Describing the music of Pakistan in all its variety and historical influences would require one to write in an encyclopedic fashion as it is just as expansive as the Music of India, and dare I say that they both share some aspects of music in the past as well as in the present. Much like India, Pakistani music also has its fair share of folk, religious, classical, movie and fusion music as well. Pakistani folk music is very different from its historical counterpart, Classical music in the manner where it focuses on the mundane subject of daily life rather than delve into the aspects of earthly or a higher love. Almost every province in Pakistan such as the Pashto, Balochi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Siraiki, Shina and Kashmiri to name a few add their own distinct flavor to the folk music emanating from the region with the variety not necessarily only because of the language dialects that differ from region to region. Classical music, on the other hand, bears distinct similarity to the classical music from India with the seven notes on the scale further segmented by half notes that make it a total of 12 notes in a scale. Instruments used are the Sitar, Tanpura, Tabla, Harmonium, Sarangi, Santoor, Rubab and the Ektara. Another interesting aspect of the classical music in Pakistan is the ‘gharaana’ which can be classified as schools that taught music passing it down through the lineage while having its own distinct style. Religious music is an important element of Pakistani music with the Qawwali that finds its origin from the Chisti Sufis, a mystic branch under the religion of Islam. This music is sung for the sole purpose of worshipping Allah and leading the audience also into a state of spiritual ecstasy in feeling one with God. Most notable of Qawwali singers is the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who is popular even till today and has collaborated with numerous musicians outside the genre of Sufi music. Here’s a video of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with a number of pop artists like Peter Gabriel, Joan Baez singing a song called ‘In your eyes’: Ghazal music too, has been a part of the Pakistani musical landscape, which expresses poetically the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. Much like its form of classical music, the ghazals of Pakistan are almost identical to the ones that are a part of North Indian culture. With the heavy influence of Western culture in Pakistan for a while now, the forms of rock and pop music have evolved with bands such as Strings and Junoon bringing recognition to their brand of these genres. Here’s a song called ‘Na Jaane Kyun’ which was a part of the soundtrack for Spider-Man 2: Another artist by the name Adnan Sami Khan is incidentally Pakistani has been a part of the Bollywood cinema and Indi-pop as well, using his Western and Eastern influences to obtain the success that he has achieved over the years. So, Pakistan is not necessarily all toil and trouble (you can’t trust the news, you know) and boasts of a proud heritage in music that is as powerful and influential in the world as any other country.