Music of Nepal
Encyclopedia
Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genre
s of Nepal
. With more than fifty ethnicities, the music of this country is a highly dispersed phenomenon. Although genres like pop
, rock
, folk
, and Classical music
exist, a huge number of such genres are yet to be cataloged. Many musical bands exist in Nepal, with a huge number in Kathmandu - most of the recent ones focused in pop and rock. Rap
has been known to emerge on the charts from time to time.
developed and flourished during this era. The Malla kings were known for their interest in arts. Drama created during those era are accompanied by music. Many of the guthi
s of Kathmandu valley have their origin in this era. These guthis maintain the musical genres established during that era. Dāpā music, a type of Newari bhajan is believed to have originated in this era.
in the year 1952. Since then Radio Nepal has expanded to become the dominant radio station all over the country, which helped in the uprising of many key figures in the field, notably Shiva Shankar
, Natikaji, Narayan Gopal
, Arun Thapa Magar (also known as Arun Thapa
) , Dharma Raj Thapa, Jhalak Man Gandarva, and in the female arena Koili Devi Mathema, Tara Devi
, Aruna Lama
.
Those music genres which have roots in Nepal can be considered as indigenous Nepalese music. This includes:-
but even the Gaine are declining in number. A special type of Khas music called Deuda is played in Far West and Mid West.
have a very rich tradition of music and culture. Gurung
s have an ancient tradition of Rodhi where young people meet, sing and dance to folk songs, and share their views. Young men and women at Rodhi often sing call-and-response songs called dohori, which are largely improvised. Some musical dances like Ghantu and Chudka are still in existence, and are still performed in many Gurung villages. These dances are many hundreds of years old, and are performed either solo or in a group. Music also plays a big role in the Gurung
ritual of Argum, which is performed when someone in the community dies.
These traditions are still very much alive in rural Gurung
villages. Gurung
films are also popularizing some of these songs and dances.
) have various forms of dance, songs and musical instruments. Of them, Dhaan Nach (paddy dance) and Chya:brung (Dhol Nach "drum dance") are popular symbolics. Rais celebrate Sakela and Sakewa which are also known as Chandi Naach. Many form of their dance involve rituals or religious offerings towards Mundhum (native Kiranti religion). Traditional dance and songs are also practiced for weddings, festivals or simply gatherings.
Recently due to the re-mixing trend of classic Nepali songs, Tamang Selo tuned songs like changba hoi changba, Man chadey Maichyang lai have been a hit in Nepali radio stations. Also, Modern artists like Sindhu Malla, Raju Lama, Avinash Ghising, Roj Moktan, Bijay Lama, etc. have used Tamang Selo tunes in their songs and those songs have also been a hit.
music.
Dohori
In Nepal there are different kind of music.
Among them one cultural type of song is called dohori.
Dohori is Nepali Folk song.
This is unique type of song in world.
Dohoro means from two side,or a debate.
This debate is in rhythm, and involves quick and witty poetry.The two teams in Dohori usually involves boys in one group girls in the other.The song is started with a question usually from the boys side. The girl follows the question with a quick response and continues the musical conversation.
Dohori songs can last for long time. The length of the Dohari depends on the quick thinking ability of the players. Some Doharis have lasted as long as seven days.
People celebrate the entire night singing the Dohari.They start singing in evening and end at dawn.
Love and marriage are usually the topic of the debate. The male expresses his love or feelings to the girl in the song and girl may or may not respond positively for various reasons.
An example of one Dohori conversation is given below:
Boy-Hey girl you are beautiful with long hair
Give your life to me and of you I will take care.
Girl-How can you ask for my life I am worried
I have two child and I am already married.
Boy- Come with me I will take care of your child and you
I will always love you, don't worry we won't have child anew
Girl-Hey don't talk nonsense,I am not your and never be
Beware, of my husband's kick who is sitting behind me
by Bikash Raj Sharma,, www.pokhrelithito.com
was established in April 1996 with the intention to help the music industry grow beyond what it was. Since then, Hits Nepal Pvt. Ltd., the parent organization and the event organizer of Hits Awards has been greatly involving in encouraging and promoting Nepali artists and music. Then came the concept of further involvement through Annual Hits FM Music Awards, which was held for the first time in 2054 BS (1998 AD) with seven categories to award, and it became the first ever musical award to be organized by a private company in national level. The award ceremony celebrated its 14th birthday recently, with artists awarded in 19 categories, including the prestigious Life Time Achievement Award (awarded to a senior member of music industry for their contribution for the development of Nepali music), and performances by top Nepali artists. The songs and albums nominated in each category are based on the votes of the public and the winner is then evaluated by an independent panel of judges.
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. With more than fifty ethnicities, the music of this country is a highly dispersed phenomenon. Although genres like pop
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...
