Urdu (;["Urdu"](_blank)
''harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
s (which may be played by the lead singer, side singer or someone else), and percussion. If there is only one percussionist, he plays 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 ...
and dholak
The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in ''qawwali'', '' kirtan'', '' lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differ ...
, usually the tabla with the dominant hand and the dholak with the other one (i.e. a left-handed percussionist would play the tabla with his left hand). Often there will be two percussionists, in which case one might play the tabla and the other the dholak. There is also a chorus of four or five men who repeat key verses, and who aid percussion by hand-clapping.
The performers sit cross-legged on the ground in two rows — the lead singer, side singers and harmonium players in the front row, and the chorus and percussionists in the back row.
Before the fairly recent introduction of the harmonium, qawwalis were usually accompanied by the sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...
. The sarangi had to be retuned between songs; the harmonium didn't, and was soon preferred.
Women used to be excluded from traditional Muslim music, since they are traditionally prohibited from singing in the presence of men. These traditions have changed, however, as is evident by the popularity (and acceptance) of female singers such as Abida Parveen
Abida Parveen ( Urdu, sd, ; born 20 February 1954) is a Pakistani singer, composer and musician of Sufi music. She is also a painter and entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music has earned ...
. However, qawwali has remained an exclusively male business. There are still no mainstream female qawwals. Although ''kafi'' singer Abida Parveen has increasingly incorporated qawwali techniques into her performances, she is still not considered a qawwali singer.
Musical structure of Qawwali
The longest recorded commercially released qawwali runs slightly over 115 minutes (Hashr Ke Roz Yeh Poochhunga by Aziz Mian Qawwal). The qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi music, Sufi devotional music. ...
has at least two songs that are more than 60 minutes long.
Qawwalis tend to begin gently and build steadily to a very high energy level in order to induce hypnotic states both among the musicians and within the audience. Almost all Qawwalis are based on a 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 ...
from the Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
tradition. Songs are usually arranged as follows:
# They start with an instrumental prelude where the main melody is played on the harmonium, accompanied by the tabla, and which may include improvised variations of the melody.
# Then comes the alap
The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...
, a long tonal improvised melody during which the singers intone different long notes, in the raga of the song to be played.
# The lead singer begins to sing some preamble verses which are typically not part of the main song, although thematically related to it. These are sung unrhythmically, improvised following the raga, and accompanied only by the harmonium. After the lead singer sings a verse, one of the side singers will repeat the verse, perhaps with his own improvisation. A few or many verses will be sung in this way, leading into the main song.
# As the main song begins, the tabla, dholak and clapping begin. All members join in the singing of the verses that constitute the refrain. The lyrics of the main verses are never improvised; in fact, these are often traditional songs sung by many groups, especially within the same lineage. However, the tunes are subtly improvised within the framework of the main melody. As the song proceeds, the lead singer or one of the side singers may break out into an alap. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi music, Sufi devotional music. ...
also popularized the interjection of sargam singing at this point. The song usually builds in tempo and passion, with each singer trying to outdo the other in terms of vocal acrobatics. Some singers may do long periods of sargam improvisation, especially alternating improvisations with a student singer. The songs usually end suddenly.
The singing style of qawwali is different from Western singing styles in many ways. For example, in words beginning with an "m", Western singers are apt to stress the vowel following the "m" rather than the "m" itself, whereas in qawwali, the "m" will usually be held, producing a muted tone. Also in qawwali, there is no distinction between what is known as the chest voice
Chest voice is a term used within vocal music. The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regard to this term. Chest voice can be used in ...
and the head voice
Head voice is a term used within vocal music. The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regard to this term. Head voice can be used in re ...
(the different areas that sound will resonate in depending on the frequency sung). Rather, qawwals sing very loudly and forcefully, which allows them to extend their chest voice to much higher frequencies than those used in Western singing, even though this usually causes a more noisy or strained sound than what would be acceptable in the West.
Notable Qawwals of the past 70 years
* Aziz Mian
Aziz Mian Qawwal ( ur, عزیز میاں قوال) (17 April 1942 – 6 December 2000) was a Pakistani traditional qawwal famous for singing ghazals in his own style of qawwali and is considered one of the greatest qawwals in South Asia. He h ...
* Badar Ali Khan
Badar Miandad Khan (17 February 1962 – 2 March 2007), also known as Badar Ali Khan, was a Pakistani qawwali singer. He released several albums in Pakistan. Several albums were also released under UK and Indian labels.
