The music of Bangladesh spans a wide variety of styles. Bangladesh claims some of the most renowned singers, composers and producers in Asia. Music has served the purpose of documenting the lives of the people and was widely patronized by the rulers. It comprises a long tradition of religious and regular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium.
Bangladeshi classical music is based on modes called ragas. In composing these songs, the melodies of north Indian dingading ragas are used. As far as the Charyagiti (9th century), ragas have been used in Bengali music. Jaydev’s Gitagovindam, Padavali Kirtan, Mangal Giti, Shyamasangit, Tappa, Brahma Sangeet and Tagore songs have been inspired by Ragas. The use of north Indian ragas in Bangla songs began in 18th century.[1] This trend gathered momentum during the 19th and 20th centuries. The pioneers of these trend were Ramnidhi Gupta, Kali Mirza, Raghunath Roy and the founder of the Bishnupur Gharana, Ramshanker Bhattacharya.[2] Nawab of Lakhnau, Wajid Ali Shah played an important role in this trend. He was dethroned by the British empire in 1856 and banished to Metiaburuz, Kolkata. During his 30-year exile, he patronized music, specially dhrupad, tappa, thumri and kheyal. And, thus made a lasting impact on Bangladeshi music.[3] All traditional Bengali music tend to be based on various variations of Hindustani Classical Music. Rabindranath Tagore had a deep appreciation for north Indian ragas, successfully introduced ragas in his songs. He was followed by Dwijendralal Roy, Rajanikanta Sen and Atulprasad Sen.[4] [5] [6]
Folk has come to occupy the lives of Bangladeshis almost more than any other genre of Bengali music. Among the luminaries of the different folk traditions are Lalon Fokir, Abbasuddin Ahmed, Shah Abdul Karim, Radharaman Dutta, Hason Raja, Khursheed Nurali (Sheerazi), Ramesh Shil and Kari Amir Uddin Ahmed. Folk songs are characterised by simple musical structure and words. Before the advent of radio, entertainment in the rural areas relied on a large extent on stage performances by folk singers. With the arrival of new communication technologies and digital media, many folk songs were modernised and incorporated into modern songs (Adhunik songeet).
Folk music can be classified into several subgenres:
Baul is the most commonly known category of Bangladeshi folk songs. It is mostly performed by hermits who are followers of Sufism in Bangladesh. Present day Sufis earn mainly from performing their music. Baul songs incorporate simple words expressing songs with deeper meanings involving creation, society, lifestyle and human emotions. The songs are performed with very little musical support to the main carrier, the vocal. Instruments used include the Ektara ("one-string"), Dotara ("two-strings"), ba(n)shi (country flute made from bamboo) and cymbals.
See main article: Rabindra Sangeet.
Rabindra Sangeet (Bengali: রবীন্দ্রসঙ্গীত Robindro shonggit, in Bengali pronounced as /ɾobindɾo ʃoŋɡit/), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. They have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India and Bangladesh. "Sangeet" means music, "Rabindra Sangeet" means Songs of Rabindra.
Rabindra Sangeet used Indian classical music and traditional folk music as sources.[11]
See main article: Nazrul Geeti.
Nazrul Geeti or Nazrul Sangeet, literally "music of Nazrul," are songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, a Bengali poet and national poet of Bangladesh and active revolutionary during the Indian Independence Movement. Nazrul Sangeet incorporate revolutionary notions as well as more spiritual, philosophical and romantic themes.
See main article: Shah Abdul Karim.
Shah Abdul Karim known as "Baul Samrat" or king of baul music, he has composed over 1600 baul songs, some of his notable songs include Keno Piriti Baraila Re Bondhu, Murshid Dhono He Kemone Chinibo Tomare, Nao Banailo Banailo Re Kon Mestori, Ashi Bole Gelo Bondhu and Mon Mojale Ore Bawla Gaan. He referred to his compositions as Baul Gaan. He holds voice against unfairness, injustice, prejudice and communalism through his writings. Karim portraits Bhati area's people love, wish and happiness amid the writings. He got inspiration from another legendary musician Fakir Lalon Shah. Karim wrote many spiritual songs including Marfati or Dehatatta. Bangla Academy has translated ten songs of his in the English language. Karim wrote many spiritual songs including Marfati or Dehatatta. Bangla Academy has translated ten songs of his in English.
See main article: Lalon.
Lalon also known as Fakir Lalon Shah, Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir. Lalon composed numerous songs and poems, which describe his philosophy. Lalon left no written copies of his songs, which were transmitted orally and only later transcribed by his followers. Also, most of his followers could not read or write either, so few of his songs are found in written form.
Western style popular music began to influence strongly the music of Bangladesh in the early 1970's. And then several recording studios were established in Dhaka, which produced many pop style songs about national heroes.[12] Ferdous Wahid, who started out as a singer in the early 1970s, said "I wanted to introduce western music in Bangladesh, so after the Liberation War I decided to do pop music for our country’s people".[13]
Azam Khan, Fakir Alamgir, Ferdous Wahid, Pilu Momtaz, Najma Zaman, and Firoz Shai are considered the pioneer who brought the glory to Bangladesh pop music. In particular, Azam Khan is known as the pop-guru or pop-samrat of Bangladesh.[14]
In the genre of film music, well-known are such singers as Sabina Yasmin, Runa Laila, Andrew Kishore and so on. Sabina Yasmin has won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer 14 times, and Runa Laila has won the award 7 times. On the other hand, Andrew Kishore has won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer 8 times.
See main article: Bangladeshi rock.
| Formed | Name | Genre | Language | City of origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Bengali | Chittagong | ||
| Dhaka | ||||
| 1973 | Uccharon | |||
| 1976 | Rock music | |||
| 1978 | Pop/Rock | |||
| 1980 | Chittagong | |||
| 1980s | Pop/Rock | Khulna | ||
| 1984 | Chittagong | |||
| 1985 | Obscure | Pop and rock | Khulna | |
| 1985 | Dhaka | |||
| 1986 | Rock music, Hard rock, Psychedelic rock | |||
| 1991 | Chittagong | |||
| Pop rock | ||||
| 1993 | Dhaka | |||
| 1996 | Folk music, alternative rock, psychedelic rock | |||
| Trio Folk music | Bangla Chittagong | Rock music | ||
| 1998 | Rock music, Heavy Metal | |||
| Rock music, alternative rock, grunge | ||||
| Poizon Green | Thrash/Power Metal | English | ||
| 1999 | Bangla | |||
| Thrash Metal, metal core | ||||
| Alternative rock | ||||
| 2000 | Rock | |||
| 2001 | Hard rock, heavy metal | |||
| Heavy Metal | ||||
| Black Metal | English | |||
| 2002 | Bangla | |||
| 2004 | Death Metal | English | ||
| Power Metal | Bangla | |||
| 2005 | Shohortoli | Theatrical rock | ||
| 2006 | Symphonic rock, symphonic metal | |||
| Heavy Metal | ||||
| Thrash Metal | ||||
| 2007 | Alternative rock, Pop rock | |||
| Acid Rock/Metal | ||||
| Rock | Chittagong | |||
| Spiritual Thrash, Thrash, Heavy Metal | Dhaka | |||
| GrooveTrap[15] [16] | Funk, R&B, Soul | English | ||
| 2010 | Bay of Bengal (band) | Experimental rock | Bengali | Chittagong |
| 2017 | Alternative rock | Dhaka | ||
| Alternative rock |
Common instruments are: