Nepali Popular Music

The following music genres have their roots in Nepal and are therefore considered to be indigenous. This includes:-

Newari Music
The Newars are well-known for their Newari music. It mainly consists of percussion instruments, some wind instruments and no string instruments. All the castes have their musical tunes and bands.Music is cherished by people of all walks of life. There are tunes of certain festivals and seasons and even of certain times of day. The God of artists called Nâsadya is found in all the Newar localities. The presence of a Newari musical band in a guthi is considered as a sign of opulence.

Khas Music
Khas music belongs to the Khas society where castes like Damai used to play a number of instruments on occasions such as marriages, birth and other feasts. This tradition is now on decline owing to the growing popularity of television, radio and other means of mass communication. The minstrels used to play instruments like Sarangi but even the Gaine are declining in number.

Types Of Music

The rhythm, beats, bounce of Nepali traditional folk and classical music is spiritual enough to sooth you and entertaining enough to cheer you. Music is associated with every event in Nepal, then be it birth, marriage, festivals or National events.Various songs, musical instruments and dances are connected with various religious, social and cultural life of the Nepalese. Music is the heartbeat of Nepal. Music is associated to every event of life, then be it festivals, feasts, marriage, birth ceremonies or funeral processions. The main genres of Nepali music are pop, rock, folk, and classical. There are a number of other genres that are yet to be cataloged.

Traditional Nepali Music	Imported Music
Newari Music	Indian Music Bhajan Filmi music
Khas Music	Western Music Rock & Roll Rock Metal Latino Punk Hip-Hop Rap
Gurung Music
Kirant Music
Tamang Music
Magar Music
Sherpa Music
Maithili Music
Bhojpuri Music

Music Museum Of Nepal

The Music Museum of Nepal was founded in the year 1995 with a view to collecting, preserving and glorifying Nepali folk musical instruments. There are more than 100 ethnic groups in Nepal, each with their own culture and traditions to mark every occasion from birth to death with music. Each group organizes various musical ceremonies and plays their own musical instruments in accordance with traditions and rituals. Many groups such as Gaine, Damai, Badi have adopted folk music as their way of life and play folk musical instruments professionally. Our study has found more than 525 kinds of musical instruments in Nepal.

Modern history of music

The modern history is a very short one. At times when big and private music companies where mushrooming the Western cities, Kathmandu got its first radio station, Radio Nepal in the year 1952. Since then Radio Nepal has expanded to become the dominant radio station all over the country, which helped in the uprising of many key figures in the field, notably Shiva Shankar, Natikaji, Narayan Gopal, Arun Thapa Magar (also known as Arun Thapa) , Dharma Raj Thapa, Jhalak Man Gandarva, and in the female arena Koili Devi Mathema, Tara Devi, Aruna Lama.

Music of Nepal,Bhutan and Sikkim

Little is presently known about the music of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim. Minstrels play a major role in the musical life of Nepal, where, under the influence of Indian practice, musicians are classified according to caste and each group is distinguished by specific instruments and repertoire. There appears to be a great deal of both Indian-related and indigenous folk music in the three Himalayan kingdoms. Varieties of lute, such as the long-necked damyan of Nepal and its Sikkimese relative, may be linked to a similar instrument of the Pamir Mountains, while a Sikkimese flute having an outside air duct (in contrast to the inside duct of a Western recorder) seems to be a unique instrument.

Introduction of music in Nepal

Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genres of Nepal.With more than fifty ethnic diversities, the music of this country is a highly dispersed phenomenon. Although genres like pop,rock,folk, and Classical music exist, a huge number of such genres are yet to be cataloged. Many musical bands exist in Nepal, with a huge number in Kathmandu.Most of the recent ones focused in pop and rock. Rap has been known to emerge on the charts from time to time.