Sikh music
Encyclopedia
See also Kirtan
Sikh music (Shabad keertan) began in the 16th century as the musical expression of mystical poetry conceived by the founder of Sikhism
, Guru Nanak. Following him, all the Sikh
gurus sang in the then-prevalent classical and folk music styles, accompanied by stringed and percussion instruments. The "Gurmat Sangeet" style was one where the text was of prime significance and the music played a supporting, albeit important, role. The Gurus specified the raag
in which they sang each hymn in the Sikh
sacred scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib
. Thirty-one raag were used. Thirty-one raag
variants were named. Recent careful research by Inderjit N Kaur (Founding Director, Sikh Music heritage Institute) has proposed that several other raag variants were placed under ghar numbers (see below). Several raag variants are unique to the Sikh music tradition.
While Hindustani music underwent significant changes in the setting of Mughal courts, and a separate stream of Carnatic music
developed in southern India, Sikh music retained its original form and styles, a unique musical tradition encompassing a variety of melodic forms and a well-developed percussive system.
In the 20th century the classical style was largely replaced by contemporary popular genres often based on Indian film music. Within the remaining classical tradition, the devotional Gurmat Sangeet style was overtaken by the darbaari khayaal style. The harmonium took the place of stringed instruments and the tabla replaced the pakhaavaj and jori.
Significant efforts have been under way since the 1970s to revive the rich Sikh music tradition initiated and developed by the Sikh
Gurus. Various terms used to refer to this tradition include Shabad keertan parampara, Gurbani sangeet parampara and Gurmat sangeet.
as his accompanist. The Muslim singers formerly called mirasis, Nanak called "rababis", because they played on the rabab (rebec). Some notable rababis after Mardana were his son Shahjada, Balwand and Satta, Babak, son of Satta, Chatra, son of Babak, and Saddu and Baddu. Rababis used to perform kirtan
regularly at Amritsar before the partition in 1947, after which the rababis migrated to Pakistan. The last of the line of rababis was Bhai Chand.
The second type of musician - ragi
s - were amateur singers whom Guru Arjan encouraged to perform kirtan in order to avoid dependence on professional rababis. Some of the bards (bhatts) at the Court of Guru Arjan, whose compositions are included in the holy Sikh Scripture, became ragis and did kirtan before the congregations at different centres. Bhai Jassa Singh Ahluwalia performed kirtan at Mata Sundri’s residence at Delhi
after the death of Guru Gobind Singh
in 1708. Kirtan at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, was discontinued (on account of persecution by Muslim rulers) for much of the eighteenth century. When the Sikh missals (confederacies) obtained control of Amritsar, kirtan was restarted there. Bhai Mansa Singh ragi performed kirtan there during the regime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
and Bhai Sham Singh Adanshabi did likewise for more than seventy years. Outside Amritsar Sant Attar Singh, Bhai Sujan Singh, Bhai Randhir Singh and his groups were Sikh kirtan musicians who did missionary work.
A modern ragi group generally consists of three persons: one plays the tabla
or jori (pair of drums), as well as a dholak
and seldom participates in the singing; another plays the harmonium
, while the third plays a stringed instrument, harmonium or cymbals. The leader of the group sits in the centre and the group is known by his name. Today ragi-groups are employed by the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to perform kirtan in relays at the Golden Temple and other historic Gurdwaras in the Punjab
. Some travelling ragi-parties perform kirtan in parts of the world where there is a concentration of Sikh residents.
