Tappa: The Forgotten Melody of Punjab’s Camel Riders
“Pind deyaan yaadgaaran naal, tappa da sangeet rang laa da hai” – This famous Punjabi saying embodies the soul of the region’s folk music. It is through songs like Tappa that the rich cultural heritage of Punjab is remembered, cherished, and kept alive.
“It often takes just one reminder, a handful of grains in folk singers’ awareness that has brought the colour of music to life.” Some of these songs include Tappa and through such tunes cultural values are then celebrated as well as embraced. However, Tappa is not any folk music – it is rhythmic, soulful music which was once a part of the corners of Punjab heard through the beat of camel’s feet and felt through the soul of itinerant musicians. Sadly, this beautiful art form is now close to disappearing from the face of the earth. In this article, you will find out what exactly is Tappa, its importance, its relation to Punjab’s camel riding culture and attempts being made to popularize this gone with the wind form of Punjabi music.
Tappa is a unique and a fast tempo folk music form of Punjab. Tappa has also a strong rhythmic structure and contains many vocal ornamentations, bases on complicated system of tala and it possesses a strict tempo and melody structures. It is quite different from other genres of Punjabi Folk music, Tappa employs short bursts of music phrases, the vocal line swoops up and down and in its rhythm it is quite vibrant, not dissimilar to hypnotic. Many of Tappa’s songs are about love and separation, although there is a raw emotional quality about the songs that seems to make an impact on the listener. The compound song structure in Tappa is also worth a discussion. It consist on two major divisions – “the Sthayi” {the chorus) and” the Antara” {the verse). The refrain is used after each verse, and thus the song’s rhythm is retained all through. They also are rather fast and contain much additional ornamentation; this makes them difficult and demanding for the singer.
Origin of Tappa
The Matapatti originated from the camel riders community of Punjab. It is said that the term Tappa refer to the Persian word Tappeh, meaning a short burst or a sudden outburst. This perfectly characterizes the style of the music — brief and rather swift, featuring powerful and burst of notes. One of its uses based on one school of thought is that camel riders developed Tappa to help them overcome boredom whenever they were on long trips across the dry plains of Punjab. These women singing songs while riding camels was an old tradition in the region when the mode of transport was camel for hundreds of years where people sat on camels and moved rhythmically and to this pattern men sang these songs.
In due course, the compositions made by the camel riders underwent a process of folklorisation and transformation into the body of folklore, which was incorporated into the Punjabi folk music, in particular the Tappa style. These camel riders used to sing in high pitched manner to keep up with the speed of these animal and also to try make them cheerful a long journey is very tiresome. Indeed, the specific rhythm of Tappa is indicative of this association with travel – a dance which one would likely perform to on an arduous journey – its musical structure vibrant and quick in response to the tedium and exhaustion of the trip.
Tappa’s Cultural Significance:-
Tappa is what is more than music; it is the mirror of culture of Punjab. The proposed genre represents the cultural and spiritual characteristics of this territory, the reflection of feelings that are the subject of many Punjabi legends – love, longing, and separation. The words are in Punjabi as well as Sufi, expressing passion ; thus the number is about a relationship, the torment of a lover that is separated from the loved one or the pleasure of being with the loved one.
There is a great significance in the traditions of the Tappa in the lives of the people from the Punjab regions. Traditionally it was performed during fests, weddings and religious processes, people unifying for joy or meditation. Gradually, Tappa evolved into an embodiment of Punjabi nation, representing both the utilitarian outlook of country-bred Punjab’s agricultural way of life and the subjective experience of sentimentality of its inhabitants. Despite the fact that a majority of Punjabi folk songs are about the land and the struggle there in, Tappa is more romantic.
The significance of the genre can also be judged with the help of the Sufi impact on Punjabi traditions. Most of the Tappa songs have Sufi orientation, which focuses on love a for the God, it is very much related to the Qawwali tradition. Therefore, Tappa embodies cultural history of the people and their religious sentiment as well.
Why is Tappa Known as a Camel Rider’s Song?
Tappa is often called the ‘camel riders’ song because it originated with the people of Punjab who travelled around on camels. That culture was the life they led earlier when camels were the only means of transport when people of Punjab used to cross vast tracts of Thar Deserts. These travelers would spend hours at a time out in the sun, moving from one location to another, and all this time they would not necessarily be interacting with other people. The rhythmic movements of the camel repeatedly became the propitious background to Tappa’s fast and regular tempo. The songs served to match the camel riders’ songs, which in return added melody to the thumping of camel feet in rhythms on the ground.
