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Indian classical music
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The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.
The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length. The Samaveda was created out of Rigveda so that its hymns could be sung as Samagana; this style evolved into jatis and eventually into ragas. Indian classical music has its origins as a meditation tool for attaining self realization. All different forms of these melodies (ragas) are believed to affect various "chakras" (energy centers, or "moods") in the path of the Kundalini.
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The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.
The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length. The Samaveda was created out of Rigveda so that its hymns could be sung as Samagana; this style evolved into jatis and eventually into ragas. Indian classical music has its origins as a meditation tool for attaining self realization. All different forms of these melodies (ragas) are believed to affect various "chakras" (energy centers, or "moods") in the path of the Kundalini. However, there is little mention of these esoteric beliefs in Bharat's Natyashastra, the first treatise laying down the fundamental principles of drama, dance and music.
Indian classical music has one of the most complex and complete musical systems ever developed. Like Western classical music, it divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 7 basic notes are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa, in order, replacing Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. However, it uses the just intonation tuning (unlike most Western classical music which uses the equal temperament tuning system).
Indian classical music is monophonic in nature and based around a single melody line which is played over a fixed drone. The performance is based melodically on particular ragas and rhythmically on talas.
Notation System
Indian music is traditionally practice oriented and does not employ notations as the primary media of instruction/understanding/transmission. The rules of Indian music and compositions themselves are taught from a guru to a shishya, in person. Various Indian music schools followed notations and classifications (see Melakarta and thaat); however, the notation is regarded as a matter of taste and is not standardized. Thus there is no universal system of notation for the rest of the world to study Indian music. Scholars of Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth century were enamoured by Indian music and with no facility to record the sound they explored for some existing system that might express sounds in the composition. There were pointers to an ancient notation system which scholars had also translated into Persian; still, the complexity of Indian classical music could not be expressed in writing. Though some western scholars did record compositions in the staff notation system, Indian musicians have used a system created by Bhatkhande in the 20th century. Though more accurate, this relies on Devanagari script rather than symbols and hence is cumbersome at times. A new notation system has been proposed which uses symbols and offers instantaneous comprehension like Staff notation system. It is with standardization of a notation system that hitherto unknown compositions would see the light of day.
Main genres
The two main streams of Indian classical music are:
Hindustani music
Players of the tabla, a type of drum, usually keep the rhythm in Hindustani music. Another common instrument is the stringed tanpura, which is played at a steady tone (a drone) throughout the performance of the raga. This task traditionally falls to a student of the soloist, a task which might seem monotonous but is, in fact, an honour and a rare opportunity for the student who gets it. Other instruments for accompaniment include the sarangi and the harmonium. The prime themes of Hindustani music are romantic love, nature, and devotionals. Yet, Indian classical music is independent of such themes. To sing a raga any poetic phrase appropriate for the raga may be chosen and the raga would not suffer.
In Hindustani music, the performance usually begins with a slow elaboration of the raga, known as alap. This can range from very long (30-40 minutes) to very short (2-3 minutes) depending on the style and preference of the musician. Once the raga is established, the ornamentation around the mode begins to become rhythmical, gradually speeding up. This section is called the drut or jor. Finally, the percussionist joins in and the tala is introduced. There is a significant amount of Persian influence in Hindustani music, in terms of both the instruments and the style of presentation.
Carnatic music
Carnatic music tends to be significantly more structured than Hindustani music; examples of this are the logical classification of ragas into melakarthas, and the use of fixed compositions similar to Western classical music. Carnatic raga elaborations are generally much faster in tempo and shorter than their equivalents in Hindustani music. The opening piece is called a varnam, and is a warm-up for the musicians. A devotion and a request for a blessing follows, then a series of interchanges between ragams (unmetered melody) and thaalams (the ornamentation, equivalent to the jor). This is intermixed with hymns called krithis. This is followed by the pallavi or theme from the raga. Carnatic pieces can also have notated, lyrical poems that are reproduced as such, possibly with embellishments and treatments as per the performer's ideology; these basic pieces are called compositions and are popular among those who appreciate Carnatic (especially vocal) music. Compositions usually have amble flexibility in them so as to foster creativity: it is commonplace to have same composition sung in different ways by different performers.
Carnatic music is similar to Hindustani music in that it is improvised (see musical improvisation). Primary themes include worship, descriptions of temples, philosophy, nayaka-nayaki themes and patriotic songs. Tyagaraja (1759-1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar (1776-1827) and Syama Sastri (1762-1827) are known as the Trinity of Carnatic music, while Purandara Dasa (1480-1564) is often called the father of Carnatic music.
Instruments
Instruments typically used in Hindustani music include the sitar, sarod, tanpura, bansuri, shehnai, sarangi,santoor, by Jaan Nissar lone from kashmir and tabla. Instruments typically used in Carnatic music include venu, gottuvadyam, veena, mridangam, kanjira, ghatam and guitar.
The fundamental authoritative work on the subject of Indian instruments, Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya was based on years of research carried out by Dr. Lalmani Misra.
Scholars
Ancient texts give fundamental rules of Indian music but modern writings of Pt. Omkarnath Thakur, Prof. Lalit Kishore Singh, Dr. Lalmani Misra, Acharya Brahaspati, Thakur Jaidev Singh, Prof. R.C. Mehta, Dr. Premlata Sharma, Dr. Subhadra Choudhary, Dr. Indrani Chakravarty, Dr. Ashok Ranade, Aban E. Mistry etc. have given a rigorous basis to Indian music system. Besides these, scholars from other streams have also written about music. There are a number of biographies of Indian musicians although some critics feel that Indian litterateurs have not paid due attention to Indian classical music.
Musicians - Vocalists
Indian classical music has given wonderful musicians to the world. Notable vocalists include Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, D. V. Paluskar, Abdul Karim Khan, Pt. Jasraj, Nazakat and Salamat Ali Khan, Mogubai Kurdikar, Kishori Amonkar etc
Musicians - Instrumentalists
Allauddin Khan was a versatile instrumentalist. He trained his son Ali Akbar Khan and his daughter Annapurna Devi, Nikhil Banerjee, Ravi Shankar, and the flautist Pannalal Ghosh,Ustad Azizul Islam from Bangladesh. Younger-generation sitar players include Chandrakant Sardeshmukh, Budhaditya Mukherjee and Shahid Parvez.
The name of Bismillah Khan is synonymous with that of the shehnai. Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was known for his proficiency with the veena.
Ustad Alla Rakha made the tabla popular in the West with Ravi Shankar. His son Zakir Hussain is also a well-known tabla player.
Dildar Hussain (taught by Ustad All Rakha) was well known for playing alongside the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as a memeber of his party from its inception to Nusrat's death.
See also
External links
- has a collection of great articles on Indian Classical music with explanations and links to audio extracts from rare recordings.
- Library contains recorded music of India's great music masters of yesteryear, excerpts of old, hard-to-find or unpublished recordings.
- - Online Lessons and Music, with an active teacher
- is an online journal focused on Indian Classical Music and Dance
- - Raga reference with audio, musicological articles and online lessons
- - Raagabase, Taalabase, Bandishbase; different music samples and articles on Indian classical music
- Published by World Music Central
- Published by World Music Central
- - provides extensive details on the history, content, well-known singers and instruments of Indian classical music
- A website dedicated to Hindustani Classical Music which contains information about various Raags and contains various bandishes to listen.
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