Early life and career
...
, (also known as Badar Miandad)
* Bahauddin Qutbuddin
* Fateh Ali Khan
* Prabha Bharti
Prabha Bharti (died 2000s) was a noted Indian qawaali and ghazal singer of the 1960s to the 1990s. She was one of the first women qawwali-singer (qawwal) of India, a form of Sufi devotional music traditionally a reserve of male singers. She is kno ...
* Habib Painter
Habib Painter or Habeeb Painter (1915 – 22 February 1987) was a noted Indian Qawwal and a folk singer. There is a park named in honour of Habib Painter in Aligarh near Paan Wali Kothi named as ''Bulbuley Hind Habib Painter Park''
Early life
H ...
* Iqbal Hussain Khan Bandanawazi
* Munshi Raziuddin
Munshi Raziuddin Ahmed Khan (1912 – 2003) was a Pakistani Qawwali singer, a classical musician and a researcher and scholar of music. He belongs to the well-known Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana of Delhi.[Nizami Bandhu
Nizami Bandhu ( hi, निजामी बंधु, ur, نظامی بندھو) are an Indian musical group composed of Ustad Chand Nizami, Shadab Faridi and Sohrab Faridi Nizami and .
They perform Qawaali written by the poet Amir Khusro i ...]
* Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi music, Sufi devotional music. ...
* Sabri Brothers
The Sabri Brothers ( Punjabi, ) were a musical band from Pakistan who were performers of Sufi qawwali music and were closely connected to the Chishti Order. They are considered as one of the greatest Sufi qawwali singers of all times. The Sabri ...
* Wadali Brothers
* Warsi Brothers
Warsi Brothers are an Indian Qawwali musical group, consisting of brothers Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi and Naseer Ahmed Khan Warsi (the Qawwāls), along with eight accompanists (the ''humnawa'' or party). They are based in Hyderabad.
Family of qaw ...
* Qutbi Brothers
Qutbi Brothers are an Indian Qawwali group, headed by Haji Mohammad Idris and Arshad Qutbi (born in Delhi) are better known as the ''Qutbi Brothers''. They are considered as the most popular qawwali group of India.
History
Qutbi Brothers ar ...
Current and recent Qawwals
* Ateeq Hussain Khan
Ustad Ateeq Hussain Khan Bandanawazi Al-Hashmi Qawwal () (born 1980) is a Hindustani Qawwal.
He was born in Hyderabad, India. He started his training in Indian classical music ( Hindustani shastria sangeeth) from his father from the early ag ...
* Abdullah Manzoor Niazi
Abdullah Muhammad Manzoor Niazi Qawwal is a Pakistani Qawwal. He was born in Karachi at 1960 and is the eldest son of Manzoor Niazi Qawwal. He belongs to Qawwal Bachchon ka Gharana of Delhi. He performed with his father Manzoor Niazi Qawwal, and o ...
* Faiz Ali Faiz
Faiz Ali Faiz (Urdu: فیض علی فیض; born in 1962 in Sharaqpur, Pakistan) is a well-known Pakistani qawwali singer.
Faiz was born into a family of seven generations of qawwals. He studied classical music with ''Ustad Ghulam Shabir Khan'' a ...
* Fareed Ayaz
Ghulam Fariduddin Ayaz Al-Hussaini Qawwal (born in Hyderabad, India) is a Pakistani Sufi devotional singer. He belongs to the ''Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana'' of Delhi.
He and his relatives are the flag-bearers of that school of music (gharana ...
* Dhruv Sangari
Dhruv Sangari also known as Bilal Chishty Sangari بلال ڇݜتى سنگارى is a Sufi and Classical Indian vocalist, composer, lyricist, savant and teacher. He is the son of well-known scholar and author Kumkum Sangari and noted painter Mahe ...
* Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan ( Punjabi, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Singer, primarily of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Kha ...
* Sukhawat Ali Khan
Sukhawat Ali Khan (born 1950), son of Indian-Pakistani vocalist Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and nephew of Nazakat Ali Khan, is a classical singer of Sham Chaurasia gharana tradition, as well as a performer of North Indian and Pakistani classical musi ...
