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Bhangra () is a type of non-traditional music of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
originating from the Punjab region. Over the years, bhangra has evolved and gained popularity not only in South Asia but also around the world. It has become a significant part of the cultural identity of the Punjabi diaspora in countries like
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, the
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,
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, and the
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. Prior to this musical fusion, bhangra existed only as a dance form in the native Punjab. This Punjabi music was unique in that it was not traditional nor did it seek any authenticity. While the traditional folk music of Punjab has a set of melodies that are used by various singers, bhangra was a form of strict "band culture" in that new melodies were composed for each song. Therefore, the musicians were as important as the singers.


Origins

The roots of modern bhangra music date back to the Sikh Punjabi community in Punjab during the 1960s. An early pop music and modern recording group of this type of music in the United Kingdom was Bhujhangy Group, founded by Tarlochan Singh Bilga, Balbir Singh Khanpur, Gurpal, Rajinder Dhona and Dalvir Kahanpuri in Birmingham in 1971. Bhujhangy Group's first major hit was "Bhabiye Akh Larr Gayee". It was written by Tarlochan Singh Bilga in the early 1970s and was released on Birmingham's Oriental Star Agencies label. This was the first bhangra song to combine traditional Asian music with modern Western instruments.


Differences from folk music

Although bhangra music used many of the elements of Punjabi folk music (e.g., "Bakkrey Bulaaney" – the goat herding vocalizations), it was also radically different in its embrace of modernity. The song structure of a typical bhangra song featured four verses, a chorus, along with two alternating instrumental bridge sections. (e.g., CVB1CVB2CVB1CVB2C.) Hence it featured more musicianship than its folk predecessor.


