Music of Myanmar
Encyclopedia
The music of Burma has similarities with and is related to many other musical traditions in the region, including Chinese music
and Thai music
.
from Burma is melodious
, generally without harmony
, and usually in 4/4 time (na-yi-se) or 2/4 (wa-let-se) or 8/16 (wa-let-a-myan). There are "the segments combined into patterns, combined into verses, combined into songs [that] make Burmese music a multileveled hierarchical system...The Burmese musician manipulates the various levels of the hierarchy to create the song..." (Becker 1969, p. 272)
as classical Burmese msuci. Other influences include Mon
music (called Talaing than or "sounds of the Talaing [Mon]"), particularly in the Mahagita , the complete body of classical Burmese music. A prevailing one is called yodaya , which is essentially a class of Burmese adaptations to songs accompanied with the saung gauk and come from the Ayutthaya kingdom
(modern-day Thailand) during the reigns of Bayinnaung
(1551–1581) and Hsinbyushin
(1753–1776), which brought back a variety of cultural traditions including the Ramayana
. The primary indigenous form is called thachin .
Burmese classical music ensembles can be divided into outdoor and indoor ensembles. The outdoor musical ensemble is the sidaw , which was an outdoor ensembles in royal courts used to mark important ceremonial functions like the royal ploughing ceremony. It consists of a hnegyi , a large double reed pipe and sidaw, a pair of ceremonial drums, as well as the si and wa , a bell and clapper and the gandama, a double-headed drum. Today, sidaw music is played at festivals. Other instruments used in classical music include the saung (a harp) and pattala (a xylophone). The indoor form is the chamber music
ensemble, which is basically a female singer accompanied by a traditional ensemble consisting of the saung , pattala , migyaung ' onMouseout='HidePop("43028")' href="/topics/Zither">zither
), palwe ( and in the past, included the tayaw and hnyin (a small mouth organ).
, the Mahagita is an extensive collection of Burmese classical songs, called thachin gyi. The collection is divided into several different types of songs, including the following: kyo, bwe, thachin gan, the oldest repertoires; pat pyo, royal court music; lwan chin, songs of longing; lay dway than gat; myin gin, music that makes horses dance; nat chin, songs used to worship the nat
, Burmese spirits; yodaya, music introduced from Ayutthaya, Talaing than, music adapted from the Mon people
and bole, songs of sorrow.
The traditional folk ensemble, typically used in the nat pwe, Burmese theater and art, and festivals is called the hsaing waing
. Although its origin is unknown, it is believed to have come from the Ayuthaya kingdom, or in the least been heavily influenced by the Ayuthaya gong and drum ensembles in the 18th century through repeated invasions by the Konbaung dynasty and has many similarities to other Southeast Asian ensembles. The ensemble is made up of a series of drums and gongs, including the centerpieces, which are the hne (double reed pipe) and pat waing or hsaing wan . Other instruments in this ensemble include the kyi waing and maung hsaing , as well as the si and wa (bell and clapper) and the recent addition of the chauk lone bat (a group of six drums which have gained currency since the early 20th century). Hsaing waing music, however, is atypical in Southeast Asian music, characterized by sudden shifts in rhythm and melody as well as change in texture and timbre.
was also introduced during the British occupation.
Rock music
, called stereo in Burmese has been a popular form of music since the 1980s
, having been introduced in the 1960s
. Pop music
emerged in the 1970s
and was banned by state-run radio stations. However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops. During the Socialist era, musicians and artists were subject to censorship by the Press Scrutiny Board
and Central Registration Board, as well as laws like the State Protection Law. During this period, the arrival of various bands including the influential Thabawa Yinthwenge (The Wild Ones), which included lead singer Sai Htee Saing
, an ethnic Shan in 1973, paved the way for ethnic minority musicians to gain visibility in the Burmese music industry.
During the 8888 Uprising
, restrictions loosened and many artists began writing music with themes of freedom and democracy. However, after the State Law and Order Restoration Council usurped power in 1988, the Press Scrutiny Board was reformed to censor specific political and social issues, including poverty, the sex trade, democracy and human rights. The Myanmar Music Asiayon (MMA) was established by the SLORC to further censor Burmese-produced music. Popular musicians including Zaw Win Htut and Sai Htee Saing have produced propaganda albums written by military officers such as Mya Than San.
Hip hop
and rap
emerged in the late 1990s
and is now the prevailing genre of music among Burmese youth today.
