EVALUACIÓN DE LAS CONCENTRACIONES MENSUALES DE LOS

“Why are Tibetan glu folk songs important?” This is the last question that I asked Tibetan singers during my travels and interviews. Each response held one common thread.186

འFོག་!་tན་མོ་Œངས་ན་སེམས་ཧ་ཅང་`ིད་པོ་€ང་།

When Tibetan songs are sung beautifully, my heart is full of joy. - Golog, Banma Tibetan

The number one response is that Tibetan glu folk songs bring joy to the singer and the listener.

It gives me pleasure! - Gonghe Tibetan

Singing nomad songs can remove one’s exhausted misery and weariness. -Seda Tibetan

It can delete sadness. - Ruo’ergai Tibetan

When I am on the mountain, whether my heart is happy or not happy, singing makes me happy. - Aba Tibetan

We sing when we are happy. When we are sad we read the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures. We sing songs for the auspiciousness, blessing and development of life. Sometimes you sing when abusing each other....we never sing songs when we are sad. We recite scriptures when we are sad. - Ruo’ergai Tibetan

There is fresh air on the mountain. There is pollution in the city. When you sing, it makes you feel happy, which is good for your health. If sad (someone has died), then we never sing, especially around others who are sad. But you can go to the

mountains, play a game, sing, and you feel better, it is way to forget your sorrow. There is no need to listen to others music. - Maqin Tibetan

It can make my heart joyful and gives me a merry mood. Farmers do not have time to do many things except work. So they are most happy when they can come together with the community and sing a song with others. Life is very difficult. Songs can bring joy. - Gonghe Tibetan

Very few modern people know dmangs glu. They like to hear it, but they are not familiar with it. In the past there were no other options for entertainment for

nomads....you had to entertain oneself and each other, so people would often sing glu. - Labrang Tibetan

When I sing ‘brog glu it makes me think about my hometown. It makes me happy. - Henan Tibetan

Initially Tibetan nomads were bored while herding animals. Song was a way to entertain oneself. Later this became a custom passed down through the generations. The purpose of ‘brog glu is to show the life of a nomad through glu....the singer introduces his environment. - Henan Tibetan

Nomad songs have a deep relationship to life. Nomad songs are from the highlands. You know this from the melody, text and contents. Nomad songs have a deep relationship with Tibetan society. They can not represent any other environment. Dmangs glu are the instrument through which to show one’s happiness and sorrow. - Ruo’ergai Tibetan

It makes me joyful and gives me pleasure. Comfortable. Blessed. - Dari Tibetan Singing mountain songs makes me happy and comfortable. It makes me feel like I am back in my hometown. When I sing a song from a certain Tibetan location, I feel like I am in that location. - Seda Tibetan

It makes me happy. It’s a form of communication. - Dulan Tibetan

Tibetans go to the mountains and then come together for celebrations. If today is my time to look after the animals than I go to the mountain. I sit alone. The time is very long. So then I decide to make songs. I sing songs and they make me happy. I make

myself happy. Then friends come. They say, let’s make happiness, what shall we do? Then we decide to sing songs. It makes us happy. If we only drink and talk, that’s not enough. The nice voice makes one happy and joyful. Although if the voice is not so good, then we say, oh, maybe you do not want to sing. - Maqin Tibetan

I grew up in nomad area. When I sing I remember the grasslands. When I sing for others, maybe they do not understand the words, but they can feel the place. I help others to understand the nomad Tibetan’s life. My heart is joyful, moved, blessed and happy. When you sing glu songs you remember what it is like to herd animals. During that time you don’t need things. You don’t wish for things. You just watch the yak, ride your horse, sing songs, and are happy. People today are too serious and tired. They are allured by surrounding temptations and face many pressures. The important thing about ‘brog glu is that they are a reminder of the former days of happiness. These songs are where one expresses the joys and sorrows of life. They are like a book of history. - Songpan Tibetan

Tibetan singers throughout Amdo Tibetan areas that know how to sing glu songs also know the great value of this song form. It is a reminder of a way of life in a place that is like another world in comparison to the environment and pressures surrounding those that grow up in urban environments. The Tibetan author Bkra bhos in the Tibetan book titled Tibetan General Folk Custom Culture also speaks of the importance of Tibetan folk songs. Folk songs are important for children because they help children to develop their technical abilities in speech and memorization; cultivate imagination through the use of metaphor and creative expressions; teach living and behavioral habits through the content of songs; expose children to historical places and events in history; and finally show children a way to learn knowledge and gain wisdom. Folk songs are a place where local customs, social systems, religious rituals, and legal systems can be recorded. The singer of folk songs can express feelings and aesthetic standards; teach proverbs; and express pleasure, sorrow, and praise.187

Folk songs are an essential expression of human wisdom...(they) are a rich and multifarious literature book which tell about people’s lives directly or simply act as a clear mirror image of the Tibetans’ lives. From folk songs we can learn about folklore, history, pedagogy, sociology, literature, linguistics, archaeology, intellectual study and religious study. Oral literature ngag thog rtsom rig does not mean “simple” literature. As it has already been written, besides folk songs’ cultural and aesthetic value, folk songs have inherent deep social meaning. No medicine has the same powerful effect on people’s mental health. Socially folk songs can be used as an aid in social reform and preservation.188