United Kingdom


1970s

A modern and commercial form of bhangra music was said to rise in Britain in the 1970s by Punjabi immigrants who took their native folk music and began experimenting by altering it using instruments from their host country. The new genre quickly became popular in Britain replacing Punjabi folk singers due to it being heavily influenced in Britain by the infusion of rock music and a need to move away from the simple and repetitive Punjabi folk music. It indicated the development of a self-conscious and distinctively rebellious
British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...
youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...
centred on an experiential sense of self, e.g., language,
gesture A gesture is a form of nonverbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or othe ...
, bodily signification, desires, etc., in a situation in which tensions with British culture and
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
elements in British society had resulted in alienation in many minority ethnic groups, fostered a sense of need for an affirmation of a positive identity and culture, and provided a platform for British Punjabi males to assert their masculinity.Sharma, Sanjay. "Noisy Asians or 'Asian Noise'?" In ''Disorienting Rhythms: The Politics of the New Asian Dance Music'' In the 1980s, distributed by record labels such as
Multitone Records Multitone Records, originally Savera Investments, was a British record label founded by Pran Gohil in 1978. Pran was formerly Regional Head of Polygram, Asia Pacific based in the Netherlands and also Executive Chairman of Spartan Records, London. M ...
, bhangra artists were selling over 30,000 cassettes a week in the UK, but no artists reached the Top 40 UK chart despite these artists outselling popular British ones; most of the bhangra cassette sales were not through the large UK record stores, whose sales were those recorded by the Official UK Charts Company for creating their rankings. The group Alaap was formed in 1977, co-founded by
Channi Singh Harcharanjit Singh Rupal (born 12 January 1952) , known professionally as Channi Singh, is a British-Indian bhangra musician, known as the "godfather" of bhangra in the West. Career Channi is the co-founder, lead singer, producer, and director ...
and Harjeet Gandhi who both hailed from
Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
, a Punjabi area in London. Their album ''Teri Chunni De Sitaray'' was released in 1982 by Multitone. Alaap was considered the first and original superstar bhangra band formed in the United Kingdom. Channi Singh has been awarded the OBE by the Queen for his services to bhangra music and services/charity for the British Asian community. Co-founder Harjeet Gandhi died in 2003. The 1980s is commonly known as the golden age, or the age of bhangra music, which lasted roughly from 1985 to 1993. The primary emphasis during these times was on the melody/riff, played out usually on a synthesizer, harmonium, accordion or guitar. Folk instruments were rarely used. One of the biggest bhangra stars of the last several decades is
Malkit Singh Malkit Singh, MBE () (Malkit Singh Boparai; born c. 1963) is an England-based Punjabi bhangra singer. Born in Hussainpur and raised in Nakodar, he moved to Birmingham in 1984. Singh was the first Punjabi singer to be honoured with an MBE by Q ...
and his band Golden Star. Singh was born in June 1963 in the village of
Hussainpur Hussainpur is a census town in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is situated in Jalandhar II Tehsil. The village code is 030405. Demographics According to Census 2011 information the location code or village code of Hussainpu ...
in Punjab. He attended the
Lyallpur Khalsa College Lyallpur Khalsa College is a multi-faculty co-educational college located in Jalandhar, Punjab. The college is one of the biggest colleges in region in context of student strength, academic courses offered and co-curricular and sports achievemen ...
,
Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...
, in Punjab in 1980 to study for a bachelor of arts degree. There he met his mentor, Professor Inderjit Singh, who taught him Punjabi folk singing and bhangra dancing. Due to Singh's tutelage, Malkit entered and won song contests during this time. In 1983, he won a gold medal at the
Guru Nanak Dev University Guru Nanak Dev University is a Public State University in Amritsar, India. It also offers many higher studies degree courses online. The university's campus is spread over . Campus Guru Nanak Dev University campus is spread over 500 acres (2 ...
in
Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...
, Punjab, for performing his song "Gurh Nalon Ishq Mitha", which later featured on his first album, ''Nach Gidhe Wich''. The lyrics were by Tarlochan Singh Bilga and it was released in 1985. This album was created with Manager, Tarlochan Singh Bilga(TSB). The band has toured 27 countries. Malkit has been awarded the MBE by the Queen for his services to bhangra music. Bhangra boy band, the
Sahotas Sahotas were a U.K. based Bhangra/ Rock/World music band. The band, started in Bilston, Wolverhampton in the mid-1980s, had a line-up of five brothers. They have released music in both English and Punjabi. The lead singer was Surj Sahota, a ...
, were composed of five brothers from
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
. Their music is a fusion of bhangra, rock and dance. Heera, formed by Bhupinder Bhindi and fronted by Kumar and Dhami, was one of the most popular bands of the 1980s. Bands like Alaap and Heera incorporated rock-influenced beats into bhangra, because it enabled "Asian youth to affirm their identities positively" within the broader environment of alternative rock as an alternative way of expression. However, some believe that the progression of bhangra music created an "intermezzo culture" post-India's partition, within the unitary definitions of Southeast Asians within the diaspora, thus "establishing a brand new community in their home away from home".Sharma, Sanjay. "Noisy Asians or 'Asian Noise'?" In ''Disorienting Rhythms: The Politics of the New Asian Dance Music'', ed. Sanjay Sharma, John Hutnyk, and Ashwani Sharma, 32-57. London: Zed Books, 199
The Discontents of the Hyphenated Identity: Second Generation British Asian Youth Culture and Fusion Music
/ref> Several other influential groups appeared around the same time, including The Saathies, Premi Group, Bhujungy Group, and
Apna Sangeet Apna Sangeet were a British Asian Bhangra band from Birmingham, England. The group was formed in 1984 by six Birmingham musicians. In contrast to the more western sounds of contemporary groups like DCS, they played a very traditional style o ...
. Apna Sangeet, best known for their hit "Mera Yaar Vajavey Dhol", re-formed for charity in May 2009 after a break-up. When bhangra and General Indian sounds and lyrics were combined, British-Asian artists began incorporating them in their music. Some Asian artists such as
Bally Sagoo Baljit Singh "Bally" Sagoo ( Punjabi: ਬਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੱਗੂ,) is a British-Indian record producer and DJ. Born in Delhi, India, Sagoo was raised in Birmingham, England. He entered the recording and entertainment industries ...
and
Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is a British musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music with drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...
are creating their own form of British
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
. This era also brought about bhangra art, which like the bhangra music it represented was rebellious. Unlike folk music art, which consisted of a picture of the folk singer, bhangra recordings had details such as distinctive artwork, logos, clever album names and band/musician listings (who played what).


