Beneath the pop and the qawwali sits the deep foundation of it all: Hindustani classical music, carried in Pakistan by family lineages — the gharanas — across generations of ustads. It can look forbidding. It isn't. Here is where to start.
The great vocalists
Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and his brother Nazakat Ali Khan — the Ali Brothers of the Sham Chaurasia gharana — brought khayal to a wide audience. Ustad Amanat Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana made classical singing intimate and lyrical (Insha Ji Utho). And Roshan Ara Begum, the Malika-e-Mausiqi — Queen of Music — remains one of the subcontinent's supreme voices.
The living masters
Ustad Naseeruddin Saami, a master of microtonal khayal, is a guardian of a system of notes most singers no longer use. Ustad Hamid Ali Khan and Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan carry the Patiala tradition forward.
From the classical root grows everything else — the qawwali, the ghazal, the film song. Browse more in the artist directory.