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We talked about Indonesian music in the previous article. The reason behind mentioning of Indonesian music is presence of ‘Keroncong’ in Malaysian music world. Hugely popular in Malaysia, this musical from is in existence since ages.
Country is rich with diverse cultures and traditions. Western music has also influenced music of Malaysia to a great extent. The presence of western music can be seen in western music instruments and melodies prevalent in the region. One reason behind musical richness of Malaysia is presence of numerous ethnic groups. Country is chock-a-bloc with presence of numerous tribes and nationalities.
The existence of such variety is ably reflected in its music that is rich with melody and rhymes. Different cultures have their own preferences. Occurrence of large numbers of Indians and middle-east citizens has made ghazals quite popular. Ghazals are full with lovely poetic lyrics. Love is the most common theme of these ghazals. Apart from that, tango, rumba, Hawaiian guitar styles and jazz is also popular here.
The instruments commonly used in the country are table drums, western maracas, violin, tambourine, Malaysian lutes, guitar and harmonium. Apart from new genres of songs, country’s first love is still classical Malaysian songs. In classical songs, instruments like Serunai, Kettledrum, suspended gonga, nafiri and two barrel drums are commonly used. Fascinating point is despite being in use since 15th century; these instruments are still used and relished. The Malay folk music primarily relies upon rebabs and gendangs for musical effects.
There have been noticeable contributions from several great artists in the evolution of Malaysian music. One of the legends of Malaysian music is P.Ramlee who is credited to transform the music in the country. He made Malaysian music popular among its citizens by bringing modern musical effects in classical music and thus creating new form of music. Apart from him, contributions of singers like Siti Nurhaliza and Shiela Majid can never be underestimated. These artists are extremely talented at singing Islamic songs and love tunes.
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