The classical

music of Afghanistan 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 ethni ...

is called klasik, which includes both instrumental (

rāga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

s, naghmehs) and vocal forms (

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s).Doubleday, pg. 3 Many ''ustad'', or professional musicians, are descended from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n artists who emigrated to the royal court in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

in the 1860s upon the invitation of Amir Sher Ali Khan.Mikalina These north Indian musicians use Hindustani terminology and structures.Doubleday, pg. 3''Many of the Kabuli professional 'master musicians' (known as ''ustad'') are directly descended from musicians who came from India to play at the Afghan court in the 1860s. They maintain cultural and personal ties with India -- through discipleship or inter-marriage -- and they use the Hindustani musical theories and terminology, for example raga (melodic form) and ''tala'' (rhythmic cycle).'' (all emphasis in original) Afghan ragas, in contrast to Indian ones, tend to be more focused on rhythm, and are usually played with the

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

, imported from India, or the native zerbaghali,

daireh Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...

or dohol, all percussive instruments. An important characteristic of the Afghan ghazal is that, unlike the Indian talas and

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

s it is based on, Afghan ghazal features the "repetitive use of fast instrumental sections interpolated between units of text", an element derived from

Pashtun music Pashto music ( ps, ) or ''Də ṭang-ṭakór'' is commonly performed in Afghanistan and Pakistan among Pashtun people. Genres Tappa Tappa ( ps, ټپه) is the oldest and most popular genre of the Pashto poetry. The Tappa is a composition of ...

. Afghan ghazal is viewed as a "light-classical" form of Indian music, which uses Persian texts consisting of a series of rhyming

couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

s, many written by spiritual poets like Bedil, Sa'adi and Hafez.

Notes

References

* Baily, John. "Music of Afghanistan: Professional Musicians in the City of Herat". 1988. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Baily, John. "The naghma-ye kashal of Afghanistan". 1997. ''British Journal of Ethnomusicology'', Vol. 6, pp 117–163. * Baily, John. "A System of Modes Used in the Urban Music of Afghanistan". ''Ethnomusicology'', Vol. 25, No 1, pp 1–39. *Doubleday, Veronica. "Red Light at the Crossroads". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 3–8. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. * {{Portal bar, Afghanistan, Music Afghan music Classical music in Afghanistan Classical and art music traditions

See also

Notes

References