Sikh music
Sikh music, also known as Gurbani Sangeet (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਸੰਗੀਤ; meaning music of the speech of wisdom), and as Gurmat Sangeet (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਸੰਗੀਤ; meaning music of the counsel or tenets of the Guru), or even as Shabad Kirtan (ਸ਼ਬਦ ਕੀਰਤਨ), is the classical music style that is practised within Sikhism. It exists in institutional, popular, and folk traditions, forms, and varieties. Three types of Sikh musicians are rababis, ragis, and dhadhis.

History
Musical expression has held a very important place within the Sikh tradition ever since its beginning, with Guru Nanak and his faithful companion, Bhai Mardana. Mardana was a player of the rabab, and would travel alongside Nanak and play the instrument when Nanak spoke his teachings. As a result of this, Mardana is credited as establishing the rababi tradition in Sikhism. When Guru Nanak received a revelation, he would exclaim: "“Mardaneya! Rabab chhed, bani aayee hai" ['Mardana, play the rabab, bani (composition/verse) has occurred to me'].During the time of Guru Nanak, the predominant musical tradition of the era was the dhrupad and dhamar, which ended up influencing this early Sikh musical expression. Later, other musical traditions, such as khayal, tappa, and qawwali, began to influence the Sikhs.In a case of mythology interacting with history, various instruments' origin is credited to Sikh gurus. The taus and dilruba is ultimately of Iranic origins, with the taus designed into a unique peacock shape and introduced into Sikh music by Guru Hargobind and the later dilruba invented by Guru Gobind Singh. The saranda is traced back to Guru Amar Das and Guru Arjun.In recent times, the traditional raga based Sikh musical traditional (including singing the partal with a complex array of taals) has fallen out of favour and been replaced with "semi-classical, light, light, folk or even filmy" styles. However, efforts are being undertaken to revive traditional Sikh raga musical expression. Traditional Sikh instruments have been supplanted by the harmonium, violin, mandolin, and electronic keyboard, and are at risk of extinction.A blowback to the rabab instrument's usage in Sikh circles came in the aftermath of the partition of the Punjab in 1947, due to many Muslim rababi families migrating to their new homes in Pakistan or became pushed to the margins of society due to changing socio-cultural norms. The rabab was gradually replaced by the sarod, another stringed instrument, in Sikh musical circles.The first effort to revive the musical traditions of the Sikhs in their autochenous form, incorporating both the historical instruments, metres, and modes, began in the 1930s–'40s by the Sikh Reht Maryada movement. During the 1970s, the Namdhari leader, Jagjit Singh, tried in his own effort to revive the musical traditions of the Sikhs. Many youth were trained in traditional Gurmat Sangeet at Bhaini Sahib through the Namdhari effort. The next push for the revival of Sikh traditional music was in 1991 during the Adutti Gurmat Sangeet Sammellan at Gurdwara Gur Gian Prakash, or the Jawwadi Taksal, in Ludhiana. The Jawwadi Taksal sought to bring back traditional instruments that the harmonium had supplanted and revive the usage of raga metres and modes. In circa 2007, the SGPC made a similar push to resurrect the traditional Sikh instruments and ragas at its gurdwaras but this was a short-lived attempt and was given up on after three or four lessons due to the difficulty of teaching the musical performers the traditional methods and tools. It has been argued by Amandeep Singh (dilruba player) that the harmonium distracts the congregation whilst the traditional instruments help create a meditative experience.

Musical Fundamentals
Raag
A raga or raag (Punjabi: ਰਾਗ (Gurmukhi) رَاگَ (Shahmukhi)) is a complex structure of musical melody used in Indian classical music. It is a set of rules of how to build a melody which can ignite a certain mood in the reciter and listeners. The Sikh holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib Ji, is composed in and divided into a total of 60 ragas. This is a combination of 31 single raags  and 29 mixed (or mishrit; ਮਿਸ਼ਰਤ) raags (a raag composed by combining two or three raags together). Each raga is a chapter or section in the Guru Granth Sahib starting with Asaa raag, and all the hymns produced in Asaa raag are found in this section ordered chronologically by the Guru or other Bhagat that have written hymns in that raga. All raags in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji are named raag.
Following is the list of all sixty raags (including 39 main raags and 21 mishrit [mixed] raags, including Deccani ones) under which Gurbani is written, in order of appearance with page numbers. The name of raags ending with the word Dakhani (English: Deccani) are not mishrit raags because Dakhani is not a raag per se; it simply means 'in south Indian style'.