Bands like Iron Cross, Emperor and BigBag are popular among the middle-aged and some groups of youth. There are hip-hop enthusiasts all over Burma with artists such as Ye Lay, Sai Sai, and J-me. Thus, there are many underground rock, punk and metal bands such as All Else I Fail, Last Day of Beethoven, Yakkhadeva, Temper Level VIII, Tha Ta Lin Chate, Idiots, Offkeys, etc. The prevalence of Burmese cover songs (particularly from Asia nowadays) has led to the adoption of "copy tune" and "own tune" to describe the origins of a song's melody.
s include the brass
se (which is like a triangle), hne
(a kind of oboe
) and bamboo
wa, as well as the well-known saung
, a boat-shaped harp
. Instruments are classified into six groups:
These instruments are played in a musical scale consisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each tone can be played raised, lowered or natural (corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting a possible twenty-one combinations. The Pat Waing
drum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination, and the saing saya (maestro) sits in the middle using various parts of his hands to strike the drums in order to produce a melody. The Kyi Waing is the gong circle strung up in the same fashion and the gongs are struck with a knobbed stick and in accompaniment to the pat waing.
The Burmese harp
is of special significance. It dates back to the 9th century, though it has changed quite a bit since then, expanding, for example, from three strings to sixteen. During the Konbaung
period (1752–1885), courtly musicians included Ma Mya Galay, a queen, Hlaing Hteikhaung Tin, a princess, Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa, a minister, and Nat Shin Naung
, King of Taungoo
.
Beginning just before World War II
, the piano
was adapted to the performance of Burmese traditional music, modeling its technique after that of the patala and saung. The best known performer of Burmese piano was Gita Lulin Maung Ko Ko, known as U Ko Ko (1928–2007).http://www.umbc.edu/eol/garfias/burma1.html
Music of China
Chinese Music has been made since the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
and Thai music
Music of Thailand
The music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome...
.
Traditional music
Traditional musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
from Burma is melodious
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, generally without harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, and usually in 4/4 time (na-yi-se) or 2/4 (wa-let-se) or 8/16 (wa-let-a-myan). There are "the segments combined into patterns, combined into verses, combined into songs [that] make Burmese music a multileveled hierarchical system...The Burmese musician manipulates the various levels of the hierarchy to create the song..." (Becker 1969, p. 272)
Classical traditions
Orthodox Theravada Buddhism frowns upon music as being decadent, but the Burmese monarchy as well as infusion of different regional music styles, created several classical traditions of Burmese music. The oldest influences may perhaps come from China, which shares a similar pentatonic musical scaleMusical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
as classical Burmese msuci. Other influences include Mon
Mon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
music (called Talaing than or "sounds of the Talaing [Mon]"), particularly in the Mahagita , the complete body of classical Burmese music. A prevailing one is called yodaya , which is essentially a class of Burmese adaptations to songs accompanied with the saung gauk and come from the Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
(modern-day Thailand) during the reigns of Bayinnaung
Bayinnaung
Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta was the third king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma . During his 30-year reign, which has been called the "greatest explosion of human energy ever seen in Burma", Bayinnaung assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern day...
(1551–1581) and Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Alaungpaya is best known for his wars with China and Siam, and is considered the most militaristic king of the dynasty. His successful defense against four Chinese invasions preserved...
(1753–1776), which brought back a variety of cultural traditions including the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
. The primary indigenous form is called thachin .
Burmese classical music ensembles can be divided into outdoor and indoor ensembles. The outdoor musical ensemble is the sidaw , which was an outdoor ensembles in royal courts used to mark important ceremonial functions like the royal ploughing ceremony. It consists of a hnegyi , a large double reed pipe and sidaw, a pair of ceremonial drums, as well as the si and wa , a bell and clapper and the gandama, a double-headed drum. Today, sidaw music is played at festivals. Other instruments used in classical music include the saung (a harp) and pattala (a xylophone). The indoor form is the chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
ensemble, which is basically a female singer accompanied by a traditional ensemble consisting of the saung , pattala , migyaung ' onMouseout='HidePop("43028")' href="/topics/Zither">zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
), palwe ( and in the past, included the tayaw and hnyin (a small mouth organ).
Mahagita
Translated as "great music" in PaliPáli
- External links :* *...
, the Mahagita is an extensive collection of Burmese classical songs, called thachin gyi. The collection is divided into several different types of songs, including the following: kyo, bwe, thachin gan, the oldest repertoires; pat pyo, royal court music; lwan chin, songs of longing; lay dway than gat; myin gin, music that makes horses dance; nat chin, songs used to worship the nat
Nat (spirit)
The nats are spirits worshipped in Burma in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest . Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths . They may thus also be called nat sein...
