Gurbani says:

"Among all raags, that one is sublime, O Siblings of Destiny, by which God comes to abide in the mind." (Page 1423)

Clearly, only that raag is prescribed by which a feeling of spirituality is aroused.

The Gurus have not prescribed catchy musical tunes that dominate the Shabad. The essence of Keertan lies in effective delivery of the message of Shabad, using raag and taal as a medium. The medium must not dominate the essence.

This is where our modern day keertanias are making the mistake of experimenting beyond the prescribed framework of Guru Granth Sahib and singing shabads in catchy tunes. At the end it's the tune that remains in the mind and not the message.

Music is a double-edged sword. While it can be effectively used for constructive Keertan by operating within the prescribed framework of Guru Granth Sahib, on the other hand it can also be used for arousing destructive feelings by use of catchy tunes (as explained in 'Understanding the Musical Framework of Guru Granth Sahib', any form of music can be classified into a raag).

It is interesting to note that the main object that has caused the current day deterioration in quality of Keertan is the most widely used musical instrument called 'Harmonium'.

Harmonium is not an Indian instrument. Over one hundred years ago, Europeans brought the harmonica to India. The air box of this European instrument was experimented on by Indian musicians to develop a new instrument, the harmonium. This instrument is not best suited for Indian classical music.

According to Indian classical music, the human ear can recognize twenty-two musical notes in an octave. The harmonium only offers twelve discreet keys in an octave. Only string instruments offer the ability to play all twenty-two notes in an octave, by pressing the string at midpoints. It is for this reason that Indian Music was always played with the accompaniment of only string instruments. In fact if one sees the old pictures of Harmandir Sahib, one only finds string instruments being used by the Keertanias.

Although the harmonium offered a compromise to Indian classical music and should never have been used in the Indian system, it gained rapid acceptance because it was very easy to learn and use. Learning a string instrument requires close to four to five years professional training but the harmonium can be learnt in less than two months.

This was a great blessing to aspiring Sikhs who also wanted to be able to do Keertan. While there is no harm in using a harmonium and we must also accept its contribution in making it easier for the masses to learn Keertan and help them start their spiritual journey, it also caused the biggest deterioration to Keertan singing.

The professional Keertanias were now finding it hard to keep pace with rapid generation of a new breed of amateur Keertanias. Materialistic desires lead them to shorten their classical training period by moving to the harmonium. Over generations, these trends lead to complete elimination of string instruments from the Gurudwaras. Lack of dedication that crept in because of the ability to learn Keertan in just two months also lead Keertanias to start doing Keertan in catchy filmy tunes.

Yes, our modern day Keertanias should be given a one hundred percent score for having the ability to experiment with music. But unfortunately, this experimentation with catchy tunes is causing more harm than good to Keertan as they have stopped experimenting within the prescribed framework of Guru Granth Sahib.

An instrument that was supposed to attract Sikhs to Gurbani has become the very reason for the downfall in present day standards of Keertan. It would have been fine for the harmonium to be adopted but not at the expense of compromise on string instruments. The harmonium should have acted as a stepping-stone for budding Sikh Keertanias to quickly acquire musical sense and move forward to experimenting within the prescribed framework of Guru Granth Sahib. Instead they have chosen the short cut.

The reason for citing the above example is to show the long term pitfalls associated with un-checked experimentation. Modern day experimentalists like Dya Singh need to be cautious and introspect. The first question that needs to be answered is: What is attracting the youth to this new style of Keertan? In all probability, it is the music that is attracting them because Keertan is being done in a modern day, highly dramatized form.

I have heard a shabad "Mittar Pyarae Noon…" in which Thunder, Lightning and sounds of wild animals complement the shabad to project the scene of Machiwara jungle. The only reason one would get attracted to such style of Keertan is because of music. Like any MTV Top of the Charts, such music can't last long in the minds of the youth, nor the message remain in their hearts.

On the other hand, maybe the youth is getting attracted to this style of Keertan because English translations are being provided. If that is the case, then the translations can also be provided while doing Keertan in the prescribed framework of Guru Granth Sahib. After all, there are thousands of tunes that can be created from each of the prescribed raags and these tunes need not be highly classical in order to cater to popular tastes of the youth. Even the Gurus did not allow the dominance of classical music over the Shabad.

Our Gurus support forwardness but where should we draw the line? Who knows, next there could be an experiment with Jaap Sahib being sung in the Rap style! Will Jaap Sahib in Rap style lead to feelings of spirituality?

The future of Keertan lies in the hands of present day Keertanias. They need to definitely look at ways of improvising and attracting the youth but not at the cost of further deterioration of Keertan. Our Keertanias should first make the effort to acquire full knowledge of the musical framework of Guru Granth Sahib and then adapt from within it, to attract the youth not on a short term basis but on a long term basis.

I have full faith in the Guru and believe that if our Keertanias make an earnest effort to implement the commands of Guru Granth Sahib in their Keertan singing style, then the pied pipers will not need to walk the streets to attract the youth, they will come to the Gurudwaras by themselves.

In the sequel to this article we will examine another aspect of Keertan singing that has gone unchecked for years and is leading us on the path contrary to that of Gurmat. 'Flow and Pause in Gurbani and Keertan' follows.....

Source : www.sikhe.com