| Music of Pakistan | |
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| Genres | |
| Classical • Ghazal • Qawwali Pop • Filmi • Rock • Hip Hop |
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| Traditional Forms | |
| Religious music | Hamd • Nasheeds • Naat |
| Ethnic music | Balochi • Kashmiri • Pashto Punjabi • Sindhi |
| Media and Performance | |
| Music awards | Lux Style Awards MTV Awards |
| Music festivals | All Pakistan Music Conference Coke Studio |
| Music media | AAG • Bandbaja MTV Pakistan • PlayTV TM |
| National anthem | Qaumi Tarana |
| Regional Music | |
| Local forms | Brahui • Hindko • Khowar Shina • Siraiki |
| Related areas | Persian • Dari |
Pashto music is commonly found in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan.
Contents |
Genres
Tappa
Tappa is the oldest and most popular genre of the Pashto poetry. The Tappa is a composition of two unequal meters, in which the first line is shorter than the succeeding one, yet it reflects all human feelings and aspirations elegantly. Be it laborers, peasants, or women all sentiments find expression in the Tappa. It is also common among the Pashtoons that a boy of school would sing it, the elders in their hujrahs, the women in their home and Godar alike. It is the only song sung in the time of grief and on the occasion of marriage. In music it is sung with the traditional Pashto musical instruments Rabab and Mangay. Tappa has up to 16 different models of harmony and is being sung with full orchestra. In hujrah it's sung with Rabab and Sitar.
Charbeta
Charbetta is another popular genre, which consists of an epic poem with special rhythms. There are four kinds of Charbetta's. Normally, it's a poem of four lines but might also have six or eight lines. All aspects of life are discussed in it. That includes the heroic deeds and heroism by legendary figures and sometime expresses the romantic feelings. The tempo is usually very fast and is sung by two or more singers as part of a chorus in which ones singer reads the first line while the others follow the remaining. The singing or recitation of a Charbetta is called Tang Takore. Traditionally Charbetta is started just after the finishing of a Tappa.
Neemakai
Neemakai has many different forms and normally women compose it. It is usually very short (1 to 3 lines). The first lines are repeated in the middle of the song and Tappa is usually added according to the subject and circumstances. Most of these songs in Pashtoon culture have been expressed in different areas about daily life and love.
Loba
Loba is very popular among the masses and are added within Tappas occasionally. This is a form of folk music in which a story is told. It requires 2 or more persons who reply to each other in a poetic form. The two sides are usually the lover and the beloved (the man and woman).
Shaan
Shaan is sung during happiness such as marriages and or the birth of a child, and are sung in private congregations and social gatherings.
Badala
Badala is a professional form of folk music and consists of an epic poem or a ballad. Instruments used include the Rabab, Harmonium, Drums and Tabla. In Badala, tribal traditions are the main theme as well as heroism, tragedies and romance. Badala consists of variations, because each couplet is varied in rhythms from other. It is sung traditionally at night.
Rubayi
Rubayi is a Pashto form of a Ghazal. The Rubayis of Rehman Baba are popular among the masses and is sung before the starting of Badala. As with the Ghazals, the Rubayi have been heavily influenced by Arabic, Persian and Turkish poetry.
Instruments
Rubab
The rubab is a common lute-like instrument in NWFP and Afghanistan, and is the forerunner of the Indian sarod.[2] The rubab is called the "lion" of instruments in Pushtun Music. The rubab has a double-chambered body carved from mulberry wood and has three main strings and a plectrum made from ivory, bone or wood. The Rubab is still played and weddings and cultural performances in NWFP.
Chitrali Sitar
A Chatralay Sitar (Chitrali Sitar) is a very simple and old musical instrument with the most magical sound, directly influencing the solar plexus. It is not loud and can barely be heard in a mix of musical instruments, but heard being played and accompanied by Mangay, it is pure tranquility. Even though it is played over a vast region, including Afghanistan, parts of Iran and in two provinces of Pakistan, namely N.W.F.P. and Baluchistan, it carries the name "Chatralay Sitar", meaning the sitar from Chitral (a small but beautiful, and one of the north western-most areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Here I must say, that the most carefully manufactured and best sounding "Chatralay Sitars" do come from Chitral.
Baja
A Baja is an organ-type instrument. It is very popularly played in Pashto music, and is usually used by singers as an enhancement to vocal rehearsals. Its keys are played with one hand while the other hand is used to pump air into the instrument. It is played very commonly in all the countries of the Indian sub-continent and Afghanistan.
Shpelai
A Shpelai is a common bamboo flute used almost all over the world. It has a very special place in Pashto music and is loved by almost everyone, especially when faintly heard from far away in the quiet of a moon-lit summer night. It is frequently played by sheep herders, just like it has been played by sheep herders through thousands of years.
Sarinda
A Sarinda is an un-common stringed and bowed instrument. It has a very high pitched but enchanting sound and is commonly used in Pashto music. It is played while sitting on the ground just like most south Asian instruments. It is generally played joyously but can be played otherwise.
Druzza
This instrument is without any doubt unusual, not just because the only person (Zarnosh) that plays it, has also invented it. But the whole instrument is two six inch wheat stems not even attached to one another. Both the stems are flattened on one end, (like a reed) and a constant flow of air is blown through the flattened ends. One of the stems has just three frets and the other has none. It is played by maintaining a pocket of air in the mouth which is blown into the stems and simultaneously taking in air through the nasal passage to maintain a constant sound. It sounds like an Indian snake charmer's wind instrument (Been)
Duprai/Dukrai
Duprai/Dukrai is the tabla. A pair of percussion instrument played by highly skilled players when played classical. It is very commonly used throughout the world. It is played a little bit differently in Pashto music, since most of Pashto music has a Greek/Macedonian type beat. Tabla players around the Pashto music listening areas are commonly observed pasting dough onto the center of the larger of the drum pair to improve the sound.
Mangay
A Mangay is a receptacle used for the storage of water, and has been used as such for thousands of years. It has a wide belly with about a four inch opening at the neck. It is used as a musical instrument only when completely dry. It is played with the flat palm of one hand, trapping and releasing air in the Mangay, producing a booming sound, and with the other hand, softly striking its outside either with a finger-ring, a coin or a pebble. To produce a greater boom, a sheet of inner auto-tyre tube rubber is tightly tied onto the neck of the Mangay and is beaten with the hand like a drum. To further enhance the sound, it is accompanied by a "Chillum" (the base of a hubble-bubble or a waterpipe) into which water is poured, proportionate to sound desired, and is beaten with a soft shoe sole producing a sharper and higher pitched boom. Played together with a Chatralay Sitar is transcendental.
Dol/Dhol
A dol is a two-sided percussion instrument, which comes in many sizes. It is sometimes played by striking it with bare hands and sometimes with wooden sticks. It is widely used all over the Indian sub-continent. In Pashto-speaking areas, it is commonly used by the Khattak tribe, to a distinct beat, of which the Khattak dance is performed. It can be, and is used as a stand-alone instrument which accompanies wedding songs sung generally by women in the many thousands of villages and towns of south Asia.
Others
Besides the Musical instruments mentioned above, there are many others, like Cheng, Dutara, Gungru, Naghara, Santoor, Surna, Tambal, etc. that are used in Pashto Music, including most European and eastern ones.
Composers and Performers
- Sardar Ali Takar
- Zarsanga - The Queen of Pashto folk music
- Gulzar Alam
- Haroon Bacha
- Nazia Iqbal
- Rahim Shah
- Zeek Afridi
- Bakhitiar Khattak
- Zeb and Haniya
- Junaid Jamshed
Traditional Pashtun Dance
See also
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
