Ganga is a type of singing from rural Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is characterized by a lone singer singing one line of lyrics and then others joining in for what can be best described as a wail. It is a very passionate form of singing, which is one of the reasons it has been limited in popularity to small towns. However, several popular Croatian musicians have incorporated some ganga into their work. Only recently has ganga begun to address political issues, frequently adopting overtly nationalistic overtones and incorporating themes from the Croatian Homeland War. Although both men and women regularly perform ganga, it is extremely unusual for them to perform songs together. In the past, it was not unusual for both Catholic and Muslim men to perform ganga together.

Ganga is a dissonant form of singing, using two clashing notes to project the sound over long distances. For example, if one person is singing a "C" note, another person will join either a half-step above or below ("B" or "C#"). Ganga is traditionally sung by sheepherders across stretches of valleys, for long-distance communication with each other.

[edit] External links

• www.ganga.hr (Croatian)