedonianstyles, with the drone in the lower part and the predominance of sharp secondaldissonances. Only two-part singing has been documented here. Songs are alwaysperformed by the soloist and a group of basses. Soloist always starts the song and thegroup (drone) joins the soloist with a drone. The lead melody usually has a small range(third or fourth). The drone is often pedal (sung on “a”). The rhythm is free (rubato).Serbs sing with open voice, with a tense sound, emphasizing and obviously enjoyingdissonant intervals.Unlike the Southeastern style of Serbian polyphony, according to Forry, thewestern style positions the accompanying part higher than the main melody (Forry,2000a:942-943). In the western (or Northwestern) Serbian polyphonic style, unlike theSoutheastern style, both parts move, so it is not as easy to label them easily as “main” and“accompanying”. The lower voice of the western Serbian polyphonic style is moremelodically active, mostly because of the downwards jumping performance style. Despitemelodic activity, this part still might be the accompanying part. This part is closer to thespecific accompanying part in some Balkan polyphonic styles (for example, among theLabs from Albania). Among the Labs this part sings a repetitive downwards-jumpingmelody just under the drone. In Serbia this part behaves in the same way, although thereis no drone in this Serbian style and this part follows the top part in a more heterophonicmanner. The cadences are of particular interest, as here heterophony changes into adrone-like section with the sharp second. The scale system is very specific for this region.