India has a very rich tradition of folk music.Each region has its own particular style.The great diversity that prevails in India culture and civilization has greatly facilitated the origins and establishment of the folk style of music.Every region of India has its own distinctive style of music.The extreme cultural diversity creates endless varieties of folk styles.These folk songs are full of rustic charm and appeal.They have simple and touching lyrics which have an immense appeal for the rural masses.Essentially, folk music of India is a community-based style of music dealing with some kind of social discourse or feelings of the singer and situation.Most of the folk music of India is dance-oriented.This means that the songs that are sung are usually accompanied by some dance form,typical to the region in which it is being performed.
Indian folk music plays an important role in any of the regional cultural or festival celebrations. The music is an indispensable component of functions such as weddings, engagements, and births.There is a plethora of songs for such occasions. There are also many songs associated with planting and harvesting. In these activities the villagers routinely sing of their hopes, fears and aspirations.Folk music is also used for educational purposes.For instance sex education has traditionally been taught in Andhra Pradesh by song. There is a function when a girl reaches the stage of puberty. In this function the elderly women in the community gather at the house (men are definitely excluded), the girl is given her first woni and langa (half sari which is worn by unmarried girls), rich food and other gifts. During this function the women sing songs that are extremely bawdy. To an outsider this would seem uncharacteristic of obviously respectable community members. However the function of such songs is to provide the girl's first instructions on her emerging womanhood and what her future marital duties will be.
There is very thin line of difference in between the exact meaning of folk music, classical music and tribal music. If one does not differentiate each of them appropriately, they will be confused ending up with a misconception that all these music types are same. Folk music will not require any special learning efforts as it will be of part of regular Indian rituals and celebrations. Classical music will require rigorous practice as it will be exhaustive enough to consume more than a decade for one to get trained completely. People learn folk music in their day to day life such as when some one attend to any household rituals or celebrations, they will have an opportunity to hear to that occasional traditional folk songs sung by elderly people. As this kind of continuous learning will be a part of most of the occasional celebrations, Indian children will easily imbibe the flair towards folk music and can easily master in singing folk songs.
There is a tendency to lump folk music along with tribal music.There is actually a difference.Where folk music is a mere rustic reflection of the larger Indian society, tribal music represents different cultures that sometimes date back to a thousand years. In tribes, the music is considered to be the property of the community as a whole.Tribal and folk music is not taught in the same way that Indian classical music is taught.There is no formal period of apprenticeship where the student is able to devote their entire life to learning the music,the economics of rural life does not permit this sort of thing. The musical practitioners must still attend to their normal duties of hunting, agriculture or whatever their chosen profession is.Music in the villages is learned almost by osmosis.From childhood the music is heard and imbibed.There are numerous public activities that allow the villagers to practice and hone their skills.These are the normal functions which synchronize village life with the universe.
Folk musical instruments are often different from those found in classical music.Although instruments like the tabla may sometimes be found it is more likely that cruder drums such as daf, dholak, or nal will be used. The sitar and sarod which are so common in the classical genre are absent in the folk music.One often finds instruments such as the ektar, dotar, saringda, rabab, and santur.Quite often they will not even be called these names, but may be named according to their local dialect. There are also instruments which are used only in particular folk styles in particular regions. These instruments are innumerable.The instruments that folk musicians use are generally not as refined as the classical musicians use. The instruments of classical music are crafted by artisans whose only job is the fabrication of musical instruments.In contrast the folk instruments are commonly crafted by the musicians themselves.It is very common to find folk instruments that have been fabricated of commonly available materials.Skin, peritoneum, bamboo, coconut shells, and pots are but a few commonly available materials used to make musical instruments.
Instruments used in Indian Folk Music :
• Algoza (Woodwind Instrument)
• Andelu
• Bombashi
• Bansuri
• Charchari
• Chengila (Percussion Instrument)
• Chenda (Percussion Instrument)
• Dotara (Stringed Instrument)
• Daf (Duf, Daphu, Daffali)
• Dhad (Hourglass-Shaped Drum)
• Dhak (Daklu)
• Dhol (Double-Headed Drum)
• Dholak (Double-Headed Hand Drum)
• Duggi (Drum)
• Dollu (Big Drum)
• Damru (Two-Headed Drum)
• Ektar
• Elathalam (Miniature Cymbal-like Percussion Instrument)
• Ghatam
• Gubguba (Percussion String Instrument)
• Gogona (Jaw Harp-Vibrating Reed Instrument)
• Ghungroo (Musical Anklet)
• Ghumot (Percussion Instrument)
• Harmonium
• Kanjira
• Kuzhal (Double Reed Wind Instrument)
• Khartal (Percussion Instrument)
• Khol (Indian Drum-Mridang)
• Loh Tarang (Percussion Instrument)
• Manjira
• Madhalam (Wooden Drum)
• Maddale (Percussion Instrument)
• Mizhavu (Percussion Instrument)
• Mashak (Bagpipe)
• Nagada
• Panchamukha vadyam (Metal Drum)
• Pungi (Wind Instrument)
• Pambai (Cylindrical Drum Pair)
• Pepa (Flute-like Instrument)
• Patayani thappu (Indian Frame Drum)
• Santur
• Sarangi
• Sarinda (Bowed String Instrument)
• Shehnai
• Shank
• Sruti upanga (Bagpipe)
• Udukai (Percussion Instrument)
• Idakka (Hourglass-Shaped Drum)
• Tamak’(Double-Headed Drum)
• Thavil (Barrel-Shaped Drum)
• Titti (Bagpipe)
• Thappu (Circular Wood-Frame Drum)
• Urumee (Hourglass-Shaped Drum)
India folk music owes its origins to the villages of India. This musical form represents the folklore and lives of the villagers. Indian folk music is classified into its varied types depending on the region of their origination.
