Rababi (Gurmukhi: ਰਬਾਬੀ) is a term used to refer to a player of the rabab instrument.
46-890: In the Sikh liturgical tradition, there are three types of musicians—rababis, ragis , and dhadhis , all of which flourished during the period of the gurus . The descendants remained rababis to all the 10 gurus, keeping alive rabab music. Indian temple art of the first century A.D. depicted the Gandharan lute, though the ancestor of the rabab in India is likely the Persian instrument of the same name. The rabab, in its various forms, proliferated throughout West, Central, South and Southeast Asia . Those rababs used in Hindustani classical music of northern India are plucked. Guru Nanak started
92-629: A Hazoori Ragi ("designated cantor" ) is a title that refers to a ragi who serve at the Golden Temple in Amritsar who can perform shabad hymns as per their traditionally prescribed raag as designated by the Guru Granth Sahib. The title is often appended to the names these ragis. Developing alongside the earlier Rababi tradition as a parallel tradition were the kīrtankārs , who were Sikh kirtan singers. The institution
138-485: A regular salary whilst employed at a gurdwara but they can also perform at private events for extra income. Ragi jathas performing at a ticketed venue is taboo. What is now termed "traditional" (but it is not truly historically accurate to apply this appellation to this type as truly traditional kirtan differs substantially from what is described here) ragi jatha kirtan performances in gurdwaras nowadays employ simple melodies which are set to basic varieties of tāl —usually
184-626: A serious instrument in Rewa, Shahjahanpur , Gwalior and Lucknow . In the 20th century, the sarod was improved significantly by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. They increased the number of chikari (drone) strings and increased the number of tarafdar (sympathetic) strings. However, as is the case with most young, evolving instruments, much work remains to be done in the area of sarod luthiery in order to achieve reliable customization, and precise replication of successful instruments. This reflects
230-412: A soft, ringing tone. The lack of frets and the tension of the strings make the sarod a very demanding instrument to play, as the strings must be pressed hard against the fingerboard. There are two approaches to stopping the strings of the sarod. One involves using the tip of one's fingernails to stop the strings, and the other uses a combination of the nail and the fingertip to stop the strings against
276-625: Is acceptable for ragis to attach a location-based or employment-based suffix to their name for disambiguation purposes, such as Dilli Vale ("from Delhi") or Hazuri Ragi Harmandir Sahib ("ragi in service at the Harmandir Sahib gurdwara"). The ragi jatha members tend to wear simplistic clothes, usually white or off-white long shirts and pants. Ragi males tend to wear white, navy, saffron, or black turbans and female ragis wear long scarves ( chunnī ). Younger ragis have started wearing different colours outside of traditional range. Ragis are paid
322-454: Is credited as establishing the rababi tradition in Sikhism. When Guru Nanak received a revelation, he would exclaim: "Mardaneya! Rabab chhed, bani aayee hai" ['Mardana, play the rabab, bani (sacred composition/verse) has occurred to me']. After Guru Nanak settled down in the locality he founded, known as Kartarpur , the accompanying verse compositions to the music him and Mardana conjured
368-587: Is generally credited to Niyamatullah Khan of the Lucknow Gharana as well as Ghulam Ali Khan of the Gwalior-Bangash Gharana. Among the contemporary sarod players, this basic design is kept intact by two streams of sarod playing. Amjad Ali Khan and his disciples play this model, as do the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra. Both Amjad Ali Khan and Buddhadev Dasgupta have introduced minor changes to their respective instruments which have become
414-452: Is interspersed by supportive and harmonizing melodies played by the harmonium, with the drummer playing variations utilizing the tabla in "tempo and rhythmic variety". All these factors are geared towards producing a calm and spiritual setting and experience for the participants. Presentation and performance are the two important factors of the "traditional" ragi kirtan performance type. Lines from certain hymns tend to be repeated to allow for
460-609: Is made up of šāh ( shah or king) and rūd (string). The origins of sarod music can be traced back to the rhythmic and vibrant melodies of the Afghani rubāb , as well as the Indian seni rubāb , which held a significant place in the Mughal royal courts. The sarod emerged in India during the early 19th century as an evolved form of the Afghani rubāb, commonly played in the regions to the east of Delhi, inhabited by Afghan communities. In
506-497: Is the traditional setting. Another type is that designed by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. This instrument, referred to by David Trasoff as the 1934 Maihar Prototype, is larger and longer than the conventional instrument, though the fingerboard is identical to the traditional sarod. This instrument has 25 strings in all. These include four main strings, four jod strings (tuned to Ni or Dha , R/r , G/g and Sa respectively), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of
