Music of Myanmar

Themusic ofMyanmar(or Burma) (Burmese:မြန်မာ့ဂီတ) shares manysimilaritieswith other musical styles in the region. Traditional music ismelodic, having its own unique form ofharmony, often composed with a4(na-yi-se), a4(wa-let-se) or a16(wa-let-a-myan)time signature. In Burmese, music segments are combined into patterns, and then into verses, making it a multi-level hierarchical system. Various levels are manipulated to create a song. Harmony inMahagita(the Burmese body of music) is known astwe-lone,which is similar to a chord in western music. For example, C is combined with F or G.
Musical instrumentsinclude thebrassse(which is like atriangle),hne(a kind ofoboe), the bamboowa, as well as the well-knownsaung, a boat-shapedharp.Traditionally, the instruments are classified into five groups calledpyissin turiya(ပဉ္စင်တူရိယာ). These instruments are played on a musical scale consisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each tone can be raised, lowered, or played naturally (corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting in twenty-one possible combinations. Thepat waingdrum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination. Similarly, theKyi Waing,a twenty-one gong instrument is struck with a knobbed stick placed alongside the pat waing.
Western music gained popularity in Burma during the 1930s, despite the government's intervention. During the socialist era, musicians and artists were subject to censorship by thePress Scrutiny Boardand Central Registration Board, as well as laws like the State Protection Law. Classical music was also introduced during the British occupation. Pop music emerged in the 1970s and was banned by state-run radio stations. However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops. Rock music, calledstereoin Burmese, has been a popular form of music since the 1980s. When the country's regulations on censorship were loosened in 2000, many pop groups emerged throughout Myanmar such as Electronic Machine, Playboy, ELF Myanmar, and the King.In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished.
The orthodoxTheravada Buddhismrejects music as being decadent, but despite this cultural backdrop, the Burmese monarchy along with the infusion of different regional music styles, created several classical traditions of Burmese music. The oldest of such influences may perhaps come from China, which shares a similar pentatonicmusical scaleas classical Burmese music.Other influences includeMonmusic (calledTalaing thanor "sounds of the Talaing [Mon]"), particularly in theMahāgīta(မဟာဂီတ), the complete body of classical Burmese music.
A prevailing one is calledyodaya(ယိုးဒယား), which is essentially a class of Burmese adaptations to songs accompanied with thesaung gaukand come from theAyutthaya kingdom(modern-day Thailand) during the reigns ofBayinnaung(1551–1581) andHsinbyushin(1753–1776), which brought back a variety of cultural traditions including theRamayana.The primary indigenous form is calledthachin(သချင်း).
Burmese classical music ensembles can be divided into outdoor and indoor ensembles. The outdoor musical ensemble is thesidaw(စည်တော်); also calledsidawgyi(စည်တော်ကြီး), which was an outdoor ensemble in royal courts used to mark important ceremonial functions like theroyal ploughing ceremony.It consists of ahnegyi(နှဲကြီး), a large double reed pipe andsidaw(စည်တော်), a pair of ceremonial drums, as well as thesi(စည်း) andwa(ဝါး), a bell and clapper and thegandama, a double-headed drum. Today,sidawmusic is played at festivals. Other instruments used in classical music include thesaung(a harp) andpattala(a xylophone). The indoor form is thechamber musicensemble, which basically comprises a female singer accompanied by a traditional ensemble consisting of thesaung(စောင်း),pattala(ပတ္တလား),migyaung(မိကျောင်း, azither),palwe(ပလွေ, a flute) and in the past also included thetayaw(တယော, a fiddle) andhnyin(a small mouth organ).
Translated as "great music" inPali, theMahāgītais an extensive collection of Burmese classical songs calledthachin gyi. The collection is divided into several different types of songs including the following:kyo,bwe,thachin gan, the oldest repertoires;pat pyo, royal court music;lwan chin, songs of longing;lay dway than gat;myin gin, music that makes horses dance;nat chin, songs used to worship thenat, Burmese spirits;yodaya, music introduced from Ayutthaya,talaing than, music adapted from theMon peopleandbole, songs of sorrow.
Burmese music includes a variety of folk traditions. A distinct form of which is called thebyaw(ဗျော), often played at religious festivals and sung to the beat of a long and thin drum, with occasional interruptions by the beating of a larger drum.
The traditional folk ensemble, typically used innat pwe(Burmese theatre, art and festivals) is called thehsaing waing(ဆိုင်းဝိုင်း). It is mainly made up of different gongs and drums, as well as other instruments, depending on the nature of performance.The ensemble bears many similarities to other Southeast Asian ensembles, although it incorporates a drum circle not found in similar ensembles.The ensemble is made up of a series of drums and gongs, including the center pieces, which are thehne(double reed pipe) andpat waing, set of 21 tuned drums in a circle.
Other instruments in this ensemble include thekyi waing(ကြေးဝိုင်း, small bronze gongs in a circular frame) andmaung hsaing(မောင်းဆိုင်း, larger bronze gongs in a rectangular frame), as well as thesiandwa(bell and clapper) and the recent addition of thechauk lone bat(a group of six drums which have gained currency since the early 20th century).Hsaing waing music, however, is atypical in Southeast Asian music, characterised by sudden shifts in rhythm and melody as well as change in texture andtimbre.
Western music has gained popularity in Burma since the 1930s. Despite the government's intervention at times, especially during the socialist era, popular Burmese music has seen considerable influence from Western music, which consists of popular Western songs rendered in Burmese andpop musicsimilar to other Asian pop tunes.Classical music was also introduced during the British occupation. Cult folk musicianNick Drakewas born in Burma duringBritish rule.
