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Music of Myanmar
The music of Myanmar (or Burma) (Burmese: ြမန်မာ့ဂတ ီ ) shares many similarities with other
musical styles in the region. Traditional music is melodic, having its own unique form of harmony,
often composed with a 4 2 8
4 (na-yi-se), a 4 (wa-let-se) or a 16 (wa-let-a-myan) time signature. In
Burmese, music segments are combined into patterns, and then into verses, making it a multi-level
hierarchical system. Various levels are manipulated to create a song. Harmony in Mahagita (the
Burmese body of music) is known as twe-lone, which is similar to a chord in western music. For
example, C is combined with F or G.

Musical instruments include the brass se (which is like a triangle), hne (a kind of oboe), the bamboo
wa, as well as the well-known saung, a boat-shaped harp.[1] Traditionally, the instruments are
classified into five groups called pyissin turiya (ပ င်တူရိယာ). These instruments are played on a
musical scale consisting of seven tones, each associated with an animal that is said to be the producer
of the tone. Each tone can be raised, lowered, or played naturally (corresponding to sharp, flat or
natural), resulting in twenty-one possible combinations. The pat waing drum circle, for example,
consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible combination. Similarly, the Kyi
Waing, a twenty-one gong instrument is struck with a knobbed stick placed alongside the pat
waing.[1]

Western music gained popularity in Burma during the 1930s,

despite the government's intervention. During the socialist
era, musicians and artists were subject to censorship by the
Press Scrutiny Board and Central Registration Board, as well
as laws like the State Protection Law. Classical music was also
introduced during the British occupation. Pop music emerged
in the 1970s and was banned by state-run radio stations.
However, many artists circumvented this censorship by
producing albums in private studios and releasing them in
music production shops. Rock music, called stereo in
Burmese, has been a popular form of music since the 1980s. Burmese musicians performing at the
When the country’s regulations on censorship were loosened Shwedagon Pagoda in 1895.
in 2000, many pop groups emerged throughout Myanmar
such as Electronic Machine, Playboy, ELF Myanmar, and the
King.[2] In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished.

Contents
Traditional music
Classical traditions
Mahagita
Folk traditions
Popular music
Early beginnings
1980s-1990s
2000s-present
Musical instruments

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See also
References
External links

Traditional music

Classical traditions

The orthodox Theravada Buddhism rejects music as being decadent, but despite this cultural
backdrop, the Burmese monarchy along with the infusion of different regional music styles, created
several classical traditions of Burmese music. The oldest of such influences may perhaps come from
China, which shares a similar pentatonic musical scale as classical Burmese music.[3] Other influences
include Mon music (called Talaing than or "sounds of the Talaing [Mon]"), particularly in the
Mahāgīta (မဟာဂီတ), the complete body of classical Burmese music.[4][5]

A prevailing one is called Yodaya (ယိုးဒယား), which is essentially a class of Burmese adaptations to
songs accompanied with the saung gauk and come from the Ayutthaya kingdom (modern-day
Thailand) during the reigns of Bayinnaung (1551–1581) and Hsinbyushin (1753–1776), which brought
back a variety of cultural traditions including the Ramayana.[3] The primary indigenous form is
called thachin (သချင်း).

Burmese classical music ensembles can be divided into outdoor and indoor ensembles. The outdoor
musical ensemble is the sidaw (စည်ေတာ်); also called sidawgyi (စည်ေတာ် ကီး), which was an outdoor
ensemble in royal courts used to mark important ceremonial functions like the royal ploughing
ceremony.[4] It consists of a hnegyi ( ဲှ ကီး), a large double reed pipe and sidaw (စည်ေတာ်), a pair of
ceremonial drums, as well as the si (စည်း) and wa (ဝါး), a bell and clapper and the gandama, a
double-headed drum. Today, sidaw music is played at festivals. Other instruments used in classical
music include the saung (a harp) and pattala (a xylophone). The indoor form is the chamber music
ensemble, which basically comprises a female singer accompanied by a traditional ensemble
consisting of the saung (ေစာင်း), pattala (ပတလား), migyaung (မိေက င်း, a zither), palwe (ပေလွ, a
flute) and in the past also included the tayaw (တေယာ, a fiddle) and hnyin (a small mouth organ).[6]

Mahagita

Translated as "great music" in Pali, the Mahāgīta is an

extensive collection of Burmese classical songs called thachin
gyi. The collection is divided into several different types of
songs including the following: kyo, bwe, thachin gan, the
oldest repertoires; pat pyo, royal court music; lwan chin,
songs of longing; lay dway than gat; myin gin, music that
makes horses dance; nat chin, songs used to worship the nat,
Burmese spirits; yodaya, music introduced from Ayutthaya,
Talaing than, music adapted from the Mon people and bole,
songs of sorrow.[5] Classical Burmese singers perform at a
state luncheon reception in Naypyidaw.

