Pakistan Music
The Music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from other parts of South Asia as well as Central Asian folk music, Persian music, Turkish music, Arabic music as well as more modern American music influences. With the multiple influences, Pakistani music has emerged as a “fusion” of many other types of sounds together to form a distinctly Pakistani sound.
Classical music
South Asian classical music has 7 basic notes (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni), with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike the 12-note scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and intertonal gaps (temper) may also vary; however with the gradual replacement of the sarangi by the harmonium, an equal tempered scale is increasingly used. The performance is set to a melodic pattern (raag) characterized in part by specific ascent and descent. Other characteristics include King and Queen notes and a unique note phrase (Pakad). In addition each raga has its natural register (Ambit) and glissando (Meend) rules, as well as features specific to different styles and compositions within the raga structure. Performances are usually marked by considerable improvisation within these norms. It is traditional for performers who have reached a distinguished level of achievement, to be awarded titles of Ustad.
- Instruments
- Sitar
- Tabla
- Harmonium
- Sarangi
- Santoor
- Violin
Gharanas
A gharana is a system of social organization or school linking musicians or dancers by lineage and/or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style. A recent is, Khayal Darpan, traces the development of classical music in Pakistan since 1947.
Some of the famous schools (Gharana) are:
- Agra Gharana
- Benaras Gharana
- Gwalior Gharana
- Mewati Gharana
- Patiala Gharana
- Kirana Gharana
- Dilli Gharana
- Sham chaurasi gharana
Famous Composers and Performers
- ustad Maqbool ahmed sabri
- Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
- Ustad Amanat & Fateh Ali Khan
- Ustad Dilshad Hussain Khan
- Ustad Umeed Ali Khan
- Ustad Salamat & Nazakat Ali Khan
- Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan
- Ustad Fateh & Hameed Ali Khan
- Ustad Nihal ABdulla Khan
- Ustad Vilayat Ali Khan
- Ustad Mohammed Hafiz and Mohammed Afzal Khan
- Ustad Barkat Ali Khan
- Ustad Bhailal Mohammed Khan
- Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan
- Ustad Amanat Ali Khan
- Ustad Akhtar Ali/Zakir Ali Khan
- Ustad Asad Ali Khan
- Ustad Badar/Qamar-uz-Zaman
- Ustad Chote GHulam Ali Khan
- Ustad Hussain Baksh GulloKhan
- Ustad Imtiaz/Riyaz Ali Khan
- Ustad Ghulam Shabir and Jaffar Khan
- Ustad Ghulam Haider Khan
- Ustad Nassirudin Sami Khan
- Ustad Nasir Ahmed Khan Khan
- Late Alam Lohar
- Roshanara Begum
- Naseem Begum
- Surraiya Multanikar
- Umrao Bandoo Khan
- Mohammed SHarif Poonchawalay
- Ashraf Sharif
- Nathoo Khan
- Bundu Khan
Ghazal music
In poetry, the ghazal (Persian: غزل; Turkish: gazel) is a poetic form consisting of couplets which share a rhyme and a refrain. Each line must share the same meter. Etymologically, the word literally refers to “the mortal cry of a gazelle”. The animal is called Ghizaal, from which the English word gazelles stems, or Kastori haran (where haran refers to deer) in Urdu. Ghazals are traditionally expressions of love, separation and loneliness, for which the gazelle is an appropriate image. A ghazal can thus be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 10th century Persian verse. It is derived from the Persian qasida. The structural requirements of the ghazal are more stringent than those of most poetic forms traditionally written in English. In its style and content it is a genre which has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central theme of love and separation. It is considered by many to be one of the principal poetic forms the Persian civilization offered to the eastern Islamic world.
The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century under the influence of the new Islamic Sultanate courts and Sufi mystics. Exotic to the region, as is indicated by the very sounds of the name itself when properly pronounced as ġazal. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Urdu poetry, today, it has influenced the poetry of many languages. Most Ghazal singers are trained in classical music and sing in either Khyal or Thumri.
Famous Composers and Performers
- Abida Parveen
- Ahmed Faraz
- Amanat Ali
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz
- Farida Khanum
- Firaq Gorakhpuri
- Noor Jehan
- Ghulam Ali
- Hussain Bux Gullo
- Iqbal Bano
- Makhdoom Mohiuddin
- Malika Pukhraj
- Munni Begum
- Mehdi Hassan
- Naheed akhtar
- Nayyara Noor
- Qamar Jalalvi
- Tahira Syed
- Yateesh M Acharya
