TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF GOA


The traditional Goan musical instruments include dhol, tabla, ghumat, dholak, kasale, shehnai, tasso and tambura. Being part of Portugal for 450 years led to the introduction of the piano, mandolin and violin to Goa. Other instruments such as the drums, guitar and trumpet were also widely used. Schools in this period taught pupils at least one such instrument. It is said that Goans have music in their blood, a statement further strengthened by the role music and dance plays in Goan culture. Popular folk dances such as the Portuguese Corridinho are still part of Catholic weddings.

Konkani song may be classified in four groups; one which draws on the more pristine form in music and verse, as in the fugdi or the dhalo; the second which blends western and native music but retains konkani lyrics as in deknnis; the third which blends native and western music as well as language as in dulpod; and the fourth which has a marked influence of western music and lyrics with borrowed Portuguese words as in mando.

As many as types of konkani song have been classified. These include banvarh, deknni, dhalo, duvalo, fugdi, kunbi song, mando, zagor song. The Christian hymns and Hindu religious songs are also characterized separately with the former related to contemporary western styles.

• Dekni is a song which originated in Baedez and Salcete.
• Dhalo is a wedding song
• Fugdi is a dance song performed on religious occasions, particularly in honour of the deity Ganesha
• Mando is a dance song whose major theme is love, the minor ones being historical narratives, social injustice and political resistance during the Portuguese presence in Goa
• Zagor song is sung in kunbi folk plays depicting their own life.