Kirtan and Raag

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji sang his hymns with Bhai Mardana, a Muslim musician who played the rabab. On ang 351 he calls music a jewel that gives rise to nectar. On ang 832 he warns that songs that bind a person to the world are false. Sri Guru Amar Das Ji says on ang 849 that a raag is good when it leads to the holy Word.

The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism therefore describes music in Sikh worship as serving the text. Technical display counts for little. The Sikh Rehat Maryada limits kirtan in the sangat to the hymns of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Works by Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal may serve to elaborate on them. A refrain may be taken only from the hymn itself.[EoS][Src]

Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji arranged the hymns by musical measure. The current 1,430-ang text has 31 raags from Sri Raag on ang 14 to Jaijavanti on ang 1352. The Encyclopaedia says in one passage that Guru Ji arranged the hymns in 30, and counts 31 elsewhere. Jaijavanti holds only hymns of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, which were added later, and that may explain the difference.

A heading may also name a ghar, a term linked to the setting in which a hymn is sung. Each raag has a traditional mood and time. The SGPC's account states that the Ragmala at the end lists 84 measures, while the scripture uses only 31.[EoS][DB][EoS][Web]

The Gurus employed rababis, hereditary musicians who were almost all Muslim. Rai Balvand and Satta served in this way, and the rababis continued to sing at Harmandir Sahib until partition in 1947. Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji encouraged ordinary Sikhs to learn, and is said to have designed the stringed sarinda. Dhadis, who use small drums and a stringed instrument, sing ballads of heroes and not usually hymns.

Today a group of ragis commonly has two singers with harmoniums and a tabla player. Tradition names four daily sessions, or chaukis: Asa ki Var before dawn, Bilaval in the forenoon, Sodar at sunset and Kalyan in the evening. At Harmandir Sahib, kirtan is performed in relays from the early hours until late in the evening.[EoS]