The link below has a few traditional songs to listen to. While there are many types of traditional music, the cultures that brought these songs into existence had several things in common. These commonalities lead to a possibility of finding a universal concept system in music.
Sixty traditional cultures worldwide were studied for rhythm and melodic complexity which varies and did not give specific information. However, how religious a song is, how much energy it brings up, and how formal a song was accounted for much of the variability. Lullabies, love songs, dance songs, and healing songs all created different patterns by these three dimensions.
Ask your music student about the traditional music and what they are drawn to, whether it is the type of instruments, the vocals, or the rhythms. How do they feel about the categories and how songs fit into them? Love traditional music and see how it is influenced by the culture that creates it.