, Burmese spirits; yodaya, music introduced from Ayutthaya, Talaing than, music adapted from the Mon people
Mon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
and bole, songs of sorrow.
Folk traditions
Burmese music includes a variety of folk traditions. A distinct form called the byaw , is often played at religious festivals and is sung to the beat of a long and thin drum, with occasional interruptions by the beating of a larger drum.The traditional folk ensemble, typically used in the nat pwe, Burmese theater and art, and festivals is called the hsaing waing
Hsaing waing
The hsaing waing is a traditional Burmese folk musical ensemble, consisting of a number of different gongs and drums, as well as other instruments, depending on the nature of the performance...
. Although its origin is unknown, it is believed to have come from the Ayuthaya kingdom, or in the least been heavily influenced by the Ayuthaya gong and drum ensembles in the 18th century through repeated invasions by the Konbaung dynasty and has many similarities to other Southeast Asian ensembles. The ensemble is made up of a series of drums and gongs, including the centerpieces, which are the hne (double reed pipe) and pat waing or hsaing wan . Other instruments in this ensemble include the kyi waing and maung hsaing , as well as the si and wa (bell and clapper) and the recent addition of the chauk lone bat (a group of six drums which have gained currency since the early 20th century). Hsaing waing music, however, is atypical in Southeast Asian music, characterized by sudden shifts in rhythm and melody as well as change in texture and timbre.
Popular music
Western music gained much popularity in Burma starting from the 1930s. Despite government intervention at times, especially during the Socialist era, popular Burmese music has become considerably influenced by Western music, which consists of popular Western songs rendered in Burmese and pop music similar to other Asian pop tunes. Classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
was also introduced during the British occupation.
Rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, called stereo in Burmese has been a popular form of music since the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, having been introduced in the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
. Pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
emerged in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and was banned by state-run radio stations. However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops. During the Socialist era, musicians and artists were subject to censorship by the Press Scrutiny Board
Press Scrutiny and Registration Division
The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division is a division under the Ministry of Information, responsible for censorship of media in Burma today. Its current director is Major Tint Swe. PSRD censors all forms of media, ranging from publications such as newspapers and magazines and other published...
and Central Registration Board, as well as laws like the State Protection Law. During this period, the arrival of various bands including the influential Thabawa Yinthwenge (The Wild Ones), which included lead singer Sai Htee Saing
Sai Htee Saing
Sai Htee Saing was a distinguished Burmese singer and songwriter of Shan descent, which featured prominently throughout his music career. Throughout his career, he recorded 2 to 3 Shan language albums and 30 to 40 Burmese language albums. He was especially known for composing country music.Htee...
, an ethnic Shan in 1973, paved the way for ethnic minority musicians to gain visibility in the Burmese music industry.
During the 8888 Uprising
8888 Uprising
The 8888 Nationwide Popular Pro-Democracy Protests was a series of marches, demonstrations, protests, and riots in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma...
, restrictions loosened and many artists began writing music with themes of freedom and democracy. However, after the State Law and Order Restoration Council usurped power in 1988, the Press Scrutiny Board was reformed to censor specific political and social issues, including poverty, the sex trade, democracy and human rights. The Myanmar Music Asiayon (MMA) was established by the SLORC to further censor Burmese-produced music. Popular musicians including Zaw Win Htut and Sai Htee Saing have produced propaganda albums written by military officers such as Mya Than San.
Hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
emerged in the late 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
and is now the prevailing genre of music among Burmese youth today.
Bands like Iron Cross, Emperor and BigBag are popular among the middle-aged and some groups of youth. There are hip-hop enthusiasts all over Burma with artists such as Ye Lay, Sai Sai, and J-me. Thus, there are many underground rock, punk and metal bands such as All Else I Fail, Last Day of Beethoven, Yakkhadeva, Temper Level VIII, Tha Ta Lin Chate, Idiots, Offkeys, etc. The prevalence of Burmese cover songs (particularly from Asia nowadays) has led to the adoption of "copy tune" and "own tune" to describe the origins of a song's melody.
Musical instruments
Musical instrumentMusical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
s include the brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
se (which is like a triangle), hne
Hne
The hne is a conical shawm used in the music of Myanmar. It has a sextuple reed made of toddy palm leaf. It has a flaring metal bell and has a loud tone, and is used in an ensemble together with xylophone, tuned gongs, and tuned drums.-External links:*...
