The free vibration analysis of the functionally graded cylindrical shell panels with and without cutout is carried out using the finite element method based on a higher-order shear deformation theory. A higher-order theory is used to properly account for transverse shear deformation. An eight noded degenerated isoparametric shell element with nine degrees of freedom at each node is considered. The stiffness and mass matrices are derived based on the principle of minimum potential energy. The stiffness and mass matrices of the element are evaluated by performing numerical integration using the Gaussian quadrature. The effect of volume fraction exponent on the fundamental natural frequency of simply supported and clamped functionally graded cylindrical shell panel without a cutout is studied for various aspect ratios and arc-length to thickness ratios. Results are presented for variation of the fundamental natural frequency of the cylindrical shell panel with cutout size for simply supported and clamped boundary conditions. Manuscript profile