Music of Bhutan

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Music of Bhutan has traditional genres such as zhungdra and boedra,^[1] and a modern genre called rigsar. Bhutanese musicians include Jigme Drukpa, who is also a leading Bhutanese musicologist.

1 Classical and folk music
- 1.1 Folk instruments
2 Popular music
3 Music institutions
4 List of musicians
5 References
6 Notes

[edit] Classical and folk music

Bhutan was first united in the 17th century, during the reign of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1652); the same period saw a great blossoming of folk music and dance (cham). Instruments dating to this time include the lingm (flute), dramnyen (lute) and chiwang (fiddle).

The influence of Drukpa Buddhism and Buddhist music on Bhutanese culture is important. Many folk songs and chanting styles are derived from Drukpa music.^[2]

[edit] Folk instruments

lingm
chiwang
dramnyen: similar to a large, three-stringed rebec.^[3]

[edit] Popular music

Bhutanese popular music history began with the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, which was followed by the band Tashi Nyencha, who established the first recording studio in Thimphu in 1991. Prior to this period, Bhutanese people primarily listened to filmi and other kinds of Indian pop music. Rigsar is the dominant style of Bhutanese popular music, and dates back to the late 1980s.^[4] The first major music star was Shera Lhendup, whose career began after the 1981 hit "Jyalam Jaylam Gi Ashi".

By the end of the 1980s, rigsar was no longer so popular, until the founding of the Norling Drayang recording label. Since Norling came into limelight, popular Bhutanese music has primarily been the rigsar genre, a fusion of elements from Western pop, Indian and Nepali music. The best-selling rigar album in Bhutanese history was New Waves (1996) by Suresh Moktan, who later denounced his own album affirming that the recording quality was not up to his expectations. This change in his perception came about as a result of his exposure to professional music education in India - particularly after studying Indian classical music.^[5] Despite the discontinuation of mass production of New Waves , young Bhutanese rigsar enthusiasts soon espoused this new concept, and this has fundamentally revolutionized the rigsar into further blend of “new and old” melodies.

Other rigsar musicians include Neten Dorji.

Unlike many countries, Bhutanese folk music is almost never used in popular music.

The traditional dranyen, a kind of folk guitar, has been updated into the rigsar dranyen for use in popular music. The rigsar dranyen has 15 strings, two bridges and an extra set of tuning keys.^[6]