Pankaj RAWAT, Department of Geography, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, India
Taruna BANSAL, Department of Geography, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, India
Folk Music represents the region's cultural identity, a product of the musical tradition resulting from the confluence of feeling and imagination of the individuals. It conveys human emotions that replicate particular geographical settings. Thus, the creation of folk music from ethnic and social facets represents the socio-cultural and regional identity of the people. This inherent characteristic of folk music has helped it preserve its originality as it usually remains unaffected by popular music.
The socio-cultural life of humans in musical tradition and different aspects of customs-rituals, aspirations, and values linked to them are inherent to the approaches of Ethnomusicology and Ecomusicology. Hence, these approaches provide a basic understanding in India, enriched with the vast musical heterogeneity visible in various vocal practices and musical instruments. The Himalayas, a region with a consensus in ethnocultural forms despite physical and social variations, sets a ground for vast potentialities and possibilities vast potentialities and possibilities. The Himalayan ethnomusicologies are simple melodic lines and subtle blending of words to the tunes having deep emotions.
In this framework, the paper examines the creation of folk music in the Western Himalayas. It will also explore the regional variations, effects of popular culture, popularity, and modernization. Further, through an in-depth lyrics analysis, examples will be cited from the folk music of Garhwal and Kumaon Himalayas to understand the traditional ethnomusicology from an ecomusicological perspective.
Mots clés : Folk Music|Ethnomusicology|Ecomusicology|Socio-Cultural landscape|Western Himalayas
A105394PR