Music of Tamil Nadu

Music of Tamil Nadu has a long tradition and history going back thousands of years. Music is a very important aspect of marriage and temple festival

Tamil people

.

Ancient music

The tradition of Tamil music goes back to the earliest period of

Thiruppugazh

.

Thiruppugazh

- Umbartharu

Pannisai

Bharatha Natyam. Chennai hosts a large cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season

, which includes performances by hundreds of artists.

There are 72 basic scales on the octave, and a rich variety of melodic motion. Both melodic and rhythmic structures are varied and compelling. This is one of the world's oldest and richest musical traditions.[1] Songs have been composed by great artists and handed down through generations of disciples.

The composers belonging to the

UN Security Council

.

Folk music

Folk singing remains popular, especially in rural areas; elements of the traditional styles are sometimes used in film music. There are contemporary enthusiasts, like Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy, who have worked to revive popular interest in the folk music of Tamil Nadu. The urumee mellam also remains as one of the more popular forms of folk music in rural Tamil Nadu and the ensemble is most often played with an urumee and the nadaswaram as the instrument of choice.

The rural hill tribes of Tamil Nadu each have their own folk traditions. The Pulayar, for example, perform melodies called talams which are said to come from the cooing of birds. Each talam is named after a deity, including Kunhanada talam, Mangalanada talam and Karaganachi talam.

Gaana

Gaana is a rap-like "collection of rhythms, beats and sensibilities native to the Dalits of Chennai."^[2]^[3] It evolved over the past two centuries, combining influences from the siddhars (tantric adepts) of ancient Tamilakam, Tamil Sufi saints, and more.^[2] Gaana songs are performed at weddings, stage shows, political rallies, and funerals. Performers sing about a wide range of topics, but the essence of gaana is said to be "angst and melancholy" based in life's struggles.^[2] In the past few decades, the genre has entered the music of the mainstream Tamil film industry and gained popularity.^[2]^[4] Contemporary gaana bands like The Casteless Collective are bringing the genre to new audiences while using it for social activism, especially against caste discrimination.^[2]

Film music

soundtrack composers in the industry include Harris Jayaraj, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Vidyasagar, D. Imman, Deva, S. A. Rajkumar, Sirpy, Bharadwaj, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Anirudh Ravichander, Santhosh Narayanan and Hiphop Tamizha. During the 1960s and 1970s, prominent film composers K. V. Mahadevan, M. S. Viswanathan

and others were popular.

The film music of Tamil Nadu is widely known for its innovation and eclecticism. Scores may showcase blends of Carnatic, Western and other instruments, with a range of melodic and rhythmic patterns. Orchestral themes and minimalist songs often feature. Recent trends show the prevalence of

synthesizers

and other electronic instruments.