Traditional Tibetan Music

Tibetan people are quite expert in music and dance. They usually combine two together and express their feelings thorough different kinds of music. In general, Tibetan music can be divided into two categories, Buddhism music and folk music. For Buddhism music, the most famous one is chanting without lyrics by Lamas. For folk music, there were “street songs” performed by wandering poets in the ancient times. These street songs usually include some commentaries about society and politics, like Capella without instrumental accompaniment. In modern times, there appears so many excellent folk singers and popular songs.

Tibetan songs

The characteristic of modern Tibetan songs is related to the special plateau natural scenery, vast blue sky with white clouds and numerous sheep and cows. The famous singers include Chinese singer Han Hong, Rongzhong Erjia, and Tseten Dolma and so on. Their songs introduce the incredible natural beauties and express how proud they feel about their hometown. People outside Tibet can feel Tibet is a sacred and dreaming land from their songs, so they have a lot of audiences. Ache Lhamo (also known as “Lhamo” for short) is a Tibetan Opera and has the meaning of “fairy ladies” in Tibetan. The history of Lhamo is pretty long and it has formed eight classic plays, like Princess Wencheng, Prince Nuosang and Zhuowa Sangmu and so on. Lhamo has played an important role in Tibetan people’s life. It tells the folk stories via performances with music and dance. In festivals, like Shoton festival, some famous troupes will play in Norbulingka and you can encounter folk troupes anywhere and anytime with audiences from miles away gathering around. There are lots of fantastic Tibetan Music resources and you may even find many nice Tibetan Music disks in your Tibet Lhasa tour.