Music Of India

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Music Of India

• The Hindustani and Karnatic Musical Traditions

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Indian Classical Music

• The music of India can be divided into two unique
  traditions, the Karnatic (folk) and the
  Hindustani Vedic (religious). The Hindustani
  tradition which dominates the northern half of
  the Indian subcontinent largely developed in the
  courts of the major centers for Indian music such
  as Delhi, Lucknow, Benares, Calcutta, Varanasi
  and Farrukhabad. This tradition has been heavily
  influenced by Aryan peoples from the middle east
  and neighboring countries such as Pakistan and
  Afghanistan.

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Indian Classical Music (cont.)

• The Karnatic tradition with its main musical
  center located in Chennai (previously named
  Madras) can be found in the southern part of the
  country. It is considered by many to be a more
  pure form of Indian music with less influence
  from the migrating peoples the north, however it
  has integrated many European musical concepts and
  instruments into its practice largely due to the
  British occupation of India for over 100 years.

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Musical Elements

• These two distinct traditions do however share
  some similarities when comparing basic musical
  elements
  
• Medium Both traditions commonly use small
  ensembles consisting of one or two melodic
  instruments and one or two percussion
  instruments.

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• Rhythm
• Both traditions share one of the most complex
  rhythmic systems in the world. The Indian word
  for rhythm is TALA.
  
• Melody
• Compositions are based on 72 types of scales,
  many of them similar. The Indian word for
  scale/melody is RAGA. The literal translation of
  the word Raga is "that which colors the mind."
  The raga is much more than a scaleit is both a
  technical collection of notes and can depict
  aesthetic qualities such as emotions, colors,
  deities, seasons, time of day, festival events,
  and can also convey magical properties.

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• Harmony
• Chord structure in the Western sense does not
  exist.
  
• The drone sound (audio) supplied by the string
  instrument called the tambura or the electronic
  equivalent called a sruti box provide background
  harmony.
• Texture
• The music is organized into 3 layers or
  functions
  
• A. Melodic soloist/accompaniment
• B. Drum accompaniment
• C. Drone-static accompaniment

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Selected Instruments Their Classifications

• North/Hindustani
• Percussion - Rhythmic layer
• tabla - pair of drums
• Strings - Melodic layer
• sitar (guitar-type)
• sarod (guitar-type)

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• Winds- Melodic Layer
• bansuri (bamboo flute)
• shennai (oboe-like)

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South/Karnatic

• Percussion - Rhythmic layer
• mridangam conical double headed
  drum
  
• Strings - Melodic layer vina
  (guitar-type)
  
• violin (western violin)

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• Karnatic Inst. (cont.)
• Winds- Melodic Layer
• nagasvaram (long oboe-like inst.)
• Saxophone (western sax)
• Vocal - Melodic Layer

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Three Important Musical Elements

• The Drone
• Since Indian music is modal music, based on the
  relations between a permanent fixed sound, the
  tonic, and successive notes, it is the
  independent relationship that each note has with
  the tonic that determines the meaning of the
  particular note. The tonic, therefore, needs to
  be repeated and constantly heard, as is done in a
  vocal or instrumental recital, where the tamboura
  provides the tonic note in the background. Thus,
  the sounding of a constant melodic pitch that
  provides the basis for the notes, the melody and
  the melodic improvisations, is important in
  Indian music. It provides for tonality by
  providing a basis for comparison and contrast for
  the different notes in the piece. Although the
  ear unconsciously analyzes the notes being sung
  or played into its constituent partials, even
  without accompaniment, it is the sustained
  accompaniment by the tonic that makes this
  analysis a conscious exercise and allows the
  singer to check the voice to avoid dissonance.

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• Raga
• Raga refers to a scale or collection of notes
  and is the discernable melodic form underlying
  all classical Indian music. These raga , which
  are based on the ancient Vedas ( religious
  chants), are highly ornamented by intricate
  glissandi or slides called Gamaka.
• This practice of sliding between notes in a Raga
  is what gives Indian music its unique sound. Many
  musicologists have described Indian music as
  being micro tonal. In fact, these scales that
  both Hindustani and Karnatic Ragas use are
  comprised of smaller intervals (22 steps to an
  octave) when compared to the12 step octave of a
  western scale. Since each note is, in terms of
  frequency, either higher or lower than another,
  movement from one note to the other in any melody
  involves either ascent or descent. The movement
  which results when one ascends from one note to
  the next is known as aroha, while a descending
  motion is known as avaroha. While we can conceive
  of other types of melodic movement, the aroha and
  avaroha are of great importance as they provide
  the basis for the raga form.

