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Gascon folk music is the traditional music of Gascony, a cultural area in southwestern France (including Béarn, Landes, Gers and parts of the Pyrenees) where the Gascon variety of Occitan is spoken. It features lively communal dance tunes and narrative songs transmitted orally, often performed at village festivities and modern "bal gascon" dance gatherings. Its sound is defined by drones and modal melodies (often Mixolydian or Dorian), led by the boha (the distinctive Gascon bagpipe), diatonic accordion, hurdy-gurdy (viela/vielle à roue), fiddle, oboe-like reeds (hautbois landais), flutes, and frame or tabor-like percussion. Core dances include the rondeu (in circle or in couples), the sautèuse, the congo, and regional variants of polka, mazurka, scottish and pas d’été, all adapted to local step patterns and phrasing. Songs in Gascon (Occitan) range from work and pastoral repertoires to love songs, drinking rounds and satirical couplets. Contemporary artists blend the tradition with folk-rock, experimental textures and polyphonic vocals, while staying anchored in danceable rhythms and call-and-response forms.

Occitan folk music is the traditional music of Occitania, the Romance-language cultural area spanning southern France and adjacent valleys in Italy and Spain. It carries the legacy of medieval troubadour song (canso) while preserving village dance repertoires, regional instruments, and multipart vocal practices. The style is marked by modal melodies (often Dorian and Mixolydian), sustained drones from bagpipes or hurdy-gurdy, and lively dance rhythms for farandole, bourrée, rondeau, branle, and the Béarn “sauts.” Songs are typically performed in the various dialects of Occitan (Languedocien, Provençal, Gascon, Limousin, Auvergnat), with lyrics that range from love and pastoral themes to contemporary social and linguistic identity. Modern revivals have blended these roots with folk-rock, polyphonic chant, and global influences while remaining dance-led and community-centered (balèti).