Some of the most famous Indian folk music types include:
Chhattisgarh : Pandavani
Karnataka: Bhavageete, Dollu Kunita, Kolata, Veeragase
Andhra Pradesh : Kolatam
Assam : Bihu
Maharashtra: Lavani
Punjab: Bhangra
Tamil Nadu: Naatupura Paatu
West Bengal: Bauls
Pandavani
Pandavani is a folk singing style of musical narration of tales from ancient epic Mahabharata with musical accompaniment and Bhima as hero. This form of folk theatre is popular in the state of Chhattisgarh and in the neighbouring tribal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Bhavageete
Bhavageete (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Most of the poetry sung in this genre pertain to subjects like love, nature, philosophy, etc., and the genre itself is not much different from Ghazals, though Ghazals are bound to a peculiar metre. This genre is quite popular in many parts of India, notably in Karnataka. Bhavageete may be called by different names in other languages.
Bhangra
Bhangra is a form of dance-oriented folk music of Punjab. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Punjab called by the same name. The female dance of Punjab region is known as Giddha.
Lavani
Lavani is a popular folk form of Maharashtra. Traditionally, the songs are sung by female artists, but male artists may occasionally sing Lavanis. The dance format associated with Lavani is known as Tamasha.This dance format contains the dancer (Tamasha Bai) , the helping dancer - Maavshi , The Drummer - Dholki vaala & The Flute Boy - Baasuri Vaala.
Uttarakhandi music
Uttarakhandi folk music had its roots in the lap of nature. The pure and blessed music have the feel and the touch of nature and subjects related to nature. The folk music primarily is related to the festivals,religious traditions, folk stories and simple life of the people of Uttarakhand. Thus the songs of Uttarakhand are a true reflection of the cultural heritage and the way people live their lives in the Himalayas. Musical instruments used in Uttarakhand music include the dhol, damoun, turri, ransingha, dholki, daur, thali, bhankora and masakbhaja. Tabla and harmonium are also used but to a lesser extent. The main languages are Kumaoni and Garhwali.
Dandiya
Dandiya is a dance-oriented folk music that has also been adapted for pop music worldwide, popular in Western India, especially during Navaratri. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Dandiya called by the same name.
Music of Rajasthan
Rajasthani music has a diverse collection of musician castes, including langas, sapera, bhopa, jogi and Manganiar.
Bauls
The Bauls of Bengal were an order of musicians in 18th, 19th and early 20th century India who played a form of music using a khamak, ektara and dotara. The word Baul comes from Sanskrit batul meaning divinely inspired insanity. They are a group of Hindu mystic minstrels. They are thought to have been influenced greatly by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as by Sufi sects. Bauls travel in search of the internal ideal, Maner Manush (Man of the Heart).
Garba
Garba ("song") is sung in honor of Hindu goddesses god during Navratri. They are sung in the honour of god krishna, hanuman, ram, etc.
Dollu Kunita
This is a group dance that is named after the Dollu — the percussion instrument used in the dance. It is performed by the menfolk of the Kuruba community of the North Karnataka area. The group consists of 16 dancers who wear the drum and beat it to rhythms while dancing. The beat is controlled and directed by a leader with cymbals who is positioned in the center. Slow and fast rhythms alternate and group weaves varied patterns.
Kolata
Kolata is the traditional folk dance of the state of Karnataka, located in Southern India on the western coast. Similar to its North Indian counterpart Dandiya Ras, it is performed with coloured sticks and usually involves both men and women dancing together.
Veeragase
Veeragase is a dance folk form prevalent in the state of Karnataka. It is a vigorous dance based on Hindu mythology and involves very intense energy-sapping dance movements. Veeragase is one of the dances demonstrated in the Dasara procession held in Mysore.
Naatupura Paatu
Naatupura Paatu is Tamil folk music. It consists of Gramathisai (village folk music) and Gana (city folk music).
more info :
1. Click Here
2. Click Here
