Music of Nepal

Music of Nepal

Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genres of Nepal. With more than forty ethnic diversities, the music of this country is a highly dispersed phenomenon. Although genres like pop, rock, folk, and Classical music exist, a huge number of such genres are yet to be cataloged. Many musical bands exist in Nepal, with a huge number located in Kathmandu - most of the recent ones focused in pop and rock. Rap has been known to emerge on the charts from time to time.

History

Medieval Era

Newari Music developed and flourished during this era. The Malla kings were known for their interest in arts. Drama created during those era are accompanied by music. Many of the guthis of Kathmandu valley have their origin in this era. These guthis maintain the musical genres established during that era. Dāpā music, a type of Newari bhajan is believed to have originated in this era.

Modern History

The modern history is a very short one. At times when big and private music companies where mushrooming the Western cities, Kathmandu got its first radio station, Radio Nepal in the year 1952. Since then Radio Nepal has expanded to become the dominant radio station all over the country, which helped in the uprising of many key figures in the field, notably Shiva Shankar, Natikaji, Narayan Gopal, Arun Thapa, Dharma Raj Thapa, Jhalak Man Gandarva, and in the female arena Koili Devi Mathema, Tara Devi, Aruna Lama.
Indigenous Nepalese MusicThose music genres which have roots in Nepal can be considered as indigenous Nepalese music. This includes:-

Newari Music

Main article: Newari Music
The Newars are well-known for their Newari music. It mainly consists of percussion instruments, some wind instruments and no string instruments. There are traditional tunes commemorating almost all the occasions from the womb to the tomb. All the castes have their musical tunes and bands. Music is cherished by people of all walks of life. There are tunes of certain festivals and seasons and even of certain times of day. The God of artists called Nāsadya is found in all the Newar localities. The presence of a Newari musical band in a guthi is considered as a sign of opulence.

Khas Music

In the Khas society traditionally, castes like Damai, used to play a number of instruments for occasions such as marriage. However, with many villages now having television, radio and even a local FM station, such accounts are declining gradually. The minstrels, gaine, used to play instruments like Sarangi but even the Gaine are declining in number.

Gurung Music

The gurung have very rich tradition of music and culture. Gurung have established the system of Rodhi which is little similar to mordern discos,where young people meet and share their views in music and dancing. They have own music and dancing history. Some musical dance like Ghatu, Chudka are still in existence.In many gurung villages they are still performing such type of musical dances. These dance are performed either in a solo or in a groups.
In few gurung villages one can still find such dances or music.The gurung films are also promoting these musical dances.

Kirant Music

limbu celebrates dhaan nach(paddy dance)and Dhol nach as well.

Tamang Music

Tamang community is well known for Damphu, traditional instrument. Tamang selo music is based on the usage of Damphu and Tungna. Western and Indian instruments are also found in some modern Tamang Selo music. Recently due to the re-mixing trend of classic Nepali songs, Tamang Selo tuned songs like changba hoi changba, Man chadey Maichyang lai have been a hit in Nepali radio stations. Also, Modern artists like Sindhu Malla, Raju Lama[1], Avinash Ghising, Roj Moktan, Bijay Lama, etc. have used Tamang Selo tunes in their songs and those songs have also been a hit.

Magar Music

Sherpa Music

Maithili Music
Bhojpuri Music

Imported Music