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#1732797307168552-451: Is typically tuned to C. Sarod strings are either made of steel or phosphor bronze . Most contemporary sarod players use German or American-made strings, such as Roslau (Germany), Pyramid (Germany) and Precision (USA). The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum ( java ) made of polished coconut shell, ebony, cocobolo wood, horn, cowbone, Delrin or other such materials. Early sarod players used plain wire plectrums, which yielded
598-582: The Janamsakhis and the Varan of Bhai Gurdas . There are also artistic depictions of Guru Nanak and Mardana as musicians amid various 18th and 19th century paintings, where Guru Nanak is shown singing whilst Mardana is playing his instrument. References made to music during the time of Guru Nanak found within the Varan of Bhai Gurdas, includes: ghar ghar hove dharamsāl, hove kīrtan sadā visoā Every house
644-425: The sitar , it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet, overtone-rich texture of the sitar, with sympathetic strings that give it a resonant, reverberant quality. A fretless instrument, it can produce the continuous slides between notes known as meend ( glissandi ), which are important in Indian music. The word sarod
690-399: The 8-beat kahirvā but also the 6-beat dādrā . The performance of gurbani kirtan within gurdwaras was simplified to allow for the gathered congregation ( sadh sangat ) to be able to follow along and sing with the performers, it also allows for the laypersons to internalize the message of the underlying hymn rather than focus too much on the musical expression itself. The singing by vocalists
736-731: The Afghan rubab in the mid-18th century, and became a court musician to the Maharajah of Rewa (now in Madhya Pradesh ). It was his descendants, notably his grandson Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash, a court musician in Gwalior , who changed the rubab into the sarod we know today. A parallel theory credits descendants of Madar Khan, Niyamatullah Khan in particular, with the same innovation around 1820. The sarod in its present form dates back to approximately 1820, when it started gaining recognition as
782-528: The Golden Temple, serving as a kirtan performer for some 70 years around the later 19th and early 20th century. Notable ragis of the early 20th century include Hira Singh, Santa Singh, Sunder Singh, Sammund Singh, Surjan Singh, and Gopal Singh. Later on in the same century, names of ragis like Bhai Jwala Singh (a tenth generation member of a traditional kirtankar family), his sons Avtar Singh and Gurcharan Singh, are important to note. Furthermore, Balbir Singh and Dyal Singh should also be mentioned. Today,
828-581: The Harmandir Sahib, was Bhai Sain Ditta, who flourished during the early part of the 19th century. During this era, the Muslim rababi institution received patronage from various Sikh polities, such as Nabha , Patiala , and Kapurthala states. During the early 20th century, Muslim rababis who regularly performed at the Golden Temple were Bhai Chand, Bhai Taba, and Bhai Lal. By the 20th century, many rababis replaced their traditional rabab by swapping it out with
874-542: The Sikh gurus as musical performers. Some examples of descendants of Bhai Mardana who worked as musicians in the durbar (court) of the Sikh gurus include: The rababi tradition formed out of the lineage of Muslim musicians and instrumentalists performing kirtan for the Sikh gurus and the Sikh community. These Muslim rababis of kirtan were called Bābe ke by the Sikhs, which meant "those of Baba Nanak". A later Muslim rababi who performed kirtan at Sikh shrines, including
920-429: The Sikh rababi tradition by engaging Bhai Mardana as his accompanist. The Muslim singers formerly called mirasi , were rechristened rababi by Nanak, because they played on the rabab . Musical expression has held a very important place within the Sikh tradition ever since its beginning, with Guru Nanak and his faithful companion, Bhai Mardana . Textual traditions connecting Guru Nanak and Mardana to music include
966-502: The Sikh scriptures and correct pronunciation of their contents (known as santhiya ). True mastery of kirtan requires a deep understanding and knowledge of Sikh philosophy, history, and culture. According to the late Bhai Avtar Singh, a preeminent ragi of his time, the most important criteria for becoming a good kirtankar was first living a life in line with the principles set out in the Guru Granth Sahib, and then an education in its prescribed ragas. The term Hazuri Ragi , also spelt as
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#17327973071681012-418: The central room, there is a dedicated space beside the sacred scripture for the rāgī jathā (ragi ensemble) on an elevated stage. The ragis sit on the elevated stage facing the gathered Sikh congregation in the room, who sit directly on the floor at a lower level. Kirtan is performed within the gurdwaras on both regular and celebatory days . For the major and popular gurdwaras, Sunday ( Aitavāra ) tends to be
1058-457: The day where more kirtan performances are held throughout the day whilst for other days, kirtan performances usually occur in the evening time. Kirtan within gurdwara is usually performed by the ragi jathi, typically consisting of three members in modern-times but four members in historical-times. Aside from being required to perform musically, they also are needed to perform the liturgy services. The ragis are traditionally all male and are given
1104-409: The design templates for their followers. Both musicians use sarods made of teak wood, and a soundboard made of goat skin stretched across the face of the resonator. Buddhadev Dasgupta prefers a polished stainless steel fingerboard for the ease of maintenance while Amjad Ali Khan uses the conventional chrome or nickel-plated cast steel fingerboard. Visually, the two variants are similar, with six pegs in
1150-431: The dhrupad rabab/seniya rabab and the sarod. The sur-rabab has the structure of the dhrupad rabab but has a metal fretboard and uses metal strings. Among the many conflicting and contested histories of the sarod, there is one that attributes its invention to the ancestors of the present-day sarod maestro, Amjad Ali Khan . Amjad Ali Khan's ancestor Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, a musician and horse trader, came to India with
1196-458: The divine with sacred music. Ragis now are often professional and have much knowledge of the scriptures. Thus, they are highly respected. However, they are not a privileged elite as some today see them -- rather, the ragi tradition was meant to bring musical experience of the Sikh scriptures to a layperson, without a middleman (or woman). Some notable Sikh kirtankars during the period of the Sikh gurus include: A renowned ragi or kirtankar during
1242-438: The fingerboard. Fingering techniques and how they are taught depends largely on the personal preferences of musicians rather than on the basis of school affiliation. Radhika Mohan Maitra, for example, used the index, middle and ring finger of his left hand to stop the string, just like followers of Allauddin Khan do. Maitra, however, made much more extensive use of the third fingernail for slides and hammers. Amjad Ali Khan, while
1288-424: The general state of Indian instrument-making in the present day. The design of the instrument depends on the school ( gharana ) of playing. There are three distinguishable types: The conventional sarod is a 17 to 25-stringed lute-like instrument—four to five main strings used for playing the melody, one or two drone strings, two chikari strings and nine to eleven sympathetic strings. The design of this early model
1334-549: The harmonium. A blowback to the rabab instrument's usage in Sikh circles came in the aftermath of the partition of the Punjab in 1947, due to many Muslim rababi families migrating to their new homes in Pakistan or became pushed to the margins of society due to changing socio-cultural norms. The rabab was gradually replaced by the sarod , another stringed instrument, in Sikh musical circles. There have been attempts at reviving
1380-435: The honourifical prefix of Bhāī (literally, "brother"). In modern-times, there has been a rise of female ragi jathas , whose members are given the honourifical prefix of Bībī (literally, "lady"). Mixed-gender ragi jathas are exceedingly rare. Ragis are not allowed to use caste-based surnames and thus only keep the names ' Singh ' and ' Kaur ' as a surname, some may further add the word 'Khalsa' to their name. However, it
1426-410: The latter half of the 19th century, the progeny of the rubab musician and Afghan merchant Ghulam Bandagi Khan endowed the instrument with metal strings and a metallic plate, elements that are characteristic of the contemporary sarod. These enhancements facilitated longer-lasting notes and the ability to execute the intricate embellishments characteristic of dhrupad and khyal styles of music. Although
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1472-513: The listeners to join in on the singing. Various genres found within the "traditional" ragi kirtan sub-type are gīt , ghazal , and bhajan . The most renowned and well-received performer of the "traditional" ragi kirtan style is Bhai Harjinder Singh Srinagar Vale. However, the truly traditional ragi kirtan style, as found in earlier times, employed stringed instruments rather than the now commonplace harmonium. It also involved more ragas in its performances. Traditional Sikhs attempting to revive
1518-419: The main pegbox, two rounded chikari pegs and 11 (Amjad) to 15 (Buddhadev) sympathetic strings. The descendants of Niyamatullah Khan (namely Irfan Khan and Ghulfam Khan) also play similar instruments. Some of the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra still carry the second resonator on their sarods. Amjad Ali Khan and his followers have rejected the resonator altogether. These instruments are typically tuned to B, which
1564-458: The more historical expressions of their music, such as by playing instruments like the rabab, saranda, and taus, are referred to as the gurmat sangīt genre of kirtan. It is largely based upon the contemporary khyāl style of Hindustani classical music . There are two different kinds of shabad kirtan performances by ragi jathas: There now exists various Sikh educational institutions solely dedicated to teaching Sikh music, that specialize in
