Beginnings of Tibetan Buddhism (c. 400)

[Potala Palace at Lhasa, and environs]

Tibet is a plateau region in Central Asia and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people. With an average elevation of 16,000 ft., it is the highest region on Earth and is commonly referred to as the "Roof of the World." Geographically, UNESCO and Encyclopædia Britannica consider Tibet to be part of Central Asia, while several academic organizations consider it part of South Asia.

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan regions, which include northern Nepal, Bhutan, India (Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim), Mongolia, Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva) and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). It includes the teachings of the three vehiclesof Buddhism: the Foundational Vehicle, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.

According to a Tibetan legendary tradition, Buddhist scriptures (among them the Karandavyuha Sutra) and relics (among them the Cintamani) arrived in southern Tibet during the reign of Lha Thothori Nyantsen, the 28th "king of Tibet" (fifth century), who was probably just a local chief in the Yarlung valley. The tale is miraculous (the objects fell from the sky on the roof of the king's palace), but it may have an historical background (arrival of Buddhist missionaries).

The music of Tibet reflects the cultural heritage of the trans-Himalayan region, centered in Tibet but also known wherever ethnic Tibetan groups are found in India, Bhutan, Nepal and further abroad. First and foremost Tibetan music is religious music, reflecting the profound influence of Tibetan Buddhism on the culture.



Tibet - Voices



Tibetan music often involves chanting in Tibetan or Sanskrit, as an integral part of the religion. These chants are complex, often recitations of sacred texts or in celebration of various festivals. Yang chanting, performed without metrical timing, is accompanied by resonant drums and low, sustained syllables. Other styles include those unique to the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, such as the classical music of the popular Gelugpa school, and the romantic music of the Nyingmapa, Sakyapa and Kagyupa schools.



Long Trumpets and Shawms



Long trumpets, shawms, and percussion instruments are all part of Tibetan Buddhist ritual.



[Philip Glass - Kundun - Tibetan sona oboes, long trumpets, and cymbals at 1:45]

Tibetan music has had a profound effect on some styles of Western music, especially New Age. Composers like Philip Glass and Henry Eichheim are most well-known for their use of Tibetan elements in their music. The soundtrack to Kundun, by Philip Glass, has helped to popularize Tibetan music.

[7404 Attila the Hun / 7400 Tibet / 7400 Mauritania]

Berber Migration into Mauritania (c. 400) - Guitar

Mauritania, a country in North-West Africa, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco controlled Western Sahara on the northwest. It is named after the ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania (present-day Morocco). The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.


From the fifth to seventh centuries, the migration of Berber tribes from North Africa displaced the Bafours, the original inhabitants of present-day Mauritania and the ancestors of the Soninke. The Bafours were primarily agriculturalist, and among the first Saharan people to abandon their historically nomadic lifestyle. With the gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they headed south.

Mauritania - Tukolar - Guitar Solo




The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings -- but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist.

Traditionally guitars have usually been constructed of combinations of various woods and strung with animal gut, or more recently, with either nylon or steel strings.

The guitar may be defined as being an instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides."

Instruments similar to the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years. The guitar appears to be derived from earlier instruments known in ancient India and Central Asia as the Sitar. The oldest known iconographic representation of an instrument displaying all the essential features of a guitar being played is a 3300 year old stone carving of a Hittite bard.

The modern word, guitar, was adopted into English from Spanish guitarra, derived from the Latin word cithara, which in turn was derived from the earlier Greek word kithara, which perhaps derives from Persian sihtar.

Sihtar itself is related to the Indian instrument, the sitar.

The modern guitar is descended from the Roman cithara brought by the Romans to Hispania around 40 AD, and further adapted and developed with the arrival of the four-string oud, brought by the Moors (Berbers) after their conquest of the Iberian peninsula in the 8th century.

[7400 Tibet / 7400 Mauritania / 7400 Jalatarang]

India - Development of Jalatarang (c. 400)

Jalatarang (Tuned Bowls)



Jalatarang ("waves in water") are musical bowls, with tuning modified by the aid of water.

Jalatarang were first mentioned in Sangeet Parijaat. This medieval musical treatise categorizes the instrument under Ghan-Vadya (Idiophonic instruments in which sound is produced by striking a surface, also called concussion idiophones). Sangeet Saar considered one with 22 cups to be complete and one with 15 cups to be of mediocre status. Cups, of varying sizes were made of either bronze or porcelain. Today china bowls are preferred, numbering around 16 in normal use.

Cups for Mandra Swar (notes of lower octave) are large while those for Taar Swar (notes of higher octaves) are smaller. Water is poured into the cups and the pitch is changed by adjusting the volume of water in the cup. The number of cups depends on the melody being played. The bowls mostly are arranged in a half-circle in front of the player. The player softly hits the cups with a wooden stick on the border to get the sound.

[7400 Mauritania / 7400 Jalatarang]