Music in Bhutan and the significance beneath the music.

Blog IX

I believe every culture has a cultural music and its own significance to it. Music of Bhutan has traditional genres such as “boedra” and “zhungdra”, and a modern genre called “rigsar”. One of the most famous Bhutanese musicians is called Jigme Drukpa, who is also known as the leading Bhutanese musicologist. During the 17th century, folk music and dance in Bhutan had developed. Traditional instruments include the “lingm”, which is the flute in western music, “dramnyen” (lute), and “chiwang” which is known as fiddle. As I researched about the Bhutanese music, I could find that Drukpa Buddhism and Buddhist music had a big influence on Bhutanese culture as well as music. Many folk songs and chanting style are derived from “Drukpa music”. Bhutanese popular music history recently began with the “Bhutan Broadcasting Service”, which was followed by the band Tashi Nyencha, who established the first recording studio in Thimphu in 1991. Before this era, people in Bhutan mostly listened to “filmi” and other kinds of Indian pop music. “Rigsar” is the dominant style of Bhutanese popular music, and dates back to the late 1980s.
According to my Bhutanese friend, Denka Tshering, she says there are two kind of music in Bhutan. One which is the folk, traditional, and classical music (boedra and zhungdra) which she believes it “creates” the culture. She believes that those types of music tell about the Bhutanese traditional culture and the history of Bhutan. The other style of music in Bhutan, according to her, is “the pop music”; a kind of music which reflects the present Bhutanese culture. She believes that because of the influences on Bhutanese music from other cultures such as India, Korea, as well as the western cultures, this style of music ‘reflects’ the Bhutanese culture instead of ‘creating’ it.
For me, I believe music almost always reflects the culture because of my personal experiences with music and since I am a music major, I have learned many different cultural music. As an example, many people believe that salsa music has been developed from either Puerto Rico or Spain. However it was originated in New York in the late 60s by Cubans and Puerto Ricans. People believe that salsa immediately means Spanish because they believe it is part of a culture. Salsa did not create Spanish culture or Puerto Rican culture but it reflects them. The role of music in culture is that it is there to express that certain culture, society, and feelings of the people in that particular culture but I do not believe it creates a culture.