1610-514: The most important temple for Sikhs, which goes against the Sikh principle of gender equality. Now, some efforts are being made to revive Gurmat Sangeet , kirtan the way the Gurus prescribed it. This Sikhism-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument , used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent . Along with
1656-447: The rababi tradition, as there still remains descendants of traditional rababi families living. The last of the line of rababis was Bhai Chand. During the 20th century CE the instrument's use in Sikh kirtan was eclipsed by the harmonium but it has been revived. Sikh rababis used to perform kirtan regularly at Amritsar before the partition of India in 1947, after which many of the rababis migrated to what became Pakistan. The Sikh rabab
1702-580: The ragi tradition is slightly different than in the Guru's time. Music is often not sung in the correct raag and often does not use the Guru's instruments but rather relies heavily on the harmonium , brought by the British colonizers. The lines of the shabads before the rahaos are not emphasized as they are prescribed either. Today also there are no female ragis allowed in Sri Harimandir Sahib ,
1748-408: The reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire was Bhai Mansa Singh, who performed at the Golden Temple. Similar to the rababi tradition, the ragi tradition also received the patronage of Sikh polities, such as by Nabha, Patiala, and Kapurthala. One notable ragi who received the sponsorship of Sikh states was Baba Pushkara Singh. Bhai Sham Singh is renowned for his long service as a ragi at
1794-425: The sarod has been referred to as a " bass rubab" its tonal bandwidth is actually considerably greater than that of the rubab, especially in the middle and high registers. Lalmani Misra opines in his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya that the sarod is a combination of the ancient chitravina, the medieval rubab and modern sursingar . Another instrument, the sur-rabab, is known to exist, which has the characteristics of both
1840-534: The training of ragis. However, traditionally the training of ragis occurred at more general Sikh educational institutions (known as a ṭaksāl ), which had a section dedicated for the training of Sikh musicians, such as at the Damdami Taksal near Amritsar or Jawaddi Kalan in Ludhiana. Training of Sikh kirtanis usually starts when they are young and aside from their musical training, they are also educated in
1886-463: The upper octave ) and fifteen tarab strings. The main strings are tuned to Ma ("fa"), Sa ("do"), lower Pa ("so") and lower Sa , giving the instrument a range of three octaves. The Maihar sarod lends itself extremely well to the presentation of alap with the four jod strings providing a backdrop for the ambiance of the raga. This variant is, however, not conducive to the performance of clean right-hand picking on individual strings. The instrument
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1932-478: Was a place of worship with constant kīrtan as on Baisakhi Regarding the Kartarpur chapter of Guru Nanak's life, Bhai Gurdas states: sodaru ārtī gāvīai amrit vele jāpu uchārā Sodar and Ārtī were sung, and in the early morning Jāp was recited Mardana was a player of the rabab (plucked lute), and would travel alongside Nanak and play the instrument when Nanak spoke his teachings. As a result of this, Mardana
1978-402: Was born out of a few amateur or non-professional singers during the period of the Sikh gurus. As time went-on, this amateur trend of Sikh singers eventually developed into the professional tradition now known as rāgīs . Guru Arjan Dev , the 5th Guru of the Sikhs, started the ragi tradition of amateur musicians, as he didn't want the Sikhs to depend on professionals for their connection to
2024-418: Was introduced from Persian during the late Mughal Empire and is much older than the Indian musical instrument. It can be traced back to sorūd meaning "song", "melody", "hymn" and further to the Persian verb sorūdan , which correspondingly means "to sing", "to play a musical instrument", but also means "to compose". Alternatively, the shahrud may have given its name to the sarod. The Persian word šāh-rūd
2070-585: Was recorded in various pothis , of which, the Guru Harsahai Pothi claims to be an extant text of this kind. During the time of Guru Nanak, the predominant musical tradition of the era was the dhrupad and dhamar , which ended up influencing this early Sikh musical expression. Later, other musical traditions, such as khayal , tappa , and qawwali , began to influence the Sikhs. The musical lineage of Bhai Mardana continued after Mardana's death and his descendants carried-on with serving
2116-584: Was traditionally a local Punjabi variant known as the 'Firandia' rabab ( Punjabi : ਫਿਰੰਦੀਆ ਰਬਾਬ Phiradī'ā rabāba ), however Baldeep Singh, an expert in the Sikh musical tradition, challenges this narrative. Noteworthy Sikh rababis include: Ragi (Sikhism) A Ragi ( Punjabi : ਰਾਗੀ ; rāgī ) is a Sikh musician who plays hymns ( shabads ) in different ragas as prescribed in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib . Professional Sikh musical performances are usually done within gurdwaras . Within
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