(a kind of oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
) and bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
wa, as well as the well-known saung
Saung
The saung is an arched harp used in traditional Burmese music. The saung is regarded as a national musical instrument of Burma. The saung is unique in that it is a very ancient harp tradition and the only surviving harp in Asia today.- Description :...
, a boat-shaped harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
. Instruments are classified into six groups:
- Instruments made of non-precious metals like brassBrassBrass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
or bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
: kyei - Instruments made from skin, hide or leather: thay-ye
- String instrumentString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s: kyo - Wind instrumentWind instrumentA wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s: lei - ClapperClapperA clapper may refer to one of the following:*Part of a bell*Clapper bridge*A sound-activated gadget called The Clapper*A character from the video game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest*Clapboard used in film production...
instruments: let-ko - XylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
instruments: Patala
These instruments are played in a musical scale consisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each tone can be played raised, lowered or natural (corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting a possible twenty-one combinations. The Pat Waing
Pat waing
The pat waing or saing waing, is a set of 21 drums in a circle, traditional from Burma. The player sits in the middle of a horseshoe-shaped shell made of elaborately carved wood and decorated with gold leaf. The drums are played with the bare hands....
drum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination, and the saing saya (maestro) sits in the middle using various parts of his hands to strike the drums in order to produce a melody. The Kyi Waing is the gong circle strung up in the same fashion and the gongs are struck with a knobbed stick and in accompaniment to the pat waing.
| Tone name | Burmese name | Animal | Approx. tone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usabha (ဥသဘ) | Pyidawpyan (ပြည်တော်ပြန်) | bull Bull Bull usually refers to an uncastrated adult male bovine.Bull may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Bull , an original show on the TNT Network* "Bull" , an episode of television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation... |
G |
| Dhevata (ဓေဝတ) | Chauk thwe nyunt (ခြောက်သွယ်ညွန့်) | horse Horse The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today... |
D |
| Chajja (ဆဇ္စျ) | Duraka (ဒုရက) | peacock | A |
| Gandhara (ဂန္ဓါရ) | Myin saing (မြင်ဆိုင်း) | goat Goat The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of... |
E |
| Majjhima (မဇ္စျိမ) | Pale (ပုလဲ) | crane Crane (bird) Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back... |
B |
| Panzama (ပဉ္စမ) | Aukpyan (အောက်ပြန့်) | cuckoo Cuckoo The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute... |
F |
| Nisada (နိသာဒ) | Hnyin lone (ညွှင်းလုံး) | elephant Elephant Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct... |
C |
The Burmese harp
Saung
The saung is an arched harp used in traditional Burmese music. The saung is regarded as a national musical instrument of Burma. The saung is unique in that it is a very ancient harp tradition and the only surviving harp in Asia today.- Description :...
is of special significance. It dates back to the 9th century, though it has changed quite a bit since then, expanding, for example, from three strings to sixteen. During the Konbaung
Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma...
period (1752–1885), courtly musicians included Ma Mya Galay, a queen, Hlaing Hteikhaung Tin, a princess, Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa, a minister, and Nat Shin Naung
Nat Shin Naung
Natshinnaung was a Toungoo prince who was a noted poet and an accomplished musician, as well as an able military commander. A grandson of King Bayinnaung and the eldest son of Minye Thihathu, Viceroy of Toungoo, the prince participated in King Nanda's campaigns to reconquer Siam in the early...
, King of Taungoo
Taungoo
-Administration:*Taungoo District Peace and Development Council - List of Six Townships*Taungoo Township Peace and Development Council*Taungoo Ward Peace and Development Council - 22 Wards*Taungoo Municipal*District and Township Immigration Dept...
.
Beginning just before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
was adapted to the performance of Burmese traditional music, modeling its technique after that of the patala and saung. The best known performer of Burmese piano was Gita Lulin Maung Ko Ko, known as U Ko Ko (1928–2007).http://www.umbc.edu/eol/garfias/burma1.html
External links
- Hpeppoosin (Leaf Green) by Soe Sanda Tun and Saing Waing video
- Pat Waing video
- The traditional music and instruments of Myanmar/Burma
- Listen Myanmar/Burma Music at LapePyar.com
- Shwenadi - Myanmar Music
- Myanmar Traditional Music Instruments - includes pictures, and sample songs
- Burmese Music - Classical and Modern
- Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble - Traditional Mon Music
- Myanmar Music
- Myanmar Traditional Musical Instruments
- Heavy-metal band Iron Cross,
- Myanmar Music Songs Traditional Music MP3