Folk traditions

Burmese music includes a variety of folk traditions. A distinct form of which is called the byaw (ေဗ ),
often played at religious festivals and sung to the beat of a long and thin drum, with occasional
interruptions by the beating of a larger drum.[7]
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The traditional folk ensemble, typically used in nat pwe (Burmese theatre, art and festivals) is called
the hsaing waing (ဆိင ု း် ဝိင
ု း် ). It is mainly made up of different gongs and drums, as well as other
instruments, depending on the nature of performance.[8] The ensemble bears many similarities to
other Southeast Asian ensembles, although it incorporates a drum circle not found in similar
ensembles.[4] The ensemble is made up of a series of drums and gongs, including the center pieces,
which are the hne (double reed pipe) and pat waing, set of 21 tuned drums in a circle).[4]

Other instruments in this ensemble include the kyi waing (ေ ကးဝိင ု း် , small bronze gongs in a circular
frame) and maung hsaing (ေမာင်းဆိင ု း် , larger bronze gongs in a rectangular frame), as well as the si
and wa (bell and clapper) and the recent addition of the chauk lone bat (a group of six drums which
have gained currency since the early 20th century).[4] Hsaing waing music, however, is atypical in
Southeast Asian music, characterised by sudden shifts in rhythm and melody as well as change in
texture and timbre.[9]

Popular music

Early beginnings

Western music has gained popularity in Burma since the

1930s. Despite the government's intervention at times,
especially during the socialist era, popular Burmese music
has seen considerable influence from Western music, which
consists of popular Western songs rendered in Burmese and
pop music similar to other Asian pop tunes.[9] Classical music
was also introduced during the British occupation. Cult folk
musician Nick Drake was born in Burma during British rule. Burmese music cassette tapes, Yangon,
Myanmar, in 2006.
Rock music, called stereo in Burmese, has been a popular
form of music since the 1980s, having been introduced in the
1960s.[10] Pop music emerged in the 1970s and was banned by state-run radio stations. However,
many artists circumvented this censorship by producing albums in private studios and releasing them
in music production shops.[11] During the socialist era, musicians and artists were subject to
censorship by the Press Scrutiny Board and Central Registration Board, as well as laws like the State
Protection Law.[11] During this period, the arrival of various bands including the influential Thabawa
Yinthwenge (The Wild Ones), which included lead singer Sai Htee Saing, an ethnic Shan, in 1973
paved the way for ethnic minority musicians to gain visibility in the Burmese music industry.[11] Sai
Kham Leik is a well known composer associated with The Wild Ones. Other contemporary singers
were Khin Maung Toe, Kaiser, Hlwan Moe, Htoo Ein Thin, Soe Lwin Lwin, Saung Oo Hlaing, Lay
Phyu, May Sweet, Maykhala, and Connie.

1980s-1990s

During the 8888 Uprising, restrictions loosened and many artists began writing music with themes of
freedom and democracy. However, after the State Law and Order Restoration Council usurped power
in 1988, the Press Scrutiny Board was reformed to censor specific political and social issues, including
poverty, the sex trade, democracy, and human rights. The Myanmar Music Asiayon (MMA) was
established by the SLORC to further censor Burmese-produced music. Popular musicians including
Zaw Win Htut and Sai Htee Saing have produced propaganda albums written by military officers such
as Mya Than San.[11]

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Hip hop and rap emerged in the late 1990s and is now the prevailing genre of music among Burmese
youth today.[11] Bands like Iron Cross, Emperor and BigBag are popular among older Burmese and
certain groups of youth. There are hip-hop enthusiasts all over Burma with Burmese hip-hop artists
such as Ye Lay, Sai Sai Kham Hlaing, and J-me. There are also many underground rock and metal
bands such as All Else I Fail, Last Day of Beethoven, Temper Level VIII, Tha Ta Lin Chate, Idiots,
Offkeys, We Are the Waste, The Last Secret (https://www.joox.com/mm/artist/omiibfQ+1G6FXrcFO
Jr4qQ==), etc. but mostly producing nu-metal and metalcore. As for heavy metal, the scene is
growing steadily but remains less popular compared to mainstream music. Despite very few metal
bands in Burma, the metal band aficionado society is united and supportive of raw black metal, thrash
metal, and death metal. Burmese cover songs (particularly from Asia) represented early pop music in
the country as artists recorded and performed "copy tunes," which were reproductions of
international pop songs performed in Burmese. Singers such as Min Min Latt paved the way for other
artists such as Myanmar’s version of Lady Gaga, Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein,[12] R Zarni and Sai Sai Kham
Leng.

