Since the 1980s, Afghanistan has been involved in near constant violence. As such, music has been suppressed and recording for outsiders minimal. During the 1990s, the Taliban government banned instrumental music and much public music-making. In spite of arrests and destruction of musical instruments, Afghan musicians have continued to ply their trade into the present. The capital of Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Herat, which is more closely related to Iranian music. Lyrics across the country are typically in Persian or Pashto.

The classical musical form of Afghanistan is called klasik , which includes both instrumental (ragas, naghmehs ) and vocal forms (ghazals). Many ustad, or professional musicians, are descended from Indian artists who emigrated to the royal court in Kabul in the 1860s. These ustad use Hindustani terminology and structures. Afghan ragas, in contrast to Indian ones, tend to be more focused on rhythm, and are usually played with the zirbaghali , daireh or dohol , all percussive instruments. The rubab is a common lute-like instrument in Afghanistan, and is the forerunner of the Indian sarod. The rubab is sometimes considered the national instrument of Afghanistan, and is popular elsewhere; one reviewers claims it sounds like "a Middle Eastern predecessor to the blues that popped up in the Piedmont 100 years ago" [1] (Piedmont blues). Other Afghan instruments include dutar, sorna , sitar, dilruba , tambur and ghichak .

Afghan popular music arose in the 1950s when radio broadcasting became commonplace in the country. Ahmad Zahir, Parwin , Biltun and Mahwash , especially the latter's "O Bacheh", were important early pop musicians.

Afghan folk music is traditionally played at weddings and other celebrations, and is rare for mourning. Wedding parties are usually segregated. Men are usually entertained by a male singer with a dhol or tabla drum, while accompaniment was typically a rubab or tanbur. Women usually sing and dance all night, but mostly to male entertainers as the profession is considered dishonorable for a woman. At home, women often play the daireh , a drum which is supposedly sanctioned by the Qur'an.

A traveling people known as Jat (related to Gypsies) sell instruments door-to-door and play their own variety of folk music, using a shawm and dohol , which are considered untouchable by non-Jats. The Jats frequently play for weddings, circumcisions and other celebrations as well.

Famous rubab players

• Mohammad Omar
• Essa Kassemi
• Mohammed Rahim Khushnawaz

Other famous musicians

• Ustad Mohammad Hashem Cheshti (Tabla and composer)
• Ahmad Zahir (pop musician)

Further reading

• Doubleday, Veronica. "Red Light at the Crossroads". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 3-8. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

External links

• Radio Afghanistan homepage
• some downloadable MP3s
• history of Taliban's music censorship