Monday, March 8, 2010

Qawwali

A group of qawwali musicians, called a party (or Humnawa in Urdu), typically consists of eight or nine men including a lead singer, one or two side singers, one or two harmoniums (which may be played by the lead singer, side singer or someone else), and percussion. If there is only one percussionist, he plays the tabla and dholak, usually the tabla with the dominant hand and the dholak with the other one (i.e. a left-handed percussionist would play the tabla with his left hand). Often there will be two percussionists, in which case one might play the tabla and the other the dholak. There is also a chorus of four or five men who repeat key verses, and who aid and abet percussion by hand-clapping.
The performers sit cross-legged on the ground in two rows — the lead singer, side singers and harmonium players in the front row, and the chorus and percussionists in the back row.
Before the fairly recent introduction of the harmonium, qawwalis were usually accompanied by the sarangi. The sarangi had to be retuned between songs; the harmonium didn't, and was soon preferred.
Women used to be excluded from traditional Muslim music, since they are traditionally prohibited from singing in the presence of men. These traditions have changed, however, as is evident by the popularity (and acceptance) of female singers such as Abida Parveen. However, qawwali has remained an exclusively male business. There are still no mainstream female qawwals. Although Abida Parveen performs many songs that are in the traditional qawwali repertoire, she does not perform them in the traditional qawwali style. Typically missing is the chorus which repeats key verses, as well as the handclapping.



Filmi qawwali

Filmi qawwali (Urdu: فلمی قوٌالی, Hindi: फ़िल्मी क़व्वाली) is a form of qawwali music found in the Lollywood and Bollywood film industries.
It represents a distinct sub-genre of film music, although it usually bears little resemblance to traditional qawwali, which is the devotional music of the Sufis. One example of filmi qawwali is the song Pardah Hai Pardah sung by Mohammed Rafi, and composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
Some Other Qawwali-Film Songs:
1. He agar dhushman dhushman...ham kisise kam nahi kam nahi...
2. Thumse milke dhil ka he jho haal kya kahe ho raha he...(Film : Main Hoom Na)

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