2000s-present

When the country’s regulations on censorship were loosened in 2000, new pop groups emerged
across Myanmar who were able to compose, record and perform original Burmese music. Many pop
groups emerged throughout Myanmar such as Electronic Machine, Playboy, ELF Myanmar and the
King.[2] In August 2012, state censorship on music was officially abolished. The only government
censorship that remains on music is video censorship. Everyone can, in essence, release whatever they
want. This has led many on the newly re-grouped Myanmar Music Association to grapple with the
idea of forming a rating system to deal with some 'rude words' in music that may not be appropriate
for all ages.

After decades underground, a small but enduring punk rock and heavy metal music scene has been
increasingly visible in Burma.[13] Modelling many 1970s and '80s classic Western punk bands and
Modern Metal. Burmese punk band metal band shows a musical defiance that has not been seen
before in Burma.[13] In the German made 2012 documentary film "Yangon Calling" over a period of
six weeks film-makers Alexander Dluzak and Carsten Piefke secretly filmed, as they documented the
Burmese punks life, documenting everything from meeting friends and family, visiting rehearsals and
filming secret concerts.[14]

Websites that have started up in recent years such as Myanmar Xbands have given attention to the
Burmese punk scene along with other alternative Burmese music. The site has developed into a hub
for artists to display their music to a Burmese and international audience for free download. Most of
the Talented Bands Like Last Day of Beethoven, Darkest Tears from My Heart, Fever 109, We Are the
Waste are well known by others because of this website. While other Burmese punk bands like pop
punk band Side Affect, turned to raising funds on IndieGoGo, to release their first album. The band
just managed to raise enough funds to release their album in May 2012, shortly before their efforts fell
short to international sanctions.[15] However, other popular Burmese punk bands such as No Uturn or
Rebel Riot has turned to self-release, releasing their demo’s on popular download sites such as
MySpace and Reverb Nation.

Musical instruments
Musical instruments include the brass se (which is like a triangle), hne (a kind of oboe) and bamboo
wa, as well as the well-known saung, a boat-shaped harp.[1] Traditionally, instruments are classified
into five classes, called pyissin turiya (ပ င်တူရိယာ):

Kyei (ေ ကး) - brass instruments

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Thayyei (သားေရ) - leather-covered drums

Kyo ( ကိ း) - string instruments

Lei (ေလ) - wind instruments

Letkhout (လက်ခုပ်) - percussion instruments

These instruments are played in a musical scale Two female musicians play the saung at a
performance in Mandalay.
consisting of seven tones, each associated with an
animal that is said to be the producer of the tone. Each
tone can be played raised, lowered or natural
(corresponding to sharp, flat or natural), resulting a possible twenty-one combinations. The pat waing
drum circle, for example, consists of twenty-one drums, one tuned to each tone in each possible
combination, and the saing saya (maestro) sits in the middle using various parts of his hands to
strike the drums to produce a melody. The Kyi Waing is the gong circle strung up in the same fashion
and the gongs are struck with a knobbed stick and in accompaniment to the pat waing.[1]

Tone name Burmese name Animal Approx. tone

Usabha (ဥသဘ) Pyidawpyan (ြပည်ေတာ် ြပန်) bull G

Dhevata (ေဓဝတ) Chauk thwe nyunt (ေြခာက်သွယ် ွန)် ့ horse D

Chajja (ဆဇျ ) Duraka (ဒုရက) peacock A

Gandhara (ဂနါရ ) Myin saing (ြမင်ဆိုင်း) goat E

Majjhima (မဇျ ိမ ) Pale (ပုလဲ) crane B

Panzama (ပဉမ) Aukpyan (ေအာက်ြပန)် ့ cuckoo F

Nisada (နိသာဒ) Hnyin lone ( င်းလံးု ) elephant C

The Burmese harp is of special significance. It dates back to the

9th century, though it has changed quite a bit since then,
expanding, for example, from three strings to sixteen. During the
Konbaung period (1752–1885), courtly musicians included Queen
Ma Mya Galay, Princess Hlaing Hteikhaung Tin, Minister
Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa, and King Nat Shin Naung of Taungoo.