Thus Tappa not only tried to imitate the tempo of the camel movement but also the tones of the camel riders. Many of the songs were what might best be described as up-tempo, pacing with the movement of the animals and keeping the riders awake and aware of the journey. Why Has Tappa Vanished?
Incidentally Tappa though originated from Punjab and holds a close relationship with Punjab culture, has almost died a natural death in Punjabi songs. The following are the reasons that has made the number of students taking the course to reduce: First, there could be indicators towards the influence of contemporary and marketable music forms for which new forms of music such as Bhangra, popular music/Bollywood music /have supplanted traditional lighter forms such as Tappa. The unsuccessful efforts in the advancement of the new generation taste and inclination, Urbanization in Punjab and the influence of western culture especially on youth has led to this trend.
Another factor is the disintegration of camel travel in this area. As much as the camel riders used to be so important in the culture of the society today the process of civilization and advancement in transport systems has made it hard for the camel riders to find their way into the society. The change in life style from widespread nomadic to sedentary has led to the decline in the cultural significance of Tappa’s pieces.
Also, Tappa has a technicality which is not easy for the new generation to learn and sing it, the requirement of high standard of voice department adds to it. In the contemporary society, there are few Tappa artists, and few venues for the Tappa songs to be staged.
Efforts to Revive Tappa
Because of the realization that Tappa has over the years faded away, some attempts have however been made to try and revive this cultural music. Ethnic folk music festivals of Punjab and other regions of India are gradually shifting towards defining and promoting such forms as Tappa. The PMC has received support from organizations such as Punjab Arts Council and the several folk music academies, which are striving to revive this art form through training sessions, workshops and historical studies of folk music and related methodology.
These include the Tappa music festivals present and involve music performers and fans from India and other parts of the world. Besides that, these festivals also showcase Tappa and provide an atmosphere for other artists within this circle to perform, engage and innovate the style.
Further, present day Punjabi singers who continue to use tappa are Gurdas Maan and Surjit Bindrakhia and it has been found that tappa elements have brought together modern Punjabi music with traditional Punjabi poetry with the blend of modern functions. The artists noted above for their unique blend of the traditional and contemporary tunes, equally have assisted in the spreading of the word on Tappa and its significance to Punjabi people. Of all the Trailblazers and Inventors of Tappa
Even though the credit for inventing Tappa cannot be given to a single person or community people have invented Tappa over the time and added more to this dance form. Bulleh shah sintonèseさせ for tappa songs though many of the Tappa lyrics originate from this Sufi Poet from Punjab. Tappa was put into the limelight during the mid twentieth century by legendary singers like Noor Jehan and Mehdi Hassan through audios like radio and television.
Such musicians like Ustad Puran Shahkoti, the pioneers of Tappa were largely responsible for giving the Tappa music its skeletal pattern. These artists were the real pioneers as they not only sang but also taught the younger generation of artists and singers and instrumentalists for Tappa.
How is Tappa Sung?
Tappa is a challenging dance that demands load and fast voice and movement coordination. The singer must have the facility to move between a high and low pitch quickly, sometimes joined by a brief lapse of piano accompaniment. It involves a lot of voice expressiveness, control over breath, and speed and tempo of voice used. Speaking of voice line, the latter is rather short and mimics the patterns connected to camels’ speed. The typical musical backup for Tappa may exploit the tabla, dholak, sarangi, and harmonium but modern versions include guitars and synthesizers. The music is normally in fast beats so as to cover up for the high rhythm that the voices pay to.
Tappa is the unique but now in decline utensil originated in the Punjab region. A popular Tappa, originally sung by camel riders while on lonely rides, Tappa is fun, fast and fueled with passionate lyrics that capture the essence of Punjab folk songs. Modernization played a large role in lessening its use in music today but attempts to continue and spread Tappa are gradually emerging, people may once again feel the efficacy of Tappa and understand how beautiful it is.They may be sung at folk music festivals, passed on to the new generations by contemporary Punjabi performers – Tappa will always have its fans among the representatives of the older generation who prefer more traditional music. Tappa brings the imaqks of traditions into a world that constantly evolves so that the people can still feel the heartbeats, hidden in the tunes.
