Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genres played and listened to in Nepal. With more than fifty ethnic groups in Nepal, the country's music is highly diverse. Genres like Tamang Selo, Chyabrung, Dohori, Adhunik Geet, Bhajan, Filmi music, Ghazal, Classical music, songs and Ratna music are widely played and popular, but many other less common genres are yet to be cataloged. Western musical genres like Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B also regularly feature on the Nepalese music charts. Most of the country's musical bands are based in the Kathmandu valley. Musical genres from Tibet and India have greatly influenced Nepalese music.
Nepalese rock refers to rock music culture of Nepal and the Nepali-speaking regions in India like Sikkim and northern West Bengal, and some parts of Bhutan and Burma.
The music of West Bengal includes multiple indigenous musical genres such as Baul, Ramprasadi, Bishnupuri Classical, Kirtan, Shyama Sangeet, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, Dwijendrageeti, Prabhat Samgiita, Agamani-Vijaya, Patua Sangeet, Gambhira, Bhatiali, Bhawaiya, Bengali Rock.
Ektara is a one-stringed musical instrument used in the traditional music of the Indian subcontinent, and used in modern-day music of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
Moheener Ghoraguli was an Indian rock group from Kolkata, established in 1975. Their music drew from a wide variety of influences, including Bengali folk, Baul, urban American folk, and jazz. They sometimes described their style as "Baul jazz."
Indian rock is a music genre in India that may incorporate elements of Indian music with rock music, and is often topically India-centric. While India is more often known for its classical music, filmi, Bollywood music, Indi-pop, and Bhangra, the Indian rock scene has also produced numerous bands and artists.
Krosswindz is a Bengali rock/folk-fusion band, based in Kolkata, India. They have played all over India and abroad and have helped urbanize the folk music of Bengal and have tried to make it popular. Krosswindz is one of the few Kolkata-based Bengali rock bands who have female singers for their lead/main vocals.
Kailash Kher is an Indian music composer and singer. He sings songs with a music style influenced by Indian folk music and Sufi music. He was inspired by the classical musicians' Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, and the Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Bonnie Chakraborty is an Indian playback singer. he was the lead vocalist of Kolkata based band Krosswindz until 1998. He has sung many songs in several languages including Hindi, Tamil and Bengali for various films.
The Nepali Sarangi is a Nepali folk instrument. It is a chordophone played by bowing. Traditionally in Nepal, the Sarangi was only played by people of Gandarbha or Gaine caste, who sing narrative tales and folk song, however, in present days, its popularity extends beyond the Gandharba community and is widely used and played by other caste members as well. It has also garnered much interest in other music genres, such as Nepali rock and film music. While the Sarangi has become the quintessential Gandharba instrument, while its counterpart, the arbajo, which is a plucked lute, has fallen into obscurity.
Louis Banks is an Indian film composer, record producer, keyboardist, and singer. He has often been referred to as the 'Godfather of Indian jazz'.
Hira Devi Waiba was an Indian folk singer in the Nepali-language and is hailed as the pioneer of Nepali folk songs.
The arbajo is a Nepali four-string lute used as a rhythm instrument. It is the traditional instrument of the Gandarbha caste of musical performers, and is considered a companion to the Nepali sarangi. The Gandarbhas consider the aarbajo to be the "male instrument", the sarangi the "female." The aarbajo is used less than in the past, and been replaced by the sarangi, which was considered in 1999 to have superseded the aarbajo in common use.
Satyaki Banerjee is an Indian Bengali composer. He is a part of an Anglo-Bengali band with members in Kolkata and London. He plays instruments like the dotara and the sarod, and his performances incorporate both the classical and the folk idioms. He studied the sarod with the late Pandit Dipak Chowdhury and now trains under Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar. He picked up the dotara in the company of practising folk musicians, in akhras and melas and in him the classical and folk meld to evolve into a unique style of playing. He is also a self-taught oud and rebab player, besides being a magnificent singer of mostly Bengali mystical poetry, in the baul and kirtan traditions.
Neel Dutt is an Indian composer and singer from Kolkata. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction from the Govt. of India in 2012 for the soundtrack of the Bengali film Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona. Dutt is the third person from West Bengal to win the Best Music Direction award. He is arguably the first music director in India to rearrange a Rabindranath Tagore composition with modern electronic music.
Arunendu Das was a Burmese born Bengali architect, singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the pioneers of late 20th-century alternative Bengali songwriting. While Moheener Ghoraguli is considered to be the first Bengali Band, Arunendu was the first person to compose Bengali lyrics for songs written specifically to be accompanied by guitar, a genus of Bengali music which has become increasingly popular over time.
Timir Biswas is an Indian playback singer of both Bengali and Hindi films. He also the lead singer of the band Fakira. He originates from Sreepally, Asansol, West Bengal and belongs to a Bengali family.
Sahana Bajpaie is an Indian singer-songwriter and a contemporary Rabindra Sangeet vocalist in Bengali. Born in Santiniketan, by the age of three she started singing. She released her debut album Notun Kore Pabo Bole in 2007 from Dhaka, Bangladesh, which was a collection of Rabindra Sangeet. Her second album Shikawr released in 2014 with several musicians from West Bengal. Sahana's second Rabindra Sangeet album Ja Bolo Tai Bolo was released in 2015 and the latest solo album, Mon Bandhibi Kemone in 2016.
Basudeb Das Baul is a Bengali baul singer and musician from Bolpur in Birbhum district, West Bengal, India; who also plays khamak, ektara, and dotara as an accompaniment. He is known for pioneering traditional Baul music on the international music scene. He also works on the music score for the Australian film The Waiting City as a featured soloist in 2009. A critically acclaimed Bangladeshi movie "Hawa" also featured one of his celebrated song "Atta baje deri koris na" in his own voice.
Jaimin Rajani is a singer-songwriter and documentary filmmaker from Calcutta, India. He writes songs into the traditions of folk and rock music. As a producer, Jaimin has worked on the albums ‘Then & Now’ (2020) by Susmit Bose and ‘White Knight's Tale’ (2019) by High.