, rock
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...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and Classical music
Classical 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...
exist, a huge number of such genres are yet to be cataloged. Many musical bands exist in Nepal, with a huge number in Kathmandu - most of the recent ones focused in pop and rock. Rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
has been known to emerge on the charts from time to time.
Medieval era
Newari MusicNewari Music
Newa Music, also spelled Newar Music, is a traditional music developed in Nepal by the Newars. It mainly consists of percussion instruments, some wind instruments and no string instruments.- Instruments :The instruments can be categorized as:...
developed and flourished during this era. The Malla kings were known for their interest in arts. Drama created during those era are accompanied by music. Many of the guthi
Guthi
Guthi is a social organization that used to maintain the social order of Newar society. Presently, most of the guthis are defunct and are vestigeal representation of what once was the most powerful social organization of the Newars....
s of Kathmandu valley have their origin in this era. These guthis maintain the musical genres established during that era. Dāpā music, a type of Newari bhajan is believed to have originated in this era.
Modern history
The modern history is a very short one. At times when big and private music companies where mushrooming the Western cities, Kathmandu got its first radio station, Radio NepalRadio Nepal
Radio Nepal was established on 1 April 1951. Initially, the transmission lasted for 4 hours and 30 minutes through a 250 Watt short-wave transmitter. Over the years, Radio Nepal has strengthened its institutional capacity considerably and diversified itself in terms of programme format, technical...
in the year 1952. Since then Radio Nepal has expanded to become the dominant radio station all over the country, which helped in the uprising of many key figures in the field, notably Shiva Shankar
Shiva Shankar
Shiva Shankar Manandhar was a singer, music composer of Nepali songs and the chief actor in the first Nepali movie, Aama. For nearly a half century beginning from 1950 to late 1990, his name has probably been mentioned more often in books, journals, lectures and conversations about Nepalese music...
, Natikaji, Narayan Gopal
Narayan Gopal
Narayan Gopal Guruacharya is the most prominent and popular singer and composer in the history of Nepali music. He is popularly referred to as "Swar Samrat" in Nepali music. He is also known as "Tragedy King." He is well known as a singer as well as a composer...
, Arun Thapa Magar (also known as Arun Thapa
Arun Thapa
Arun Thapa was a popular singer of Nepal. His songs like Ritu haruma timi hariyali basanta hau; रितुहरुमा तिमी हरियाली बसन्त हौ , bhulu bhulu lagyo malai; भुलु भुलु लाग्यो मलाई have touched the heart of millions Nepali music lovers. His contributions in the Nepali music is remarkable and inspires...
) , Dharma Raj Thapa, Jhalak Man Gandarva, and in the female arena Koili Devi Mathema, Tara Devi
Tara Devi (singer)
Tara Devi was a Nepali singer. She was known as the "nightingale of Nepal" having recorded over 4,000 songs during her lifetime.. Much of her music revolved around the themes of patriotism and love OhMyNews - 2006-01-23....
, Aruna Lama
Aruna Lama
Aruna Lama is one of the well-known singers of Nepali music. She is popularly known as "The Nightingale of the Hills". She sang hundreds of Nepali songs, including some for Nepali films, and left an indelible mark as one of the best singers in Nepali music....
.
Those music genres which have roots in Nepal can be considered as indigenous Nepalese music. This includes:-
Khas Music
In the Khas society traditionally, castes like Damai, used to play a number of instruments for occasions such as marriage. However, with many villages now having television, radio and even a local FM station, such accounts are declining gradually. The minstrels, gaine, used to play instruments like SarangiSarangi
The Sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India which is originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition...
but even the Gaine are declining in number. A special type of Khas music called Deuda is played in Far West and Mid West.
Deuda Music
Deuda is one type of music having variety of genre including Thadi Bhakha, Raheri and other, presented in western region of Nepal. Specially this type of music present in Sudur paschim, and many regions of madhya-paschim.Gurung Music
The GurungGurung
The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group that migrated from Mongolia in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurungs, like other east Asian featured peoples of Nepal such as Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Magar, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, and Walunggi, are the indigenous people of...
have a very rich tradition of music and culture. Gurung
Gurung
The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group that migrated from Mongolia in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurungs, like other east Asian featured peoples of Nepal such as Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Magar, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, and Walunggi, are the indigenous people of...
s have an ancient tradition of Rodhi where young people meet, sing and dance to folk songs, and share their views. Young men and women at Rodhi often sing call-and-response songs called dohori, which are largely improvised. Some musical dances like Ghantu and Chudka are still in existence, and are still performed in many Gurung villages. These dances are many hundreds of years old, and are performed either solo or in a group. Music also plays a big role in the Gurung
Gurung
The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group that migrated from Mongolia in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurungs, like other east Asian featured peoples of Nepal such as Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Magar, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, and Walunggi, are the indigenous people of...
ritual of Argum, which is performed when someone in the community dies.
