Looking at the popularity of pop and playback singers, many youngsters, and even elderly people, feel tempted to sing and acquire recognition. If a person is gifted with a good voice and wants to sing, he needs to have the talent to catch tunes and understand rhythm patterns. To excel in this field, one has to learn the intricacies of this particular art from a music tutor (Ustad) of good stature. In the noticeable absence of music institutes in the country, it is difficult to find such tutors. In the bigger cities like Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, one may be able to find someone to guide. Profiles of the following tutors may throw some light on the learning of classical music in Pakistan.
Ustad Ghulam Shabbir Khan: He has his music academy called Pakistan Music Centre located behind Metropole cinema on Abbot Road, Lahore. Everyday, the Ustad gives lessons in singing to his Shagirds in the evening, except Sundays. Himself a classical singer, many years ago he joined the music circle of Pakistan, along with his late younger brother, Ustad Ghulam Jafer Khan, who died in November, 1998. The duo regularly performed on radio and television and also at classical music functions, such as the annual event of all Pakistan Music Conference in Lahore. While his late brother would sing while playing the tanpura, Ustad Ghulam Shabbir Khan would sing with the surmandal. The great practitioners of classical music would always recommend singing along with string instruments primarily for two reasons. First, it enhances the impact of a raga being sung; secondly, the singer’s voice will dominate the accompanying instruments and it will be easier to judge the quality of his performance.
The brothers started learning classical singing from Ustad Niaz Hussain Shami in 1958. The late Ustad belonged to the Sham Churasi Gharana of music and was the maternal uncle of the famous Ustad Nazakat Ali and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan. This was followed by taking lessons from Ustad Abdul Lateef Khan Patiala Walay, and Ustad Ghulam Hussain Khan of Mianwali. Although Ustad Ghulam Shabbir Khan adopted music as a profession, he remained affiliated with the PECO till he retired to earning a living. His father did odd jobs, but was also an amateur singer. The Ustad is an outstanding artist of Radio Pakistan and is a recipient of the Excellence Award form the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation in 2001.
Ustad Ghulam Shabbir Khan is paid a monthly stipend of Rs1,500 by the ministry of sports and culture, but he is bitter about the government’s apathy towards the plight of the artists who have devoted their whole life to promoting this genre of art. His calibre can be judged from the fact that one of his Shagirds, Dr Amjad Parvez, received the government’s Pride of Performance Award in Arts (music) in 2000. He is a renowned radio and television singer and has rendered more than 50 ragas on the radio. The famous Indian music director, Khayam, composed music for one of his ghazal albums titled Tera Intezar. Besides being a high class singer, Dr Amjad is an engineer by profession and is currently the managing director of Nespak. It is creditable that despite his busy schedule he manages to take out time for his hobby.
Ustad Ghulam Shabbir Khan’s other prominent Shagirds, who also perform on radio and television, include Ustad Mohammad Akhtar Khan, Muddassir Hussain Malik, Nazir Ahmad Faridi and Faiz Ali Faizi, a qawwal. The Ustad has around 10 Shagirds, who learn from him both how to sing ghazals and how to be a worthwhile classical singer. Ustad Ghulam Shabbir Khan is 70 years of age. While singing, he is usually accompanied on the tabla by his 60-year-old brother Ghulam Sabir Hussain Khan. He is still energetic and keen to impart his knowledge to whosoever wishes to learn the art.
Buland Iqbal, Karachi: A scion of the Delhi Gharana of musicians, Buland Iqbal is the son of the late Ustad Bundu Khan, the famous sarangi player of the subcontinent and younger brother of late Umrao Bundu Khan, a sarangi player and classical singer. Their father was also a classical singer, a writer, and a poet. Buland Iqbal inherited the talent from both his parents, as the renowned Ustad Chand Khan was his maternal uncle, who was also his Ustad in classical singing. Ustad Chand Khan is the author of two authentic and popular books on music entitled, Inteshaf-i-Mauseeqi and Mauseeqi Hazrat Amir Khusro. The Ustad was around 100 years old when he died in 1980 in Delhi.
Belonging to such an illustrious family, Buland Iqbal has full command over numerous ragas, which he sings with a melodious vice. However, his passion for playing the sarangi remains supreme. He visited abroad twice to play the instrument with cultural troupes. He is also good at playing other string instruments.
Endowed with the gift of creativity, Buland Iqbal, along with Lal Muhammad, started composing music for Pakistani films in the early ‘60s. They formed a successful pair and together composed music for around 35 films, most of which were successes. A number of popular songs sung by Mehdi Hassan and Ahmad Rushdi were composed by the duo. Buland Iqbal, who is now 74 years of age, has mostly confined himself to teaching classical music and ghazal singing. He goes to his students’ houses on every Saturday and Sunday to impart lessons in singing. Those who follow his instructions closely and practice for at lest an hour, three or four times a week, are able to give good performances.
Mukhtar Ahmad, Karachi: Mukhtar Ahmad, who is 55 years of age, belongs to the Kairana Gharana and has learnt classical singing from his uncle, Ustad Hussain Khan. The famous Ustad late Abdul Karim Khana and Abdul Waheed Khan as well as Roshan Ara Begum also belong to this gharana. The father of 10 children, Mukhtar Ahmad teaches singing to earn a living. Currently, he has around 10 students, most of whom live in Defence. Mukhtar’s father, Saleem Khan, who has also been a classical singer, lived in Bombay prior to partition. He was known to the Raj Kapoor family and helped the famous film composers Shankar and Jaikishen learn music. Mukhtar Ahmad has taught classical music to the known pop singers Haroon, Fakhir, Junaid Jamshed, Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood.
Having learnt all this, it can be safely concluded that excellence in singing can never be achieved unless one learns it from a proper Ustad.
Looking at the popularity of pop and playback singers, many youngsters, and even elderly people, feel tempted to sing and acquire recognition. If a person is gifted with a good voice and wants to sing, he needs to have the talent to catch tunes and understand rhythm patterns. To excel in this field, one has to learn the intricacies of this particular art from a music tutor (Ustad) of good stature. In the noticeable absence of music institutes in the country, it is difficult to find such tutors. In the bigger cities like Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, one may be able to find someone to guide. Profiles of the following tutors may throw some light on the learning of classical music in Pakistan.
