Chassidish music: the styles, the singers, and a clean way to listen

Chassidish music is the soundtrack of frum life: the niggun at a tish, the dancing at a chasuna, the slow song at a kumzitz, the new single everyone is humming by the next Shabbos. If you search for chassidish music, you find a world that is both very old and very new. This guide is a short map of it — the main styles, some of the singers people listen to, and a clean place to watch it all.

Where chassidish music comes from

Chassidus has always given music a central place. The niggun — a melody, often without words — is meant to lift the soul, and many chassidish courts have their own niggunim passed down for generations: niggunim for the Shabbos tish, for the Yomim Noraim, for weddings, and for quiet devotion. Much of today's chassidish music still grows out of that tradition, even when it is arranged with a full orchestra.

The main styles today

Niggunim and tish music

Traditional melodies, often sung by a choir or a group of men around a table, sometimes with no instruments at all. Many choirs record niggunim from various chassidish courts, and Shabbos and Seder niggunim are a category of their own.

Wedding music (freilach)

Fast, joyful dance music for the chasuna. Chassidish wedding bands and singers post live performances from real weddings, and these are some of the most watched Jewish music videos online. On Kall Video there is a dedicated Wedding category and a set of live wedding music channels.

Yiddish songs

Many of the most loved chassidish songs are in Yiddish — songs about emunah, about a tatte's brachos, about Moshiach, about simple faith. Lipa Schmeltzer, Shmueli Ungar, Beri Weber, Michoel Schnitzler, Motty Ilowitz and Shloime Kaufman are just a few of the singers known for Yiddish songs.

Chazzanus-influenced singing

Singers like Motty Steinmetz and Shulem Lemmer are loved for a sound that draws on chazzanus and old-world chassidish singing.

Choirs

Boys' choirs and men's choirs are a huge part of chassidish music. The Yedidim Choir, Malchus Choir, Miami Boys Choir and many others record both new songs and classic niggunim.

Slow songs and kumzitz

Quiet, heartfelt songs for a kumzitz or a Motzei Shabbos. Kall Video has a Slow & Kumzitz category for exactly this.

The big names everyone knows

Chassidish music overlaps with the wider world of Jewish music. Singers like Avraham Fried, Mordechai Ben David (MBD), Yaakov Shwekey, Benny Friedman, Simcha Leiner, Shloime Gertner and Yossi Green (as a composer) are listened to in chassidish and yeshivish homes alike. Kall Video has artist pages for hundreds of Jewish singers, choirs and bands, many with their names in both English and Yiddish or Hebrew.

The problem with listening on open platforms

Music videos are the easiest way to lose an hour online. Start with a niggun on an open platform and the recommendations can take you a long way from where you started. Comments, ads and thumbnails are not chosen with a chassidish home in mind, and secular music is always one tap away.

Listening on Kall Video

Kall Video is a free kosher video player built for this. It only plays from an approved list of Jewish music channels:

• Categories made for frum music: New, Wedding, Simcha, Slow & Kumzitz, Chassidish, Shabbos and Kids.
• Artist pages for hundreds of singers, choirs and bands.
• New releases appear automatically from approved channels, so the newest songs show up without searching.
• No comments, no outside recommendations, no secular music, no links out.
• Free, no install. Opens in any browser; add it to your home screen.

Make your own

If you want to go one step further, Kall Music lets you build your own instrumental tracks in the browser — drum patterns, piano, pads and chassidish-style templates — and export an MP3 for a simcha or a video.

Start listening

Open Kall Video, tap Chassidish, and let it play.