বাউল গানের সুরবিচার | An Investigation of Baul Song Melodies

Abstract

This article examines the roots of Bangla Baul songs, specifically their distinct melodies and their history of compositions on a notated scale. Alongside is a discussion of the singers of Baul music. In actuality, the collecting of Baul songs, editing, compilation and analysis work as present in past research did not accurately make distinctions between Baulmusical melodic scales, aesthetics, singers and notation such research has not yet been satisfactorily done. The avenue this article takes with regard to Baul song melodies is quite possibly the first to arranged in such a way. Specifically, this article describes the melodies of the ancient Buddhist spiritual songs (sadhan-sangeet) known as the Charyageete, specifically the songs' various scales and intended modes of singing. Beyond that, alongside there are descriptions of Vaishnava spiritual songs and the songs of Nath culture, specifically the important ways the music and the instruments are harnessed in a context of striving to realize the center of the human body. Essentially, these Bangla-language oral traditions have been carried on by Baul songs, and this article describes this as-yet unwritten history. Finally, the overall importance of each song's teaching and melody in the context of Baul sadhana is proposed and analyzed, in such a way as to highlight the immense importance of changes introduced by Baul song melodies and their singers. This article clarifies the two primary modes that Baul melodies and their singers can be proven to be connected with these changes in oral tradition, namely: 1) the musical instruments, and 2) the colloquial styles of pronunciation.