Guru Hargobind first employed the third types of musicians, called dhadhis, early in the seventeenth century. He instructed them to sing heroic ballads (vaars) in his court to inspire the Sikhs to acts of valour and heroism. Bhai Abdulla, expert in playing the Sarangi
, and Bhai Natha, player of the dhadh (a small hand-drum), were popular. These groups subsequently became very popular all over the Punjab on account of the use of folk tunes and their zealous and emotional style of singing. The singers had hardly any knowledge of Hindustani classical music but appealed to the masses. A dhadhi group consists of two or three singers, one playing on the sarangi
, another playing on the dhadh, and the third, maybe the leader, discoursing on the contents of their songs. Though they are expected to sing vars of the Scripture, they usually sing their own poetic compositions on the daring exploits of Sikh warriors and martyrs. One of the famous dhadhi-jathas was that of Bhai Kishen Singh Kartor. Sohan Singh Seetal is also a well-known dhadhi. There are sites that have collections of Sikh kirtan videos like www.Sikh2ube.com.
s and feeling:
Kirtan
Kirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...
Sikh music (Shabad keertan) began in the 16th century as the musical expression of mystical poetry conceived by the founder of Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
, Guru Nanak. Following him, all the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
gurus sang in the then-prevalent classical and folk music styles, accompanied by stringed and percussion instruments. The "Gurmat Sangeet" style was one where the text was of prime significance and the music played a supporting, albeit important, role. The Gurus specified the raag
Raag
Raag or RAAG can have several meanings:* Radio Amateur Association of Greece* Rāga, a melodic mode in Indian classic music* Right-angled Artin groups, a class of groups studied in geometric group theory....
in which they sang each hymn in the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
sacred scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
. Thirty-one raag were used. Thirty-one raag
Raag
Raag or RAAG can have several meanings:* Radio Amateur Association of Greece* Rāga, a melodic mode in Indian classic music* Right-angled Artin groups, a class of groups studied in geometric group theory....
variants were named. Recent careful research by Inderjit N Kaur (Founding Director, Sikh Music heritage Institute) has proposed that several other raag variants were placed under ghar numbers (see below). Several raag variants are unique to the Sikh music tradition.
While Hindustani music underwent significant changes in the setting of Mughal courts, and a separate stream of Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
developed in southern India, Sikh music retained its original form and styles, a unique musical tradition encompassing a variety of melodic forms and a well-developed percussive system.
In the 20th century the classical style was largely replaced by contemporary popular genres often based on Indian film music. Within the remaining classical tradition, the devotional Gurmat Sangeet style was overtaken by the darbaari khayaal style. The harmonium took the place of stringed instruments and the tabla replaced the pakhaavaj and jori.
Significant efforts have been under way since the 1970s to revive the rich Sikh music tradition initiated and developed by the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
Gurus. Various terms used to refer to this tradition include Shabad keertan parampara, Gurbani sangeet parampara and Gurmat sangeet.
Ghar in shabad headings
Recent careful research by Inderjit N Kaur (Founding Director, Sikh Music heritage Institute) has proposed that ghar in the shabad titles of Guru Granth Sahib refers to raag variants. It also gives reasons why it is unlikely that ghar refers to taal. For more details, see http://www.sikhmusicheritage.org/ghar2.pdfSikh Musicians
Three types of Sikh musicians - rababis, ragis, and dhadhis - flourished during the period of the gurus. Guru Nanak started the rababi tradition by engaging Bhai MardanaBhai Mardana
Bhai Mardana was the first follower and longtime companion of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. He was with Nanak in all of his journeys across India and Asia...
as his accompanist. The Muslim singers formerly called mirasis, Nanak called "rababis", because they played on the rabab (rebec). Some notable rababis after Mardana were his son Shahjada, Balwand and Satta, Babak, son of Satta, Chatra, son of Babak, and Saddu and Baddu. Rababis used to perform kirtan
Kirtan
Kirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...
regularly at Amritsar before the partition in 1947, after which the rababis migrated to Pakistan. The last of the line of rababis was Bhai Chand.