Folk backlash

Unlike bhangra, folk music depends on a set number of traditional melodies that may be hundreds of years old. Each new singer simply writes new lyrics using one of those melodies. In the mid-1990s, many artists, attracted to the economics of a bandless singer only act that technology such as karaoke machines now enabled, returned to the original, traditional folk beats away from bhangra music, often incorporating more dhol drum beats and tumbi. This time also saw the rise of several young Punjabi folk singers as a backlash to bhangra music. They were aided by DJs who mixed hip-hop samples with folk singing. Beginning around 1994, there was a trend towards the use of samples (often sampled from mainstream hip hop) mixed with traditional folk rhythm instruments, such as the tumbi and dhol. Using folk instruments and hip-hop samples, along with relatively inexpensive folk vocals imported from Punjab, Punjabi folk music was able to cause the decline of bhangra music. Pioneering DJs instrumental in the decline of bhangra were
Bally Sagoo Baljit Singh "Bally" Sagoo ( Punjabi: ਬਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੱਗੂ,) is a British-Indian record producer and DJ. Born in Delhi, India, Sagoo was raised in Birmingham, England. He entered the recording and entertainment industries ...
and Panjabi MC. As DJs who were initially hired by bhangra labels to remix the original recordings on the label's roster (OSA and Nachural respectively), they along with the record labels quickly found that remixing folk singers from India was much cheaper than working with outsourced bhangra bands. A pioneering folk singer that was instrumental in bhangra's demise was Jazzy B, who debuted in 1992. Having sold over 55,000 copies of his third album, ''Folk and Funky'', he is now one of the best-selling Punjabi folk artists in the world, with a vocal style likened to that of Kuldip Manak. Other influential folk artists include Surinder Shinda – famous for his "Putt Jattan De" –
Harbhajan Mann Harbhajan Singh Mann (born 31 December 1965) is an Indian-Canadian singer, actor and film producer associated with Punjabi music and cinema. His movies include ''Jee Aayan Nu (2002)'', '' Asa Nu Maan Watna Da (2004)'', ''Heer Ranjha (2009)'' a ...
, Manmohan Waris,
Sarbjit Cheema Sarbjit Singh Cheema is an Indian-Canadian singer and actor who associated with Punjabi language music and films. He made his singing debut with the album ''Yaar Nachde'' and He started his film career with '' Pind Di Kurhi''. Early life Sarb ...
,
Hans Raj Hans Hans Raj Hans is an Indian singer and politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri. He sings Punjabi folk and Sufi music as well as in movies and has also released his own 'Pun ...
, Sardool Sikander, B21, Paaras and Bombay Talkie. By the end of the 1990s, bhangra music had largely declined and been replaced with Punjabi folk singers. The same folk singers which bhangra bands had replaced a decade earlier were being utilized by DJs to make relatively inexpensive live music on laptops. This "
folkhop Folkhop is a genre of music that came about after the decline of bhangra in the mid-1990s. It is diametrically opposed to bhangra music in that it is not live music but instead relies on pre-recorded musical parts with only the vocals being su ...
" genre was short lived as records could not be officially released due to nonclearance copyrights on samples used to create the "beat". This continued until the end of the century. Folk-hop record labels such as Hi-Tech were investigated by BPI (British Phonographic Industry) for copyright infringement by way of uncleared samples on releases by folk DJs such as DJ Sanj. Toward the end of the decade, bhangra continued to decline, with folk-hop artists such as Bally Sagoo and Apache Indian signing with international recording labels Sony and Island. Moreover, Multitone Records, one of the major recording labels associated with bhangra in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, was bought by BMG. A recent
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
commercial launched in Britain featured South Asian actors and Punjabi folk music.


2000s remixes

Punjabi folk remixed with hip-hop, known as
folkhop Folkhop is a genre of music that came about after the decline of bhangra in the mid-1990s. It is diametrically opposed to bhangra music in that it is not live music but instead relies on pre-recorded musical parts with only the vocals being su ...
, is most often produced when folk vocals are purchased online to be remixed in a studio. Folk vocals are usually sung to traditional melodies, that are often repeated with new lyrics. Some South Asian DJs, especially in America, have mixed Punjabi folk music with house,
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
, and
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
to add a different flavour to Punjabi folk. These remixes continued to gain popularity as the 1990s came to an end. A notable remix artist is
Bally Sagoo Baljit Singh "Bally" Sagoo ( Punjabi: ਬਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੱਗੂ,) is a British-Indian record producer and DJ. Born in Delhi, India, Sagoo was raised in Birmingham, England. He entered the recording and entertainment industries ...
, a Punjabi-Sikh, Anglo-Indian raised in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, England. Sagoo described his music as "a bit of tablas, a bit of the Indian sound. But bring on the bass lines, bring on the funky-drummer beat, bring on the
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
samples", to ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine in 1997. He was recently signed by
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
.
Daler Mehndi Daler Singh (born 18 August 1967), better known as Daler Mehndi, is an Indian singer, songwriter, author, and record producer. He has helped to make Bhangra (music), Bhangra popular worldwide, as well as Indian pop music independent of Bollywoo ...
, a Punjabi singer from India has a type of music known as "folk pop". Mehndi has released tracks such as "Bolo Ta Ra Ra" and "Ho Jayegee Balle Balle". His song " Tunak Tunak Tun" was released in 1998.


