Since the collection is quite extensive, however, I am confident that this taxonomy gives a view of the great majority of Doina types. The Doina is always sung in free rhythm with varying degrees of embellishment and melisma. There are a number of tune types used for these semi-improvised performances of the doina. In this listing I have used the Romanian names for the type or sub type as given by the peformer, but at times I added my own observed description of the type based on similarity with others in the same category. The items in the list are each numbered according to the order of accession and thus the number is meaningless other than serving as a means of identifying each individual record.
Many examples appear only with the type given as doina .
Others have further descriptions based on origin, intent, tune type or function. For further clarification, I have added here, an unpublished article I wrote on the relationship of the Doine to Romanian urban popular music. Included in this listing are the locations of the recordings. The major cultural regions of Romania are Muntentia, Oltenia, Moldavia, Dobroghea, Banat and Transylvania. During the period of my research in Romania, it was not permitted to mention the names of these cultural and geographic regions, nor to describe their boundries.