Bangladesh

Bangla music in bengali called Bangla Gan. Bangla music has many directions & types due to regional dialect, saint popularity, folk mixed, local culture, religious traditions & moderen mixed fusions. Bellow are some of the detail descriptions.

Alkap Gan a regional folk performance, somewhat similar to jatra, popular in rajshahi as well as in Murshidabad, Birbhum and Maldaha, west bengal. It is a composite performance comprising acting, dancing, singing, recitation. An alkap group consists of ten to twelve artistes, led by a sarkar (master) or guru. The group also includes two or three young men called chhokras and one or two gayens or singers. The rest comprise dohar, choristers, and musicians. Alkap performances take place at night on an open stage, which is lit by lanterns, popularly known as hyajak bati. The audience stand or sit around the stage, leaving a narrow passage for the performers.

Baul a mendicant folk sect, generally inhabiting the districts of kushtia, meherpur, chuadanga, jhenaidah, faridpur, jessore, and pabna and associated with devotional songs known as Baul songs. Bauls practice secret devotional rites, centering on the belief that the human body is the seat of all truths. In this there is a fusion of the sahajiya and Sufi concepts of devotion with sufism enjoying some predominance. Bauls do not believe in organised religion and do not frequent mosques or temples. They are iconoclasts and humanists who believe that all human beings are equal, irrespective of caste and creed. One is not born a Baul, but becomes one, after initiation by a guru. While there are some ascetic Bauls, there are no restrictions on men and women living together. In fact, certain Baul rites are based on the combined devotional practices of a man and a woman.

Gambhira Gan a type of folk song popular in the northwestern region of Bangladesh. Gambhira songs are assumed to have originated from the worship of the god shiva, who is also known as 'Gambhir'. In ancient times, gambhira used to be celebrated as puja (worship) only. In the medieval period, most Hindu communities celebrated the puja of dharma thakur (a popular god of the Hindus) on the last three days of the Bengali year; this came to be known as the gajan of Shiva later on. In the past Shiva was imagined to be present at the performance.

Gazir Gan songs to a legendary saint popularly known as Gazi Pir. Gazi songs were particularly popular in the districts of faridpur, noakhali, chittagong and sylhet. They were performed for boons received or wished for, such as for a child, after a cure, for the fertility of the soil, for the well-being of cattle, for success in business, etc. Gazi songs would be presented while unfurling a scroll depicting different events in the life of Gazi Pir. On the scroll would also be depicted the field of Karbala, the Ka'aba, Hindu temples, etc. Sometimes these paintings were also done on earthenware pots.

Jarigan (Persian zari, lamentation + Bangla gan, song) Bangla songs originating in the elegiac literature of muharram. In commemoration of the sufferings and subsequent deaths of Hazrat Imam Hossain, grandson of the Prophet hazrat muhammad (Sm), and other members of his family, at Karbala, marsiya and jarigan are sung for the first ten days of Muharram. Jarigan, however, includes other stories besides that of Karbala. Thus, along with Makkar Janmakatha, Jaharnama, Saddader Jari, Shah Jalaler Jari, Sohrab-Rustamer Jari, jari songs may also include social, religious, political subjects as well as natural calamities, riots, violence, family planning etc.

Kavigan a kind of competitive folk song sung by two groups of singers. The chief of each group is called kaviyal or sarkar. The accompanying singers are known as dohars. The dhuli or drummer plays a prominent role among the accompanying musicians. The two groups of singers sing by turns on stage. Kavigan has several parts: dak, malsi, sakhisangbad, kavi, kavir tappa, panchali, dhuya and joter palla. Malsi, sakhisangbad and kavi are similar in style. The different stages in kavigan are dharan, padan, fukar, mish, mukh, pyanch, khoch, antara, parchitan, chhutti. The dak comprises of the vandana, an introductory song of praise. Dhuya songs resemble baul songs and are sung at intervals with panchali songs. In the panchali, the kaviyals recite verses extempore in Bangla metres of payara (couplets) and tripadi (lines arranged in sets of three). The joter palla concludes the song with the kaviyals reciting verses in a singsong voice. In the other parts of the performance, the kaviyals perform along with their other companions on stage. In joter palla, however, both the kaviyals stand facing each other.

Pala Gan narrative folk ballad. Musical narratives about gods and religious hymns are also known as pala gan. Two well-known pala gan are Krishnakamal Goswami's Divyonmad and Govinda Adhikari's Muktalatavali. In mangalkavya or epics about deities, the stories narrated during the day are called dibapala and those narrated at night are called nishapala. Pala gan are also known as pat.
Pala gan are usually based on the stories of the puranas and folktales. Pala gan based on Sri krishna and Sri chaitanya are also called palakirtan. Some well-known Purana palakirtan are Man, Mathur, Naukavilas, Kaliyadaman and Nimaisannyas. Popular pala gan based on folktales include Chandravati, Mahuya, Maluya, Kamala, Dewan Madina, Dewan Bhabna, Rupavati, Dasyukenaramer Pala and Bheluya. A pala gan has an introduction and a prologue in praise of Sri Chaitanya. Its narration in prose is brief and the rest consists of metaphysical discourses, shloka and songs.
Kazi Nazrul Islam & Rabidronath Tagore is our bengali famous poet. Their misic play a big role in our society.
Nazrul song & Rabindro song also taking the culcure into the different height. Today our new generation is trying to add in our bangla music a type of fusion (mixed of western music,sound & bit) & also copying and pasting old and new theme of bangla music to create some of their own. As world is transforming into a hybrid culture in terms of music,entertainment and so on, it is very difficult to judge what is right or wrong.