Canada and the United States

Punjabi immigrants have encouraged the growth of Punjabi folk music in the Western hemisphere rather than bhangra music. The bhangra industry has grown in North America much less than in the United Kingdom. North American (non bhangra) folk artists such as Manmohan Waris, Jazzy Bains, Kamal Heer, Harbhajan Mann, Sarabjit Cheema, and Debi Makhsoospuri have emerged and the
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
market has grown. In 2001, Punjabi folk, and its hip-hop form,
folkhop Folkhop is a genre of music that came about after the decline of bhangra in the mid-1990s. It is diametrically opposed to bhangra music in that it is not live music but instead relies on pre-recorded musical parts with only the vocals being su ...
, began to exert an influence over US R&B music, when
Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...
released the folkhop-influenced song "
Get Ur Freak On "Get Ur Freak On" is a song by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and produced by Elliott and Timbaland for her third studio album '' Miss E... So Addictive'' (2001). Based on heavy bhangra elements, a popular music an ...
". In 2003, a version of Panjabi MC's " Mundian To Bach Ke" ("Beware of the Boys") featured U.S. rapper
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
. Additionally, American rapper Pras of The Fugees recorded tracks with British alternative bhangra band
Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...
. American singer and actress
Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...
released her bhangra-influenced single " Come & Get It" from her first solo album ''
Stars Dance ''Stars Dance'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer Selena Gomez. It was released on July 19, 2013, by Hollywood Records. Gomez began planning the project in 2012, at which time she announced that her band Selena Gomez & the Scene ...
'' in 2013.


Lyrics

Bhangra lyrics, which generally cover social issues or love, are sung in Punjabi. Bhangra lyrics were generally kept deliberately simple by the creators of the genre because the youth did not understand complex lyrics. Traditional Punjabi folk lyrics are generally more complex and often tell the tales of Punjabi history. There are many bhangra songs devoted to Punjabi pride themes and Punjabi heroes. The lyrics are tributes to the cultural traditions of Punjab. In particular, many bhangra tracks have been written about
Udham Singh Udham Singh (born Sher Singh; 26 December 1899 – 31 July 1940) was an Indian revolutionary belonging to Ghadar Party and HSRA, best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India, on 13 March ...
and
Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...
. Less serious topics include beautiful women with their colourful duppattas. Lyrics can also be about crops and the coming of a new season. Bhangra is sung fiercely with strong lyrics often yelling: "balle balle" or "chakde phate", which refer to celebration and/or pride. Notable bhangra or Punjabi lyricists include Harbans Jandu who wrote "Giddhian Di Rani".


Instruments

Punjabi instruments contribute to bhangra. Originally this was primarily the
dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...
. The 20th century has brought changes to the instruments that define bhangra, to include the
tumbi The tumbi or toombi (, pronunciation: ''tūmbī''), also called a tumba or toomba, is a traditional musical instrument from the Punjab region of the northern Indian subcontinent. The high-pitched, single-string plucking instrument is associated ...
,
sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...
,
dholak The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries s ...
(smaller than the dhol),
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
,
zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...
,
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
,
harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
,
tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...
,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
, saxophone, synthesizer, drum set, and other Western instruments. Perhaps the most famous bhangra instrument is the dhol. It is a double-sided barrel drum that creates the beat to which bhangra is danced. The person who plays the instrument, the dholi, plays various beats to create the different bhangra segments, such as Dhamaal, Jhummar, One side of the dhol has thicker skin, which creates a deeper sound, and the other side has a thinner skin, resulting in a higher-pitched sound. Two sticks are used to play the dhol instrument. The thicker stick, called the dagga, is used to play the bass side. The thinner tilli is used to play the treble side. Both sticks are usually made of wood or bamboo. The string instruments include the
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
(both electrical),
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
,
sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
,
tumbi The tumbi or toombi (, pronunciation: ''tūmbī''), also called a tumba or toomba, is a traditional musical instrument from the Punjab region of the northern Indian subcontinent. The high-pitched, single-string plucking instrument is associated ...
,
veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.
,
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
and
sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...
. The
snare SNARE proteins – "Soluble NSF attachment protein, SNAP REceptors" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts and more than 60 members in mammalian and plant cells. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to m ...
, toms,
dhadd Dhadd (), also spelled as Dhad or Dhadh is an hourglass-shaped traditional musical instrument native to Punjab that is mainly used by the Dhadi singers. It is also used by other folk singers of the region. Design and playing The dhadd is mad ...
, dafli,
dholki ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries such ...
, and
damru A damaru (, ; Tibetan languages, Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the Hindu deity Shiva, associated wi ...
are the other drums. The tumbi, originally played by folk artists such as Lalchand Yamla Jatt and Kuldip Manak in true folk recordings and then notably used by Chamkila, a Punjabi folk (not bhangra) singer, is a high-tone, single-string instrument and Chimta by (Late) Alam Lohar.