Raags are used in Sikh music simply to create a mood, and are not restricted to particular times. A mood can be created by the music of the raag regardless of the time of day. There are a total of 60 raags or melodies within the Guru Granth Sahib. Each melody sets a particular mood for the hymn, adding a deeper dimension to it. The Guru Granth Sahib is thought by many to have just 31 raags or melodies which is correct of single raags. However, combined with mishrit raags, that total is 60.

Ghar
The table below covers the seventeen Ghars found in the primary Sikh scripture (Guru Granth Sahib):

Taal
Taals have a vocalised and therefore recordable form wherein individual beats are expressed as phonetic representations of various strokes played upon the tabla. Various Ghars (literally 'Houses' which can be inferred to be "styles" – basically styles of the same art with cultivated traditional variances) also have their own preferences.

Instruments
Sikhs have historically used a variety of instruments (Gurmukhi: ਸਾਜ Sāja) to play & sing the Gurbani in the specified Raag. The Sikh Gurus specifically promoted the stringed instruments for playing their compositions. Colonization of the Indian Subcontinent by the British Empire caused the use of traditional instruments (ਤੰਤੀ ਸਾਜ; tanti sāja meaning "stringed instruments") to die down in favor of foreign instruments like the harmonium (vaaja; ਵਾਜਾ). There is now a revival among the Sikh community to bring native, Guru-designated instruments back into the sphere of Sikh music to play Gurbani in the specified Raag. Organizations like Raj Academy & Nad Music Institute are among the many online teaching services available. These instruments include:

Traditional
String
Stringed instruments, known as Tat vad, are as follows:

Rabab (ਰਬਾਬ; Rabāba): Gifted by Bebe Nanaki and played by Bhai Mardana on his travels accompanying Guru Nanak. The Sikh rabab was traditionally a local Punjabi variant of the North Indian seni rabab known as the 'Firandia' rabab (Punjabi: ਫਿਰੰਦੀਆ ਰਬਾਬ Phiradī'ā rabāba), however Baldeep Singh, an expert in the Sikh musical tradition, challenges this narrative.
Saranda (ਸਰੰਦਾ; Saradā): created and played by Guru Arjan Dev
Sarangi (ਸਾਰੰਗੀ; Sāragī: meaning "a hundred colours"): promoted by Guru Hargobind to establish the Dhadi Jatha tradition at Akal Takht Sahib. Also associated with Guru Har Rai.
Taus (ਤਾਊਸ; Tā'ūsa: meaning "peacock" in Persian):
Dilruba (ਦਿਲਰੁਬਾ; Dilarubā: meaning "Heart-thief" in Persian): created and played by Guru Gobind Singh when his soldiers asked him for a smaller, more portable version of the Taus
Israj (ਇਸਰਾਜ; Isarāja): smaller version of Dilruba
Surmandal
Sitar (ਸਿਤਾਰ)
Dotara (ਦੁਤਾਰਾ)
Tambura (ਤੰਬੂਰਾ/ਤਾਨਪੁਰਾ; Tabūrā/Tānapurā)

Percussion
Percussion instruments, known as Avanad vad, are:

Jori (ਜੋੜੀ; Jōṛī): creation traditionally attributed to Satta and Balwand in the court of Guru Arjan Sahib by splitting the Mardang into two individual instruments
Pakhawaj (ਪਖਾਵਜ; Pakhāvaja)
The Nagara drum is also required in every Gurdwara according to the Sikh Rehat Maryada.

Wind
Wind instruments, known as Sushir vad, are:

Bansuri (ਬੰਸਰੀ; Basarī meaning "Indian flute")

Idiophones
Idiophone instruments, known as Ghan vad, are also commonly used, especially in folk forms of Sikh music.

Contemporary
Vaaja (ਵਾਜਾ; Vājā: native word for 'harmonium'): introduced by Europeans and massively adopted and popularized by the Sikhs in the 19th and 20th centuries, ultimately supplanting native instruments of the region
Tabla (ਤਬਲਾ; Tabalā): supplanted earlier jori and pakhawaj

See also
References
External links
The 31 Raags of Sri Guru Granth Sahib
raag-melodies