Music of Badakhshan
Badakhshan is a region of
Tajikistan and
Afghanistan with a unique musical heritage, especially that of the remote Pamiri
Ismailis. Badakhshan's unique folk scene is said to be characteristed by the use of many chromatized tones (especially in
falak) in a narrow melodic range, and the use of a characteristic minor-like scale [
1].
Lutes are an extremely important part of Pamiri music, especially the three-stringed shortneck lute played with a wooden
plectrum; this is called the
rubab-i pamiri. Other vatities of lute in Badakhshan include te
komus, a three-stringed but unfretted lute played by th
Kirghiz of eastern Badakhshan, the
tanbur, a seven-stringed lute with
sympathetic strings, the
setar, with three melody strings and a number of sympathetic strings; the imported Afghan
rubab and Azerbaijani
tar are also a major part of Badakhshan's lute heritage [
2].
Other instruments include the
nay, a kind of flute, and the
ghijak-i pamiri, a spiked fiddle; the circular
frame drum daf is also common, as is the
accordion, brought by
Russians.
Pamiri music has a characteristic throaty, nasal sound which is a distinguishing characteristic of the area's vocal style. The
madah is a kind of sung religious poetry, accompanied by
rubabs and/or
tanbyr with at least one daf [
3].
*[
4]
