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The music of Bhutan is an integral part of its culture and plays a leading role in transmitting social values. Traditional Bhutanese music includes a wide spectrum of subgenres, ranging from folk to religious song and music. Some genres of traditional Bhutanese music intertwine vocals, instrumentation, and theatre and dance, while others are primarily vocal or instrumental. The much older traditional genres are distinguished from modern popular music such as rigsar.
Instruments
thumb|left| Bhutanese dranyen
Instruments used in both traditional and modern genres of Bhutanese music include the lingm (six-holed flute), the chiwang (Tibetan two-stringed fiddle), and the dramnyen (similar to a large three-stringed rebec); modern musicians often update these instruments for use in rigsar.
Other traditional instruments include tangtang namborong (four-holed bamboo bass flute), kongkha (bamboo mouth harp), and gombu (bull or buffalo horn). Newer instruments include the yangchen, brought from Tibet in the 1960s. The language used in these lyrics is generally Chöke. The Dramyin Cham in particular is a focal point of many modern tsechus.
Folk music
The influence of Drukpa Buddhism and Buddhist music on Bhutanese culture is such that many folk songs and chanting styles are derived from Drukpa music. While some lamas and monks are credited for composing certain Bhutanese folk music, the majority of its creators are unknown or anonymous.
Bhutanese folk songs include a variety of subgenres, including zhungdra and boedra, as well as several minor varieties such as zhey and zhem, yuedra, tsangmo, alo, khorey, and ausa.
;Zhungdra
Zhungdra (Dzongkha: གཞུང་སྒྲ་; Wylie: gzhung-sgra; "center music") is one of the two dominant forms of Bhutanese folk music. It was developed in the 17th century, and is associated with the folk music of the central valleys of Paro, Thimphu, and Punakha, the heart of the Ngalop cultural area. Although considered secular, the lyrics of zhungdra songs often tell Buddhist allegories, such as Yak Legbi Lhadar, in which the singer tells of his former life as a yak slaughtered in connection with a non-Buddhist ritual in the Gasa District.
The Goen Zhey is of central importance among all zheys. Its origins lie in the coming of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the founder of Bhutan. According to tradition, when he came in 1616 to at Bangdekha below Wakeyla, a place between Gasa and Laya, the people of Goen in Gasa offered the elaborate dance. Requiring two days and 21 dancers to complete, the dance has 25 intricate steps. Dancers wear red woolen gho, black tego undershirt, and red-and-white kabney in the fashion of ancient warriors. The zheypon (dance master) wears an elaborate headdress.
One particularly endangered performance is the Wang Zhey of Thimphu. According to tradition, it began with a commoner from the Wang valley who went to Laya. On his way, he stopped at the Gasa tshechu where he saw Goen Zhey for the first time. Inspired, he stayed to learn it. After returning to Wang, he taught his people the zhey in exchange for a fee of salt for every song. In 1620, with small changes, it was performed in Thimphu during the consecration ceremony of Chagri Monastery. Thereafter, it was performed regularly in receptions for important Tibetan Drukpa lamas. Though the Wang Zhey was once routine in rabneys, archery matches, and weddings of well-to-do families, it is now less frequently performed, and young Bhutanese do not know its significance. emerged in the 1960s. Rigsar can be contrasted from most traditional music in its updated electronic instrumentation, faster rhythm, and vernacular language, especially Dzongkha and Tsangla. Its context can also be contrasted, as rigsar is a common feature of Bhutanese television and film. Some of the earliest rigsar tunes were translations of contemporary popular Hindi songs. The first Bhutanese rigsar hit was Zhendi Migo, covered the popular Bollywood filmi song "Sayonara" from the film Love in Tokyo. Since the 1960s, a great number of Bhutanese artists have covered or produced a staggering volume of rigsar music.
Rigsar gained popularity on the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, making way for the rigsar band Tashi Nyencha to establish 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. The first major music star was Shera Lhendup, whose career began after the 1981 hit "Jalam Jalam Gi Ashi".
Bhutan has also been seeing a boom in the popular music such as the B-Pop show that was held to promote creativity in May 2018 by M-Studio in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Institutions
The Royal Academy of Performing Arts (RAPA) has worked under royal prerogative to document, preserve, and promote traditional Bhutanese music, song, and dance since 1954. Its activities are overseen by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Bhutan. The Academy's performers participate in festivals, tour schools within Bhutan, and perform for tourists.
See also
- Cham dance
- Culture of Bhutan
- Drayang
- Rigsar
- Royal Academy of Performing Arts