Indian Music

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  •  Content framework: Music is the soul of any culture and India has had a long tradition of musical ingenuity. It is said that Narada Muni (sage) introduced the art of music to earth. A musical instrument, a seven-holed flute, has been recovered from the sites of Indus Valley.
  • Civilisation. Also Sama Veda helps you to attain spiritual evolution through music. The science of music called the Gandharva Veda is an Upaveda of the Sama Veda.
History of music
  • The first work that elaborated on the subject of musicology was Bharata’s Natyashastra. It contains several important chapters on music, especially the ones that identified the octave and elaborated on its 22 keys. These 22 keys were recognised as shrutis or srutis.
  • This influx of Islamic and Persian elements changed the face of North Indian music, for example, the Dhruvapad or the devotional style transformed into the Dhrupad style by the 15th century.
  • By the 17th century, a new form of Hindustani music had evolved which was called the Khayal style.
Anatomy of Indian music
There are three main pillars of Indian classical music: Raga, tala and swara
  1. Swara: The term is used to define the ‘note’ or ‘scale degree’ in a composition. In the Natyashastra, Bharata divided the swaras into 22 notes scale. As per notational system of the Hindustani music – Sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni. The Seven Swaras together are called Saptak or Sargam.
  2. Raga: The ragas form the basis of melody, while the tala becomes the basis of the rhythm. The basic element necessary for the working of a raga is the note on which they are based. there are six main ragas under Hindustani music repertoire, evoke a particular type of emotion (Rasa):
  3. Tala: The rhythmic groupings of beats are called Tala. The unique point about the concept of tala is that it is independent of the music that accompanies it and has its own divisions.
Text on music
AUTHOR
TEXT
CONTRIBUTION
Sarangadeva
Sangeet Ratnakara
Defined about 264  ragas including some from the North Indian and the Dravidian repertoires
Matanga
Brihaddeshi in  sanskrit
Definition of the word  ‘raga’
Ramamatya
Swaramela-Kalanidhi
Deals primarily with  ragas
Venkatamakhin
Chaturdandi-prakashika
Information on  Carnatic musicology.
Classification of Indian Music
Classical Music
Two distinct schools of Indian classical music evolved:
  • Hindustani Music: practiced in the Northern parts of India.
  • Carnatic Music: practiced in the Southern parts of India.
HINDUSTANI MUSIC
  • The Hindustani branch of music focuses more on the musical structure and the possibilities of improvisation in it. There are 10 main styles of singing in Hindustani music like the ‘Dhrupad’, ‘Dhamar’, ‘Hori’, ‘Khayal’, ‘Tappa’, ‘Chaturang’, ‘Ragasagar’, ‘Tarana’, ‘Sargam’ and ‘Thumri.
Dhrupad
  • Oldest and grandest forms of Hindustani classical music
  • Mentioned in Natyashastra (200 BC–200 AD).
  • Essentially, in poetic form - originated from temples.
  • Drupad begins with alap (Alap is a pure music without distraction of words)
  • Consist of 4-5 stanzas, performed by a duo - accompanied by Tanpura and Pakhawaj.
  • Reached its zenith in the court of emperor Akbar. Akbar patronized musicians - Baba Gopal Das, Swami Haridas and Tansen.
  • Dhrupad was mastered by singers in the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar in Gwalior.
  • Dhrupad - further divided into four sub-forms:
    • Dagari Gharana: more emphasis on alap, Dagars - Muslims but usually sing Hindu texts of Gods and Goddesses. Dagari Gharana – Gundecha Brothers.
    • Darbhanga Gharana: They emphasise on the raga alap + improvised alap. The leading exponents - Mallik family.
    • Bettiah Gharana: The famous family - Mishras. Furthermore, the form of Dhrupad is prevalent here - the Haveli style.
    • Talwandi Gharana: it is based in Pakistan - difficult to keep that within the system of Indian music.
TANSEN: one of the navratnas - court of Akbar. Akbar honoured him with the title “Mian” (learned man) - master of Dhrupad music, who created several ragas. Compositions mainly related to Hindu Gods & goddesses. Tansen Tomb - located - Gwalior (birthplace of tansen)
Khayal
  • meaning “idea or imagination”.
  • origin of this style - Amir Khusrau.
  • It is based on a repertoire of short songs ranging from two to eight lines – reater scope for improvisation.
  • Biggest patronage to Khyal (15th century) by Hussain Shah (a Sharqi ruler of Jaunpur Sultanate). Khyal composition - called - ‘Bandish’.
  • unique feature - frequent use of taans.
  • Less importance to Alap as compared to Dhrupad.
  • Khyal performance uses two songs:
    1. Bada Khyal: sung in the slow tempo, romantic in nature, praising God or any king.
    2. Chhota Khyal: sung in the fast tempo
Tarana style
  • Rhythm plays an important role.