The second type of musician - ragi
Finger millet
Eleusine coracana, commonly Finger millet , also known as African millet or Ragi is an annual plant widely grown as a cereal in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. E...
s - were amateur singers whom Guru Arjan encouraged to perform kirtan in order to avoid dependence on professional rababis. Some of the bards (bhatts) at the Court of Guru Arjan, whose compositions are included in the holy Sikh Scripture, became ragis and did kirtan before the congregations at different centres. Bhai Jassa Singh Ahluwalia performed kirtan at Mata Sundri’s residence at Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
after the death of Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
in 1708. Kirtan at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, was discontinued (on account of persecution by Muslim rulers) for much of the eighteenth century. When the Sikh missals (confederacies) obtained control of Amritsar, kirtan was restarted there. Bhai Mansa Singh ragi performed kirtan there during the regime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...
and Bhai Sham Singh Adanshabi did likewise for more than seventy years. Outside Amritsar Sant Attar Singh, Bhai Sujan Singh, Bhai Randhir Singh and his groups were Sikh kirtan musicians who did missionary work.
A modern ragi group generally consists of three persons: one plays the tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
or jori (pair of drums), as well as a dholak
Dholak
The Dholak is a North Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese double-headed hand-drum Madal. The name dholki may also refer to a slightly different instrument that uses high-pitch tabla style syahi masala on its treble skin. This instrument is also known as Naal or Dholki....
and seldom participates in the singing; another plays the harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
, while the third plays a stringed instrument, harmonium or cymbals. The leader of the group sits in the centre and the group is known by his name. Today ragi-groups are employed by the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to perform kirtan in relays at the Golden Temple and other historic Gurdwaras in the Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
. Some travelling ragi-parties perform kirtan in parts of the world where there is a concentration of Sikh residents.
Guru Hargobind first employed the third types of musicians, called dhadhis, early in the seventeenth century. He instructed them to sing heroic ballads (vaars) in his court to inspire the Sikhs to acts of valour and heroism. Bhai Abdulla, expert in playing the Sarangi
Sarangi
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...
, and Bhai Natha, player of the dhadh (a small hand-drum), were popular. These groups subsequently became very popular all over the Punjab on account of the use of folk tunes and their zealous and emotional style of singing. The singers had hardly any knowledge of Hindustani classical music but appealed to the masses. A dhadhi group consists of two or three singers, one playing on the sarangi
Sarangi
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...
, another playing on the dhadh, and the third, maybe the leader, discoursing on the contents of their songs. Though they are expected to sing vars of the Scripture, they usually sing their own poetic compositions on the daring exploits of Sikh warriors and martyrs. One of the famous dhadhi-jathas was that of Bhai Kishen Singh Kartor. Sohan Singh Seetal is also a well-known dhadhi. There are sites that have collections of Sikh kirtan videos like www.Sikh2ube.com.
Major customs of Sikh Kirtan
The tradition of kirtan developed over the period of the ten Gurus is as follows:- Hymns from the following compositions only are permitted in kirtan: Adi Granth, Dasam Granth, vaars and kabits of Bhai GurdasBhai GurdasBhai Gurdas was a Punjabi Sikh writer, historian, preacher and religious figure. He was the original scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib and a companion of four of the Sikh Gurus.-Early life:...
, Bhai Nandlal’s poems.
- The kirtan-group is generally seated on the right side of the seat (palki) of the Guru Granth Sahib. No special seats or cushions are provided for the singers though in big assemblies (diwan) the use of a platform or dais is allowed provided it is lower than the seat of Guru Granth Sahib.
- In the morning, kirtan of entire Asa-di-var (24 chants, salokas and pauris) is completed. The singing of Asa-di-var is not to be interrupted by katha (exposition of a random hymn read from the Scripture) or lecture.
- Appropriate compositions of Gurbani are sung at certain functions. For example at the time of Anand KarajAnand KarajAnand Karaj is the Sikh marriage ceremony, meaning "Blissful Union" or "Joyful Union", that was introduced by Guru Amar Das. The four Lavan were composed by his successor, Guru Ram Das...
(Sikh Wedding) LavanLavanLavan may refer to:* Lavan , a person in the Torah* Lavan Firestorm, a fictional character in the book Brightly BurningPeople with the surname Lavan:* Doc Lavan , Major League Baseball shortstop...
