DHOL - THE PHENOMENON: A PERSONAL VIEW by the Boy Chana

The dhol is rapidly becoming a symbol of musical fashion, taking over other forms of musical attachment – these days even competing with the attraction held by young people regarding DJing. DJing may require considerable money, but to train to be a competent dhol player requires considerable time – and devotion. The fact is that simply picking up a dhol does not make you part of the ‘in crowd’. Simply possessing a dhol won’t mean anything, it’s how you play and respect the dhol as well as how professional you are, that makes you stand out. Many young people, all over the UK, have been given a dhol or dholki, by relatives after returning from India. Sadly the fact is that most of them will never really use their free time to understand the dhol and what it can achieve in a musical frame of mind, it will just be something that they can show off to their friends. The dhol is a very powerful instrument and it is said to have been used to call the villagers around for large meetings when elections were announced or when special announcements had to be made. In the times of the Guru’s there were no microphones, telephones or radios to call the people of the village. Once they heard the sound of the dhol, all in the village would come to see what was the new rule or hear the news. The past five years have seen a marked rise in the formation of groups playing the dhol at festivals and functions, including private parties for Punjabi people. Gurcharan Mall is one of the finest exponents of the dhol. His rise came after playing with the group Apna Sangeet who were and still are, regarded as one of the biggest groups in the U.K to sing at weddings and private parties for the Asian community. The band’s rise reached heady heights in the late eighties when they gained many platinum discs for their albums and won awards all over the world, even Best Personality for Gurcharan Mall, an award he still proudly displays in his home. His fascination with the dhol started when he was young, as many do, but he devoted considerable time to just playing until he found that he could play a beat, or two. However, just to hold a beat was not enough, the dhol takes dedication and above all the right kind of nurturing. For this Gurcharan turned to two teachers at various stages of his career and with them he captured the dhol like a fish takes to water. The dhol along with the dholak have become synonymous as his instruments, as he has become appreciated for his energetic nature of play. In establishing a channel for young people to turn their active energy into a fulfilling hobby and maybe a career, Gurcharan is one of the most qualified people to be teaching the dhol as well as Giddha and Bhangra dance. In the early eighties he set up three Bhangra dance groups after teaching at schools. Gurcharan was also my first point of contact when I was involved with the Birmingham Royal Ballet School in cross cultural dance programming. He has since taken part in numerous events, in particular charity events in the U.K as well as abroad, to further the understanding of music from the Punjab. Comments (1) jimmy said:   i bought my dhol from Gurcharan, hes a top guy December 04, 2007 Write comment Name Comment Add Comment

 

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