Barriers to Devotional Music

Understanding why Learning Qawwali, Bhajan or Kirtan is Difficult

When I was 4, I was visiting my aunt in Ferozpur and my cousin took me to a satsang. The event was during the day, and the room was dimly lit. Being a small town, the room was packed to my surprise. In that room I was moved by the music, and the lyrics, and the devotion from all that were attending. I came back to my room, and I had a new interest in the harmonium. That day is my first memory of being encapsulated by spiritual music. Getting access to learn this music has been a lifelong journey. Truth be told, teachers or institutions aren't easily accessible for this stuff.

Classical Music is Not Everything

I was made to understand that the path to this music was through the gates of Hindustani classical music. After 15 years of performing this music, I disagree. While I've gotten a greater understanding of music from Hindustani classical teachers, my instruction on poetry and spirituality was not happening during those lessons. Our obsession with Indian classical music inappropriately forces classical gurus in an awkward position of being gatekeepers of genres they don't sing, and some don't even like. This is a crippling barrier. 

Poetry and Themes are Essential to Understand

To perform spiritual music, you need to understand the poetry, context of the themes, as well as the music. That's true for Qawwali or Shabad Kirtan or Bhajans. I was seeking all of these things, not just the music. One must find a teacher that knows Urdu, Punjabi and Persian. But that's not all, the instruction must also help the student understand the themes they are carrying forward. Finding an apt poetry teacher is another barrier.

Gharanas in Qawwali, Yes They Sure Are

From my research, there are many different ways (styles) qawwali is performed. The Sabri Brothers, Wadali Brothers, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Aziz Mian, Chand Nizami Bandhu are all great examples of qawwali. Each of them is unique; there are distinct lineages. Yet, very little is known about the lineages of these styles. The other barrier is the lack of transparency in the culture surrounding qawwali. Older educators like Dr. Regula Qureshi and present college professors like Dr. Ali Asani and Dr. Akbar Hyder are doing amazing work in this space.

Commercial Companies Don’t Help

There are huge labels and there is so much content being released everyday. But for devotional music, they don't help at all. Whether it's T-series, Universal, Sony,  Saregama (HMV), Tips or Virgin Records, they expect to put in the least amount of work for the biggest return. Gone are the days where these companies invest in nurturing audiences and supporting the creation of new work. I personally got a taste of this in 2019 when speaking to a major network in Punjab. This corporation owns a TV channel and are involved in music labels. When I asked them to partner up and curate qawwali and bhajans, their response was "let's repackage our old releases." They didn't want new songs, or new compositions. But it didn't stop there. They wanted me to pay them a few thousand dollars each week. As they saw it, the corporation was doing me a favor for them to try this. They had no interest in new work. The lack of marketing resources spent here is another barrier.

Learning this genre is undoubtedly more complex. Despite these hurdles, I know many of us find our way to Qawwali, Kirtan and Bhajans. How can we remove some of these hurdles as a community?