, Anand and suitable shabads ar sung. At the funeral of a Sikh, appropriate shabads relating to death are sung. Kirtan SohilaKirtan SohilaKirtan Sohila: Three Gurus – Guru Nanak, Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan - contributed five shabads on the pain of separation and celebrating the bliss of union. The first three Shabads were uttered by Guru Nanak, the fourth by Guru Ram Das and the fifth by Guru Arjan Dev. This is the night prayer said...
is recited before cremating the dead body.
- Every hymn should be sung in the indicated ragaRagaA raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
. However, the musician must not forget the appropriate ethos, mood and spirit (rasa) of the hymn.
- Vars should be sung as indicated in the Scripture. For example Gauri var should be sung in Gauri raga, Ramkali var in Ramkali raga, with appropriate dhuni if indicated.
- Display of musical skill and excess of alap (free improvisation) and tan are not permitted as they tend to make the minds of singers and listeners mercurial and unstable.
- Correct pronunciation and intonation of Gurbani is essential so that the audience may understand the wording and the meaning of the hymn. The singer is not supposed to introduce any words of her/his own or make interpolations in Gurbani [1]. The use of extra words like ha, ji, wahwah, piyara, etc., is against the spirit of Gurmat.
- The raga-technique and the sounds of instruments are subordinated to the singing of the hymn. What is brought out prominently by the musician is the Gurbani and its rasa, and not the musical expertise. Parallel quotations (parmans) to illustrate the theme are permitted during the kirtan.
- Any hymn that has been commenced should be completed. Lack of time is no reason for stopping the singing of a hymn.
- No kirtan is permitted during Akhand Path (continuous reading of the Scripture).
- The listeners should not make offerings (donations) to the musicians while the kirtan is in progress. Offerings can be made at the end of the kirtan. The best way is one followed by Sufi congregations, where the listeners make the offerings to the president of the function or the organiser who hands over the collections to the leader of the music-group at the conclusion of the function. No ragi should interrupt his kirtan to acknowledge a donation or offering, nor should he mention the name of the donor. He should make a collective acknowledgement of the offerings at the end of the kirtan. This procedure is in accordance with Resolution No. 5 dated 2 January 1976 of the Kirtan Sub-Committee of the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar. In any case, interruption of kirtan to praise a donor or office-bearer of the Gurdwara or a distinguished visitor by name is absolutely forbidden, as it is against GurmatGurmatGurmat is a term which may in its essential sense be taken to be synonymous with Sikhism itself. It literally means to "have your face towards the guru". It covers doctrinal, prescriptive and directional aspects of Sikh faith and praxis...
(Guru’s instructions).
Raga: Melodic Scales
Ragas have a direct relationship to human moods and the following are the connections between RagaRaga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s and feeling:
- Soohi – joy and separation
- Bilaaval – happiness
- Gaund – strangeness, surprise, beauty
- Sri – satisfaction and balance
- Maajh – loss, beautification
- Gauri – seriousness
- Aasa – making effort
- Gujri – satisfaction, softness of heart, sadness
- Devgandhari – no specific feeling but the Raag has a softness
- Bihaagra – beautification
- Sorath – motivation
- Dhanasari – inspiration, motivation
- Jaitsree – softness, satisfaction, sadness
- Todi – this being a flexible Raag it is apt for communicating many feelings
- Bhairaagi – sadness, (The Gurus have, however, used it for the message of *Bhakti)
- Tilang – this is a favourite Raag of Muslims. It denotes feeling of beautification and yearning.
- Raamkali – calmness
- Nat Narayan – happiness
- Maali Gaura – happiness
- Maaru – giving up of cowardice
- Tukhari – beautification
- Kedara – love and beautification
- Bhairav – seriousness, brings stability of mind
- Basant – happiness
- Sarang – sadness
- Malaar – separation
- Jaijawanti – viraag
- Kalyaan – Bhakti Ras
- Vadhans – vairaag, loss (that is why Alahniya is sung in this Raag when someone passes away)
- Parbhati – Bhakti and seriousness
- Kaanra – Bhakti and seriousness