Music
Music
Range
A mellow beginning, a sumptuous middle reaching a crescendo in spinning splendour.
Unless they have a good understanding, of music, the vast majority of people do not fully appreciate the intricacies of music and the significance of various notes and chords. In general people wish to enjoy something which is fairly easy to appreciate. The music of Garba and Raas is folk music, which is popular with the masses and gives them a musical style and form which they find pleasant and which is easy to assimilate and emulate
The songs and tunes to which the Garba and Raas dances takes place are are usually about twenty to thirty minutes long not just a few short minutes, as is the case with a lot of other dancing tunes. The length of the Garba is tailored so that the tune has a mellow beginning, a sumptuous middle and a rapturous ending. .
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Various
We Are The World
Dancing
Compositions
The dancing is not over in a few minutes and enough time is taken over the music to allow the dancers ample time to flow and glow.
Garba and Raas compositions have been handed down over the generations and their words and themes range from the devotional and spiritual, to social and domestic concerns. There are compositions in praise and worship of the mother goddesses and there are loving symphonies and refrains on the dalliance of Krsna with Radha and the Gopis. The songs are almost always composed in the Gujarati language. The compositions of Garba cover a wide spectrum of life and its loves and longings, its weaknesses and woes, in loving words, teasing lyrics and cheeky asides.
The clapping with the hands and the clicking of the dandiyas resonate all over the dance floor and often little accompaniment is needed other than a drummer with a two headed drum known as a Naal, to keep the beat and rhythm. The traditional instruments used by the performers are most commonly a Naal or other drum, the shehnai or flute and a harmonium,
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Instruments
Songs
Garba does not need very elaborate instrumentation, however in modern times many forms of electronic and percussion instruments are used. Garba can also be performed to prerecorded music, and it is better to dance to prerecorded music if the musicians or singers available are not very accomplished
Maa Taro Garbo Jhakamjhod, Patan Thi Patola, and Maa Pava Te Gadh Thi are some of the popular Garbas performed in praise of the Divine Mother Goddesses. Tara Vina Shyam Mune, Tari Banki Re Paghladi Nu and Aaj No Chandaliyo are some of the Raas compositions played in love of the Divine Krsna and his enchanting activities. There are several examples of popular garba and raas and performances set out in the media section of the Garbaworld web site.
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