Cultural impact and resurgence of Punjabi folk music in the West

The third and fourth generation are generally unable to speak Punjabi if their parents could hardly speak it. There is a move towards Punjabi folk music which is the purest form of Punjabi music. Much of the youth struggle to understand the lyrics, although, there are some children and young adults who have maintained their folk roots. Another reason why some fans express an anti-folk sentiment is that many folk songs were written for the dominant Jatts clan whereas Sikhs do not believe in castes, so they disapproved of Punjabi folk music. However, today with artists like Jazzy B, PMC, Sukhshinder Shinda and
Diljit Dosanjh Diljit Dosanjh (born 6 January 1984) is an Indian singer, actor and film producer who works in Punjabi and Hindi cinema. Dosanjh entered the Social 50 chart by ''Billboard'' in 2020. He has been featured in various music charts, including ...
, Punjabi folk has increased in popularity although it is fused in some cases. iTunes has catalogs of many Punjabi folk singers available. Another cause of the resurgence of Punjabi folk music is due to the increased popularity of bhangra in areas like the UK, Canada and U.S. Bhangra has become more accessible through social media platforms such as
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
and
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
, for the younger generation. In addition, multiple universities, across the UK, US and Canada have teams as well as academies being set up by senior dancers separate from universities. This resurgence has led to a desire for more traditional folk songs and beats, but also a learning opportunity for children of their cultures.


Derivatives


Bhangragga

Bhangragga or bhangramuffin is a term for the style of
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
incorporating elements of bhangra and
dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
(or
ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...
, short for the word Raggamuffin) created by
British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...
producers Simon and Diamond on the debut album by Apache Indian ''No Reservations'' (1993). The sound is very
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
-heavy – a distinct holdover from bhangra – with a propulsive beat clearly designed for dancing. The dancehall influence can be felt through the use of pre-programmed music, similar to Dancehall "
riddim In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the ''riddim'' plus the ''voicing'' (vocal part) sung by the deeja ...
s". Lyrically, the style features a combination of Sub-Continental-accented (usually Indian) vocals delivered in the clipped style associated with dancehall – and sometimes including the Patois of the latter style. This style is almost exclusively a British phenomenon, as the two cultures involved in its genesis mix reasonably freely there. The most successful exponent, however, is Apache Indian, who had a worldwide hit with " Boom Shack-A-Lak", which was included on the soundtrack to the film ''
Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and ...
'', among others.


See also

* List of bhangra artists *
Music of Punjab The music of Punjab reflects the traditions of the Punjab, Punjab region associated with Punjabi language. Punjab is currently divided into two parts: Punjab, India, East Punjab, in India, and Punjab, Pakistan, West Punjab, the most populous pr ...
*
Punjabi culture Punjabi culture grew out of the settlements along the five rivers (the name ''Punjab'', is derived from two Persian words, ''Panj'' meaning "Five" and ''Âb'' meaning "Water") which served as an important route to the Near East as early as the an ...
*
Asian Underground Asian underground is a term associated with various British Asian, South Asian Canadian, South Asian American and Dutch South Asian musicians (mostly Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan) who blend elements of Western underground dance ...
*
Multitone records Multitone Records, originally Savera Investments, was a British record label founded by Pran Gohil in 1978. Pran was formerly Regional Head of Polygram, Asia Pacific based in the Netherlands and also Executive Chairman of Spartan Records, London. M ...
*
Dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...
*
Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
*
Music of the United Kingdom Throughout the history of the British Isles, the land that is now the United Kingdom has been a major music producer, drawing inspiration from church music and traditional folk music, using instruments from England, Scotland, Northern Irelan ...


References


External links


Where Bhangra LivesBhangra News, Music Videos & Interviewswww.Bhangra.orgHouse Of Bhangra

India Music – The first ever Indian Music domain and web site registered.
{{Pop music Punjabi music Indian styles of music Pakistani styles of music Punjabi words and phrases Culture of the United Kingdom Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom Dance music genres Punjabi diaspora Pop music genres