There is much variation in the music of Xinjiang, including unique regional differences in

Ili Ili, ILI, Illi may refer to: Abbreviations * Irish Life International, part of Irish Life and Permanent * Intuitive Logical Introvert, a personality type in socionics * Influenza-like illness * Iran Language Institute, a state-owned, non-profit ...

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

Hotan Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...

and

Aksu Prefecture Aksu PrefectureThe official spelling according to is located in mid-Western Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of and 2.37 million inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 535,657 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of A ...

. The southern area includes the simple songs of Hotan, the dance-oriented music of the

Kuqa Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t=wikt:龜茲, 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t=wikt:庫車, 庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the ...

and the complexly rhythmic songs of the

. Ili has perhaps the most well-known musical tradition in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, including a number of emotional tunes that are narrative in form.

Muqam

The best-known musical form of the

Uyghur people The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia, Central and East As ...

is the , a complex suite of 12 sections related to Uzbek and

Tajik Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

forms. These complex symphonies vary wildly between suites in the same muqam, and are built on a 7-note scale. Instruments typically include

dap DAP or Dap may refer to: Science * DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death * Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound * Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine * Diamin ...

frame drum A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments, and perhaps the first drum to be invented. It has a single drumhead that is usually made of rawhide, but man-made mat ...

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

s and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

s; performers have some space for personal embellishments, especially in the

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

. However, there is much variation on the number and kind of instruments used in the performance of a muqam. In November 2005 the Art of Uyghur Muqam was named a

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Sanam

The

sanam Sanam may refer to: Places * Sanam, Iran, a village in Iran * Sanam, Niger, a commune in Niger * Sanam, Sudan, a village in Sudan Entertainment * Sanam (1997 film), ''Sanam'' (1997 film), a 1997 Hindi drama film * Sanam (1951 film), ''Sanam'' ( ...

tradition is a kind of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

popular among the Uyghurs, while spoken songs like Maida, Eytishish and Qoshaq are popular love songs with simple tunes.

Pop music

The most popular performer of recent times is

Turdi Akhun Turdi Akhun (; 1881–1956), sometimes spelled Turdu Ahun, was a traditional Uyghur folk musician in the Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uy ...

, who recorded most of the muqams in the 1950s. A regional

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

industry arose in the 1980s, alongside

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

's loosening of cultural restrictions. The resulting pop industry produced bands like Shireli, whose 1995 ''Trance 2'' was a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

ish version of a local folk song.Wang, Chuen-Fung. “Singing Muqam in Uyghur Pop: Minority Modernity and Popular Music in China.” Taylor & Francis, 30 Jan. 2013, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007766.2012.756653?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=rpms20. Later prominent musicians include

Pasha Isha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitari ...

, Äskär and his band

Grey Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

Abdulla Abdurehim Abdulla Abdurëhim ( ug, ئابدۇللا ئابدۇرېھىم, ) is a Uyghur actor and singer known for Uyghur pop music. He also currently serves as a judge on the reality talent show The Voice of the Silk Road. Known as the "King of Uyghur P ...

and Alim Jan, who appeared in such international releases as the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity, including Ch ...

'', where he plays the stringed rawap. Jan's father was also a renowned folk musician, known as Tursun Tanbur due to his skill with the tanbur, a stringed instrument like a lock-necked

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and heavy metal bands like Täklimakan and Riwäyat are also well known in Xinjiang, as is the

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

guitar stylings of the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, t ...

Gallery

References

{{Xinjiang Central Asian music