Music of Tibet

[2] It has also been suggested that the landscape – and in particular the resonances of caves, with their natural percussive sounding stones - exerted a formative influence on the overtone singing found in Tibetan Buddhist chant (and plausibly also in prehistoric shamanic invocations), which is produced by artful moulding of the oral cavity.

Vividly illustrated Buddhist thangka paintings depicted the narrative and helped the audience understand what was essentially a teaching.

They provided political and social commentary and satire and are a good example of a bardic tradition, akin to that in medieval Europe or, more recently, the role calypsos played in the West Indies.

Kelsang Metok (格桑梅朵) is a popular singer who combines the vocal traditions of Tibet with elements of Chinese, Indian and Western pop.

In 2006, he starred in Sherwood Hu's Prince of the Himalayas, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, set in ancient Tibet and featuring an all-Tibetan cast.

Amdo stars are among others Sherten (short for Sherab Tendzin)[7][user-generated source] and Yadong, who both have reached outside the borders of China with their music.

Within Tibet itself, among rock groups the bilingual Vajara (Tian Chu)[Chinese script needed] sextants are the oldest and most famous act.

Alan Dawa Dolma is the first and currently only artist of Tibetan ethnicity to be active in both Chinese and Japanese music industry.