  • structure consists of melody, with variation and elaboration at the performer’s discretion.
  • Use many words that are sung at a fast tempo.
  • Invented by Amir Khusro (13th-14th century) and also used by Guru Gobind
  • Singh (10th Sikh Guru) in his compositions.
  • World’s fastest tarana singer - Pandit Rattan Mohan Sharma (Mewati Gharana) - “Tarana ke Baadshah”.
Sub-classical styles of hindustani music
Thumri, tappa and ghazal
Thumri
  • Based on mixed ragas
  • Compositions are either romantic or devotional in nature.
  • Inspired by the Bhakti movement - love for Krishna.
  • language of the composition - Hindi in Braj Bhasha dialect, mostly sung in a female voice.
  • Allows the singer to improvise during the performance.
  • Thumri is linked to classical dance Kathak.
  • most timeless voice of thumri - Begum Akhtar & Girija Devi (Benaras Gharana).
Thappa
  • Rhythm plays an important role - based on fast, subtle and knotty constructions.
  • Originated from the folk songs of the camel riders of North-West India.
  • Gained legitimacy as it was brought to the Mughal court of emperor Muhammad Shah
  • Quick turn of phases was in great use in this style.
Ghazal
  • Used as poetic expression to show pain of loss and separation and beauty of love in spite of pain.
  • Originated in Iran in the 10th century - reached zenith during mughal rule.
  • First expounder - Amir Khusro
  • famous personalities propunding Ghazal are Muhammad Iqbal, Mirza Ghalib, Rumi (13th century), Hafez (14th century), Kazi Nazrul Islam, etc.
Trinity of Carnatic Music
TYAGARAJA  (1767-1847)
Composition - telugu (mostly).  Sanskrit - lord rama.
Famous composition:  pancharatna kritis, created several ragas.
MUTHUSWAMI  DIKSHITAR (1775-1835): most composition in sanskrit, also veena player
SYAMA SASTRI  (1762-1827)
Oldest among other  two, composition in telugu, composed less kritis. Swarajathi musical genre  attributed to him.
Hindustani Vs Carnatic Music
Hindustani music
Carnatic music
Have influence of  Arab, Persian and Afghan
Indeginous system of  music
Scope provided to  artists for variation and improvisation
Less scope of  improvisation.
several sub-styles  which lead to emergence of ‘Gharanas
Only one particular  prescribed style of singing
6 major ragas
72 melakartas, ragas  and janya ragas
Instruments are  equally important as vocals
More emphasis given on  vocal music.
Main emphasis on  Ragas.
Mainly based on Tala  or Taal
Mainly associated with  north india
Mainly prevalent in  south india.
Major instrument used:  Tabla, Sarangi, Sitar and Santoor
Instruments used:  Veena, Mrindangum and Mandolin.
Commonality between two: flute and violin
FOLK MUSIC
Each State has its own form of music which is based on the cultural affirmation of its people. the folk tradition is the music of the people and has no hard and fast rules.
FOLK MUSIC
REGION
Baul
Bengal
Wanawan
Jammu & Kashmir
Alha & pai
Madhya pradesh
Panihari
Rajasthan
Ovi
Maharashtra & Goa
maand
rajasthan
Khongjom Parba
Manipur
Musical instruments
Types of instruments
  1. Awanad/Avanaddha Vadya: membranophone instruments
    • contain an outer membrane
    • Also called percussion instruments as one has to strike them to generate musical sound.
    • E.g. Tabla, Drum, Dhol, Congo, Mridangam, etc 35
  2. Sushira vadya:
    • These are the aerophones
    • Includes all the wind instruments - Bansuri (flute), Shehnai (oldest wind instruments in India), Pungi, Ninkirns, etc.
    • Shehnai King’ -, legendary Ustad Bismillah Khan, who took the Shehnai to its peak.
    • Flute (used since the Vedic period) - initially called Nadi or Tunava – famous flutist of India - Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
  3. Ghana Vadya:
    • genre of the non-drum percussion instruments that do not requirany tuning, also called the Idiophone instruments.
    • Popular examples - Manjira, Jaltarang, Kanch-tarang, Ghungroo, Ghatam (earthern ware pot drum), Khartal, etc
  4. Tata Vadya:
    • These are the Chordophones or the string instruments that function best when their sound is modified by hand.
    • There are three major types of tata instruments:
      • Bowed: Sarangi, Esraj/Dilruba and Violin.
      • Plectral: Sitar, Veena, Tanpura, Guitar, etc.
Santoor - 100 strings instrument - traditional instrument of Jammu and Kashmir. Sufiana kalam music is accompanied by Santoor.

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