These traditions are still very much alive in rural Gurung
Gurung
The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group that migrated from Mongolia in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurungs, like other east Asian featured peoples of Nepal such as Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Magar, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, and Walunggi, are the indigenous people of...
villages. Gurung
Gurung
The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group that migrated from Mongolia in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurungs, like other east Asian featured peoples of Nepal such as Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Magar, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, and Walunggi, are the indigenous people of...
films are also popularizing some of these songs and dances.
Kirant Music
The Yakthungs (LimbuLimbu
-Limbu people:*Limbu people a Tibeto-Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script*Kirati nation.-Limbu History:*Limbuwan*History of Limbuwan*Limbuwan Gorkha War*Limbuwan-Gorkha Treaty of 1774...
) have various forms of dance, songs and musical instruments. Of them, Dhaan Nach (paddy dance) and Chya:brung (Dhol Nach "drum dance") are popular symbolics. Rais celebrate Sakela and Sakewa which are also known as Chandi Naach. Many form of their dance involve rituals or religious offerings towards Mundhum (native Kiranti religion). Traditional dance and songs are also practiced for weddings, festivals or simply gatherings.
Tamang Music
Tamang community is well known for Damphu, traditional instrument. Tamang selo music is based on the usage of Damphu and Tungna. It is said that British people got an idea of making Drum Sets from Damphu during their stay at India. Western and Indian instruments are also found in some modern Tamang Selo music.Recently due to the re-mixing trend of classic Nepali songs, Tamang Selo tuned songs like changba hoi changba, Man chadey Maichyang lai have been a hit in Nepali radio stations. Also, Modern artists like Sindhu Malla, Raju Lama, Avinash Ghising, Roj Moktan, Bijay Lama, etc. have used Tamang Selo tunes in their songs and those songs have also been a hit.
Magar Music
Salai Jo and Sorathi are the two unique and exclusive musical genre of MagarMagar
The Magars are an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal whose homeland extends from the western and southern edges of the Dhaulagiri section of the high Himalayas range south to the prominent Mahabharat foothill range and eastward into the Gandaki basin. In Nepal, there are a good number of people who...
music.
Imported Music
The musical genres which was introduced to Nepal from outside and thrived here can be considered as imported music. This contains:-Nepali Music
- Bhajan
- Filmi music
Dohori
In Nepal there are different kind of music.
Among them one cultural type of song is called dohori.
Dohori is Nepali Folk song.
This is unique type of song in world.
Dohoro means from two side,or a debate.
This debate is in rhythm, and involves quick and witty poetry.The two teams in Dohori usually involves boys in one group girls in the other.The song is started with a question usually from the boys side. The girl follows the question with a quick response and continues the musical conversation.
Dohori songs can last for long time. The length of the Dohari depends on the quick thinking ability of the players. Some Doharis have lasted as long as seven days.
People celebrate the entire night singing the Dohari.They start singing in evening and end at dawn.
Love and marriage are usually the topic of the debate. The male expresses his love or feelings to the girl in the song and girl may or may not respond positively for various reasons.
An example of one Dohori conversation is given below:
Boy-Hey girl you are beautiful with long hair
Give your life to me and of you I will take care.
Girl-How can you ask for my life I am worried
I have two child and I am already married.
Boy- Come with me I will take care of your child and you
I will always love you, don't worry we won't have child anew
Girl-Hey don't talk nonsense,I am not your and never be
Beware, of my husband's kick who is sitting behind me
by Bikash Raj Sharma,, www.pokhrelithito.com
Awards
With the growth and development of Nepali music industry, different award ceremonies began being held in different parts of the country, some of them being focused on local talents. The awards of National standard are held each year by media houses, mainly Hits FM and Image FM.Annual Hits FM Music Awards
Hits FMHits FM
Hits FM is a popular radio station based in Kathmandu, Nepal. It went on air in April 1996. It is now available 24 hours daily on 91.2 MHz.It is one of the most listened FM stations in the country, with one of the highest rated shows.-External links:* *...
was established in April 1996 with the intention to help the music industry grow beyond what it was. Since then, Hits Nepal Pvt. Ltd., the parent organization and the event organizer of Hits Awards has been greatly involving in encouraging and promoting Nepali artists and music. Then came the concept of further involvement through Annual Hits FM Music Awards, which was held for the first time in 2054 BS (1998 AD) with seven categories to award, and it became the first ever musical award to be organized by a private company in national level. The award ceremony celebrated its 14th birthday recently, with artists awarded in 19 categories, including the prestigious Life Time Achievement Award (awarded to a senior member of music industry for their contribution for the development of Nepali music), and performances by top Nepali artists. The songs and albums nominated in each category are based on the votes of the public and the winner is then evaluated by an independent panel of judges.
External links
- News and Updates from Nepali Music Industry.
- Audio and video clips: music of Nepal. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- For complete access to all Nepali songs.*