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1941. Type of polyphony2. Vertical coordination between the parts3. Social organization of the singing group4. Scales5. Rhythm and metreAll five stylistic parameters are easy to distinguish and easy to use in acomparative analysis. This practicality is very important, as a researcher needs to classifya large number of musical examples and transcriptions from different polyphoniccultures. We need also to remember that, unfortunately, the information about differentpolyphonic styles is not always complete, as not all existing transcriptions provide thefullest possible information. Here is a brief discussion of the strong and weak points ofeach of the five stylistic parameters:1. Type of polyphony. This parameter is at the top of the list of the set ofstylistic parameters not only because it is the main feature element ofany polyphonic tradition, but because it also shows a remarkablestability in the course of human history. During the complex ethnic andcultural mixtures and during the migration processes the type ofpolyphony is more likely to survive (unless there is a considerablechange of the indigenous population). The type of polyphony can be a(1) ostinato (present in most of the polyphonic traditions, and in somecultures totally dominating, as among Pygmies), (2) drone (e.g. as inthe Balkans and many other European and some Pacific polyphonictraditions), (3) parallel polyphony (particularly widespread in mostsub-Saharan African polyphonic traditions), (4) variant heterophony(very widely distributed all around the world and particularly importantamong Eastern Slavs).2. Vertical coordination between the parts. I propose this as the secondmost important parameter of polyphonic traditions. Polyphonic culturesdiffer from each other according to the intervals (or chords) they preferto hear in their singing. In other (more scholarly) words, culturesdiffer from each other according to the principles of verticalcoordination between the parts. We may generally distinguish two mainprinciples of vertical coordination – coordination on dissonantintervals (particularly on seconds, as in the Balkan and Caucasiantraditions), and coordination on consonant intervals (particularly onthirds, fifths, octaves and triads, as in most of sub-Saharan Africantraditions). There are also cases when the vertical coordination betweenthe parts (intervals and chords) is mostly a result of the freedevelopment of melodic variants (dissonant clashes in variantheterophony).