MUSIC IN AFGHANISTAN
The music of Afghanistan is as diverse and beautiful as its people. Throughout the country, people from different social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds practice music in a variety of ways. Music can include the simple lullabies that a mother sings to her young child, or the poetry of Hafez sung to musical accompaniment. It can be the music that one dances to at a wedding, classical melodies played on a string instruments such as the tanbur or rubab, or the music and drumming accompanying nau ruz celebrations. Music, or rather musical chanting, can also be found in religious and spiritual contexts, the chanting itself being considered a means of devotion or reverence instead of music. Music can be enjoyed as entertainment, or it can act as a playful form of social critique. It can also be appreciated as an intellectual, philosophical, and sometimes spiritual endeavor.
The style of music you will hear largely depends on where you are in Afghanistan. In urban centers such as Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i Sharif, and Kandahar, popular forms of music prevail. Art music styles can also be heard in cities, though they are not as common as popular music. Spiritual and devotional music are played at important religious sites or shrines, which are also often located within cities. Outside of the major urban areas one finds a great variety of styles of poetry, music, and dance. A diversity of regional music styles can be heard throughout Afghanistan that highlight local stories, folklore, and use regionally distinct instruments, musical melodies, and rhythms.
Traditionally, music in Afghanistan has been practiced by a community of professional artisans. Music is a hereditary practice, with family members passing down their musical knowledge from one generation to the next. Today, many musical families from Afghanistan can trace their music heritage back several generations. Musicians have traditionally been of low social class, and often worked in other trades such as barbering, tailoring, carpentry, or butchering. Even so, musicians in Afghanistan play a key and vital role in the social life of the country. They are important culture bearers and their crafts, melodies, and rhythms will continue to be passed on through the generations. Well known forms of music in Afghanistan include mahali (folk), classical/ghazal, spiritual, pop, and instrumental.