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• Raga(cont.)
• Every raga, in fact, consists of a fixed and
  unchangeable set of notes, presented in the form
  of an ascending or descending scale. At the
  simplest level, this defines the raga as a
  melodic form and tells us that there are specific
  notes, also called pillar tones forming a
  particular raga and the basic shape of the raga
  is determined by their inter se arrangement
  within the ascending or descending order.

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• Raga (cont.)
• The term Raga is also however much more than a
  technical collection of notes. Its literal
  translation which means that which colors the
  mindimplies that the raga itself has some
  metaphysical and non-musical attributes as well.
  It is the intent of these ragas to invoke certain
  feelings and emotions from the listener. These
  emotions can range from amorous love and
  happiness to great sadness and melancholy.

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• Raga (cont.)
• A raga can also describe a certain part of the
  day such as with a morning raga or an evening
  raga or be intended to be performed only during
  certain seasons of the year such as the spring or
  summer. There are devotional ragas as well which
  are used to praise various deities in the Hindu
  pantheon of gods such as Brahma, Vishnu, and
  Shiva.

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Tala

• In the matter of musical time, India has
  contributed a most sophisticated and
  scientifically developed system of rhythms. Tala,
  a term which is used to describe the meter or
  time cycle which a composition uses, is the root
  or basis of every form of Indian music vocal,
  instrumental and dance. Tala is an organized
  metric cycle composed of traditionally determined
  rhythmic units and is performed through a series
  of conventional hand gestures such as claps,
  finger counts and waves. Adi tala which is
  subdivided (422) may also be counted with these
  hand gestures. There are hundreds of talas
  covering a vast range of time cycles, and each
  tala has its own characteristic structure or
  divisions. The different structures of talas give
  rise not only to a variety of cycles but also
  influence the patterns in singing and drumming to
  a great extent. There is an elaborate and
  systematic theory of tala which details all the
  important principles of rhythm.

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• The rhythmic complexity and variety which
  dominates Indian music has been an intriguing
  area of research and performance practice for
  scholars and musicians from the West. Some
  devices which are commonly used in relationship
  to the tala are rhythmic diminution (rhythmic
  figures which decrease systematically in size
  through repetition), rhythmic augmentation
  (rhythmic figures which increase systematically
  in size through repetition), and tripartite
  repetitions. These repetitions which occur
  three-fold in succession usually end a section of
  music or melodic phrase and are called tihai and
  are common to both the Hindustani and Karnatic
  musical traditions. For both the performers and
  audience alike it is the relationship between
  these ever-changing rhythmic devices and the
  static time cycle that provide metric interest in
  a composition. Through manipulation of rhythmic
  groupings performers create a sense of tension
  and release much like the effect that consonant
  and dissonant intervals achieve in Western style
  harmony.

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• Another important device of the tala system is
  Solakattu. Solakattu is the practice of
  reciting syllables called jati which
  correspond with various drum strokes and are used
  as both a performance practice and a mnemonic
  device (special word to help a person remember
  something) for teaching rhythmic composition.
  During a performance these jatis may be recited
  to accompany dance movements, or act as
  percussive accompaniment for a singer or solo
  instrumentalist without having to use musical
  instruments.

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Improvisation in Indian Music

• Improvisation (or creating music from ones own
  imagination during a performance) is the
  lifeblood of Indian classical music and is found
  in both the melodic and rhythmic counterparts.
  This free improvisation has a foundation in the
  basic raga and simple rhythmic patterns
  associated with each tala respectively.
• In the area of raga, we find improvisation which
  can take on two distinct forms
  

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• I. Free Improvisation
• A. Melodic - Based on the scale or raga
• Purpose 1.Introduces the raga to the audience
• 2.Demonstrates the performers ability
• 3.Acts as a warm-up for the musician
• B. Melodic Rhythmic - Based on the Raga
  and loosely organized simple rhythms
  
• Purpose 1.Introduces rhythm
• 2.Gives the performer more variety during
  free improvisation
  

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• II. Theme and Variations Occurs during the main
  composition
  
• A. Theme
• 1. A non-improvised composition
• 2. The main melody used is based on the
  raga and the tala (meter)
  
• B. Variation
• 1. A series of improvisations
• 2. Melody and tala established during the
  theme are varied and developed