Rock music, calledstereoin Burmese, has been a popular form of music since the 1980s, having been introduced in the 1960s.Pop music emerged in the 1970s and was banned by state-run radio stations. However, many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them in music production shops.During the socialist era, musicians and artists were subject to censorship by thePress Scrutiny Boardand Central Registration Board, as well as laws like the State Protection Law.During this period, the arrival of various bands including the influential Thabawa Yinthwenge (The Wild Ones), which included lead singerSai Htee Saing, an ethnicShan, in 1973 paved the way for ethnic minority musicians to gain visibility in the Burmese music industry.Sai Kham Leikis a well known composer associated withThe Wild Ones. Other contemporary singers wereKhin Maung Toe,Kaiser,Hlwan Moe,Htoo Ein Thin,Soe Lwin Lwin,Saung Oo Hlaing,Lay Phyu,May Sweet,Maykhala, andConnie.
During the8888 Uprising, restrictions loosened and many artists began writing music with themes of freedom anddemocracy. However, after theState Law and Order Restoration Councilusurped power in 1988, thePress Scrutiny Boardwas reformed to censor specific political and social issues, includingpoverty, the sex trade, democracy, and human rights. The Myanmar Music Asiayon (MMA) was established by the SLORC to further censor Burmese-produced music. Popular musicians includingZaw Win Htutand Sai Htee Saing have produced propaganda albums written by military officers such as Mya Than San.
Hip hopandrapemerged in the late 1990s and is now the prevailing genre of music among Burmese youth today.Bands like Iron Cross, Emperor and BigBag are popular among older Burmese and certain groups of youth. There are hip-hop enthusiasts all over Burma with Burmese hip-hop artists such asYe Lay,Sai Sai Kham Hlaing, and J-me. There are also many underground rock and metal bands such as All Else I Fail, Last Day of Beethoven, Temper Level VIII, Tha Ta Lin Chate, Idiots, Offkeys, We Are the Waste, The Last Secret, etc. but mostly producing nu-metal andmetalcore. As for heavy metal, the scene is growing steadily but remains less popular compared to mainstream music. Despite very few metal bands in Burma, the metal band aficionado society is united and supportive of raw black metal, thrash metal, and death metal. Burmese cover songs (particularly from Asia) represented early pop music in the country as artists recorded and performed "copy tunes," which were reproductions of international pop songs performed in Burmese. Singers such asMin Min Lattpaved the way for other artists such as Myanmar's version ofLady Gaga,Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein,R ZarniandSai Sai Kham Leng.
When the country's regulations on censorship were loosened in 2000, new pop groups emerged across Myanmar who were able to compose, record and perform original Burmese music. Many pop groups emerged throughout Myanmar such as Electronic Machine, Playboy, ELF Myanmar and the King.In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished. The only government censorship that remains on music is video censorship. Everyone can, in essence, release whatever they want. This has led many on the newly re-groupedMyanmar Music Associationto grapple with the idea of forming a rating system to deal with some 'rude words' in music that may not be appropriate for all ages.
After decades underground, a small but enduringpunk rockandheavy metal musicscene has been increasingly visible in Burma.Modelling many 1970s and '80s classic Western punk bands and Modern Metal. Burmese punk band metal band shows a musical defiance that has not been seen before in Burma.In the German made 2012 documentary film "Yangon Calling" over a period of six weeks film-makers Alexander Dluzak and Carsten Piefke secretly filmed, as they documented the Burmese punks life, documenting everything from meeting friends and family, visiting rehearsals and filming secret concerts.
Websites that have started up in recent years such as Myanmar Xbands have given attention to the Burmese punk scene along with other alternative Burmese music. The site has developed into a hub for artists to display their music to a Burmese and international audience for free download. Most of the Talented Bands Like Last Day of Beethoven, Darkest Tears from My Heart, Fever 109, We Are the Waste are well known by others because of this website. While other Burmese punk bands like pop punk band Side Effect, turned to raising funds onIndieGoGo, to release their first album. The band just managed to raise enough funds to release their album in May 2012, shortly before their efforts fell short to international sanctions.However, other popular Burmese punk bands such as No Uturn or Rebel Riot has turned to self-release, releasing their demos on popular download sites such as MySpace and Reverb Nation.
Burmese music has a wide variety ofmusical instruments, including thebrassse (which is like atriangle),hne(a kind ofoboe) and bamboo wa, as well as the well-knownsaung, a boat-shapedharp.
Beginning just before World War II, the piano was adapted to the performance of Burmese traditional music, modelling its technique after that of thepattalaandsaung. The best known performer of Burmese piano was Gita Lulin Maung Ko Ko, known as U Ko Ko (1928–2007).
TheBurmese harpis of special significance. It dates back to the 9th century, though it has changed quite a bit since then, expanding, for example, from three strings to sixteen. During theKonbaungperiod (1752–1885), courtly musicians included Queen Ma Mya Galay, Princess Hlaing Hteikhaung Tin, MinisterMyawaddy Mingyi U Sa, and KingNat Shin NaungofTaungoo.
Burmese musical instruments are traditionally classified into five classes, calledpyissin turiya(ပဉ္စင်တူရိယာ):
These instruments are played in amusical scaleconsisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each tone can be played raised, lowered or natural (corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting a possible twenty-one combinations. Thepat waingdrum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination, and thesaing saya(maestro) sits in the middle using various parts of his hands to strike the drums to produce a melody. Thekyi waingis the gong circle strung up in the same fashion and the gongs are struck with a knobbed stick and in accompaniment to thepat waing.
Kyayorbrassinstruments feature prominently in Burmese music. They include:
Kyoorstring instrumentsin the Burmese musical repertoire include the following:
Thayeor leather instruments primarily consist of percussive-typedrumsused in folk ensembles, including:
Theleiorwind instrumentsinclude:
Theletkhokor percussion instruments are the least numerous, and include: