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| Music of Central Asia |
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Tajik music is closely related to other Central Asian forms of music. The classical music is shashmaqam, which is also distinctive in Uzbekistan. [1] Southern Tajikistan has a distinctive form of folk music called falak, which is played at celebrations for weddings, circumcisions and other occasions.
Tajik folk music is traditionally divided into three styles, Pamir (Mountain-Badakhshan province), Central Kuhistoni (Hisor, Kulob, Gharm provinces) and Sogdiana's northern style; the latter is part of the same musical culture as the adjacent regions of Uzbekistan (Kashkadarya Province and Surkhandarya Province). There are many kinds of songs, both lyrical and instrument, including work songs, ceremonial, funeral, wedding and musical epics, especially the central Tajik heroic legend Gurugli also known as "Omar Sham Sham".
Gharibi is the song of a stranger, an early 20th-century innovation of poor farm laborers and other workers who had to leave their land.
Gulgardoni is a springtime holiday (also called Boychechak) which includes carolling celebratory songs accompanied by the dutar and doira.
Sayri Guli Lola is the holiday of tulips , which includes accompanied choral and dance music. The most important song of this holiday is called "Naqshi Kalon".
The birth of a child is cause for special musical celebration. Traditional puppeteers play on the doira, qayroq, surnay and nag'ora. There are other variations, and folk songs like "Na`at" and "Munojot", performed at the circumcision ceremony of a male child.
Traditional Tajik wedding music is played by sozanda, professional musicians, mostly female, who are part of ensembles called the dasta. [2]
Badakhshan is a region inhabited by Tajik Ismailis, known for their sung spiritual poetry called madah . Lutes are a major part of Ismaili folk music. [3] [4]
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head. Tambourines are often used with regular percussion sets. They can be mounted, for example on a stand as part of a drum kit, or they can be held in the hand and played by tapping, hitting, or shaking the instrument.
Tajiks are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Tajikistan, and the second-largest in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. They speak varieties of Persian, a Western Iranian language. In Tajikistan, since the 1939 Soviet census, its small Pamiri and Yaghnobi ethnic groups are included as Tajiks. In China, the term is used to refer to its Pamiri ethnic groups, the Tajiks of Xinjiang, who speak the Eastern Iranian Pamiri languages. In Afghanistan, the Pamiris are counted as a separate ethnic group.
The Dombra, also known as Dombyra, is a long-necked musical string instrument used by the Kazakhs, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Nogais, Bashkirs, and Tatars in their traditional folk music. The Dombura shares certain characteristics with the komuz and dutar instruments, such as its long, thin neck and oblong body shape. It is a popular instrument mostly among Turkic communities in Central Asian countries.
Algerian music is virtually synonymous with Raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on these poetic forms. Algerian music came to include suites called nuubaat. Later derivatives include rabaab and hawzii.
As it is a country with many different tribes and ethnic groups, the music of Indonesia itself is also very diverse, coming in hundreds of different forms and styles. Every region has its own culture and art, and as a result traditional music from area to area also uniquely differs from one another. For example, each traditional music are often accompanied by their very own dance and theatre. Contemporary music scene have also been heavily shaped by various foreign influences, such as America, Britain, Japan, Korea, and India.
The music of Afghanistan comprises many varieties of classical music, folk music, and modern popular music. Afghanistan has a rich musical heritage and features a mix of Persian melodies, Indian compositional principles, and sounds from ethnic groups such as the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras. Instruments used range from Indian tablas to long-necked lutes. Afghanistan's classical music is closely related to Hindustani classical music while sourcing much of its lyrics directly from classical Persian poetry such as Mawlana Balkhi (Rumi) and the Iranian tradition indigenous to central Asia. Lyrics throughout most of Afghanistan are typically in Dari (Persian) and Pashto. The multi-ethnic city of Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Herat, which is home to traditions more closely related to Iranian music than in the rest of the country.
The music of the nomadic and rural Turkmen people is closely related to Kyrgyz and Kazakh folk forms. Important musical traditions in Turkmen music include traveling singers and shamans called bakshy, who act as healers and magicians and sing either a cappella or with instruments such as the two-stringed lute called dutar.
The music of Uzbekistan has reflected the diverse influences that have shaped the country. It is very similar to the music of the Middle East and is characterized by complicated rhythms and meters. Because of the long history of music in the country and the large variety of music styles and musical instruments, Uzbekistan is often regarded as one of the most musically diverse countries in Central Asia.
Music is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among the unique contributions of Mongolia to the world's musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing and morin khuur, the horse-headed fiddle. The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country: Oirats, Hotogoid, Tuvans, Darhad, Buryats, Tsaatan, Dariganga, Uzemchins, Barga, Kazakhs and Khalha.
The culture of Tajikistan has developed over several thousand years. Tajik culture can be divided into two areas, Metropolitan and Kuhiston (Highland). Modern city centres include Dushanbe, Khudjand, Kulob, and Panjikent.
Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area but only two percent of its population.
The music of Montserrat is influenced by Irish traditions, noticeable in the set dance-like Bam-chick-lay, and the presence of fife and drum ensembles similar to the bodhrán. Natives are also witness to the jumbie dance, the style of which is still strongly African. Instruments include the ukulele and shak-shak, an African instrument made from a calabash gourd; both of these are used in traditional string bands. Calypso and spiritual-influenced vocal choirs, like the Emerald Isle Community Singers, are popular.
The musical traditions of Central Asia mirror the immense diversity found in the cultures and populations residing in the region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lutes, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles made of horsehair; flutes, mostly sige at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jew harps, mostly metal. Percussion instruments include frame drums, [[Tam origin of the bowed string== Use of the bowed string is thought to originate with nomads who mainly used the snake-skin, covered horsetail-bowed lute. In Mongolia instruments like the morin khuur or horse-head fiddle survive today.
Chuigushou is a type of traditional percussive musical ensemble most often used at weddings and funerals by the Han Chinese, which usually accompanies a form of oboe called a suona. This type of folk music is diverse, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, and often based on Western Pop music and TV theme songs.
Gavriel Aronovich Mullokandov is widely regarded as the greatest Bukharian Jewish singer and musician. He was the People's Artist of Uzbekistan.
The Pamiris are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to Central Asia, living primarily in Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan), Afghanistan (Badakhshan), Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan) and China. They speak a variety of different languages, amongst which languages of the Eastern Iranian Pamir language group stand out. The languages of the Shughni-Rushani group, alongside Wakhi, are the most widely spoken Pamir languages of this area.
Ari Babakhanov is an Uzbekistani musician who performs the long-necked lutes tanbur, qashqari rubab and dutar.
Barno Iskhakova was a Soviet and Bukharian Jewish musician from Tajikistan.
The karna or karnay is a metal natural trumpet. The name is first mentioned in the biblical book of Daniel, used in the Middle Ages to the Persian military bands and in the Indian Mughal Empire to the representative orchestra naqqāra-khāna and which is still used by this name in ceremonial music in Central Asia and northern India.
Toi music (Той) is a genre of popular folk music originated from Central Asia. This genre of music is popular in countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