Beginning just before World War II, the piano was adapted to the
performance of Burmese traditional music, modelling its
technique after that of the pattala and saung. The best known
performer of Burmese piano was Gita Lulin Maung Ko Ko, known Musical instruments of 19th century
as U Ko Ko (1928–2007).[1] (http://www.umbc.edu/eol/garfias/ Burma, depicted in a watercolour
burma1.html) painting from the period

See also
Burmese dance
Culture of Burma

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Myanmar National Symphony Orchestra

References
1. Shway Yoe (Sir James George Scott) 1882. The Burman – His Life and Notions. New York: The
Norton Library 1963. pp. 317–319.
2. Zin, Min (September 2002). "Burmese Pop Music: Identity in Transition" (http://www2.irrawaddy.or
g/article.php?art_id=2710). The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
3. Zaw, Zaw (1940). "Burmese Music (A Preliminary Enquiry)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London. 10 (3): 717–754. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0008873X (http
s://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0041977X0008873X). JSTOR 608839 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/6088
39).
4. Garifas, Robert (1985). "The Development of the Modern Burmese Hsaing Ensemble". Asian
Music. 16 (1): 1–28. doi:10.2307/834011 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F834011). JSTOR 834011 (htt
ps://www.jstor.org/stable/834011).
5. "The Maha Gita" (http://www.umbc.edu/eol/garfias/mahagita.html). University of Maryland,
Baltimore County. 30 October 1995. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
6. "The Saung Gauk" (http://www.umbc.edu/eol/garfias/saung.html). University of Maryland,
Baltimore County. 5 November 1995. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
7. Tallantyre, Renee (December 1939). "The Rose Apple Tree". Folklore. Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.
50 (4): 384. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1939.9718201 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0015587X.1939.97
18201). JSTOR 1257406 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1257406). "So he composed music that is
called the Byaw, played usually at religious festivals. The Byaw has the continuous rhythm of the
single beat of a small, long drum, representing the tinkling of the water as the fruits of the
Zabuthabye tree fell into it. The beat is punctuated by sudden thumpings onto a huge, thick drum,
to represent the spasmodic gulps of the giant ananda."
8. "music" (https://www.slideshare.net/ReinaLovesPinkForever0703/myanmar-music).
9. Miller, Terry E.; Sean Williams (2008). The Garland handbook of Southeast Asian music.
Routledge. p. 17. ISBN 0-415-96075-4.
10. Lockard, Craig A. (1998). Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia (https://arch
ive.org/details/danceoflifepopul00lock_0). University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1918-7.
11. Korpe, Marie (2004). Shoot the singer!: music censorship today. Zed Books. ISBN 1-84277-505-7.
12. Kelly Macnamara (28 March 2012). "Burma's pop stars brace for revolution" (http://www.smh.com.
au/entertainment/music/burmas-pop-stars-brace-for-revolution-20120327-1vw3s.html). The
Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
13. Dukovic, Pari (25 March 2013). "Burma Wave" (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photoboot
h/2013/03/burma-wave-pari-dukovics-photographs-of-the-punk-culture-in-southeast-asia.html).
The New Yorker. Condé Nast: 70–71. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
14. "Yangon Calling" (https://www.facebook.com/yangoncalling/info). CRI English and German. 2012.
Retrieved 23 August 2012.
15. "Myanmar Band "Side Effect" release debut album" (http://www.easternodyssey.com/sounds-from
-the-underground/item/497-myanmarese-band-side-effect-release-debut-album). CRI English.
2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.

External links
WAING - a research network on music and sound of Myanmar, Myanmar music news, music
related bibliography (http://waing.org/)
Hpeppoosin (Leaf Green) by Soe Sanda Tun and Saing Waing video (https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=1SO-ZUcDdqc)
Pat Waing video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8clE4rVlTPA)
The traditional music and instruments of Myanmar/Burma (http://www.istov.de/htmls/myanmar/my
anmar_start.html)
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Listen Myanmar/Burma Music at LapePyar.com (http://www.lapepyar.com)

Shwenadi – Myanmar Music (http://www.shwenadi.com/myanmar-music.html)
Myanmar Traditional Music Instruments (https://web.archive.org/web/20071224134542/http://ww
w.myanmar-image.com/myanmar/musical/) – includes pictures, and sample songs
Burmese Music – Classical and Modern (http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Burmese/Culture/Entertainme
nt/entertainment.htm)
Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble – Traditional Mon Music (http://www.museumfire.com/burma)
Myanmar Music (http://www.myanmar-music.com)
Myanmar Traditional Musical Instruments (https://web.archive.org/web/20011125011858/http://ww
w.yangonow.com/eng/culture/traditional_music/instrument.html)
Heavy-metal band Iron Cross (https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/07/rock_the_junt
a.html),
Myanmar Music Songs Traditional Music MP3 (http://music.multicanvas.net/-)
Myanmar alternative music – Burmese punk, rock, metal and indie MP3's (https://web.archive.org/
web/20040203231357/http://www.myanmar-xbands.com/)

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