* Rizwan Muazzam
* Waheed and Naveed Chishti Qari Sag-e-Miran Muhammed Saeed Chishti was a Pakistani Qawwali singer. Qari Waheed, Naveed and Adeel learnt singing directly from their father, who sang in five languages: English, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most oft ...
* Warsi Brothers
Warsi Brothers are an Indian Qawwali musical group, consisting of brothers Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi and Naseer Ahmed Khan Warsi (the Qawwāls), along with eight accompanists (the ''humnawa'' or party). They are based in Hyderabad.
Family of qaw ...
* Qutbi Brothers
Qutbi Brothers are an Indian Qawwali group, headed by Haji Mohammad Idris and Arshad Qutbi (born in Delhi) are better known as the ''Qutbi Brothers''. They are considered as the most popular qawwali group of India.
History
Qutbi Brothers ar ...
* Tahir Faridi Qawwal
* Aminah Chishti Qawwal
Fanna-Fi-Allah ( ur, فنا فی الله) is a Canadian–American group which plays Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia.
Origins
Group leader Tahir Faridi Qawwal (formerly Geoffrey Lyons), originally from Nova Sc ...
, first female Qawwal
* Amjad Sabri
Amjad Farid (Fareed) Sabri (23 December 1976 – 22 June 2016) was a Pakistani qawwal, naat khawan and a proponent of the Sufi Muslim tradition. Son of Ghulam Farid Sabri and nephew of Maqbool Ahmed Sabri of the Sabri Brothers, he emerged ...
* Abida Parveen
Abida Parveen ( Urdu, sd, ; born 20 February 1954) is a Pakistani singer, composer and musician of Sufi music. She is also a painter and entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music has earned ...
* Sanam Marvi
Sanam Marvi ( sd, ) (born : 17 April 1986) is a Pakistani folk and sufi singer. She sings in Sindhi, Punjabi, and Balochi languages.[Filmi qawwali
Filmi qawwali ( ur, فلمی قوٌالی. bn, ফিল্মি কাওয়ালি, hi, फ़िल्मी क़व्वाली) is a form of qawwali music found in the Lollywood, Dhallywood, Tollywood, and Bollywood film industr ...]
* Islamic music
Islamic music may refer to religious music, as performed in Islamic public services or private devotions, or more generally to musical traditions of the Muslim world. The heartland of Islam is the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, W ...
* Music of Bangladesh
The music of Bangladesh spans a wide variety of styles. Bangladesh claims some of the most renowned singers, composers and producers in Asia. Music has served the purpose of documenting the lives of the people and was widely patronized by the rul ...
* Music of India
Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over ...
* Music of Pakistan
The Music of Pakistan ( ur, , lit=pákistáni mosíqi) includes diverse elements ranging from music from various parts of South Asia as well as Music of Central Asia, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and modern-day Western culture#Music, art, sto ...
* Religious ecstasy
Religious ecstasy is a type of altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness, frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) eup ...
* Sama (Sufism)
Sama ( tr, Sema, Persian, Urdu and ar, سَمَاع - ''samā‘un'') is a Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice dhikr. Sama means "listening", while dhikr means "remembrance".During, J., and R. Sellheim. "Sam ...
* Sufi music
Sufi music refers to the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.
Qawwali is the best-known form of Sufi music and is most commonly found in the ...
* Urban Qawwali
Urban Qawwali (Urban Quwali)(Urban Quwalli) is a genre of music that fuses Sufi devotional music popular from South Asia mixed with Urban beats from the west.
Urban Qawwali's first emerged in the 1990s with DJs mixing Hip-Hop beats with Vocals f ...
References
External links
A Qawwali being performed by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the 1990s
BBC Radio 3 Audio (45 minutes): The Nizamuddin shrine in Delhi.
Accessed 25 November 2010.
BBC Radio 3 Audio (45 minutes): A mahfil Sufi gathering in Karachi.
Accessed 25 November 2010.
Adam Nayyar
Adam Nayyar (December 10, 1948, in Bahawalpur – July 29, 2008, in Islamabad) was a Pakistani anthropologist, author and ethnomusicologist. He served the Lok Virsa for twenty years as a Director Research. He was the acting executive director of ...
, Lok Virsa Research Centre, Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
. 1988.
{{Authority control
Indian styles of music
Islam in India
Islam in Pakistan
Islamic music
Muhajir culture
Pakistani culture
Pakistani styles of music
*
Sufism in Pakistan
Articles containing video clips
Islamic terminology