Introduction To Indian Music
Introduction To Indian Music
Twenty centuries ago, the essential role of music of India was deemed to be purely ritualistic. Music as
entertainment is supposed to have evolved much later. Another part of Indian music is folk music. Indian
classical music is said to have evolved out of the mixture of these. It is presumed that folk music existed long
before the Aryans came to India, the Dravidians having their own. The art of music practised in India has a
special significance, as it has developed from the ritualistic music in association with folk music and other
musical expressions of neighbouring nations, developing into its own characteristic art. Matured through
``thought, experience and expression'', Indian classical music has become unique in the world.
The origin of Indian music is said to be rooted in the Vedas. It is said that God Himself is musical sound, the
sound which pervades the whole universe, i.e. Nadabrahma. The origins of Indian music are therefore
considered divine. It is said that the musician has to cultivate an attitude of self-abandonment, in order to fuse
with the Supreme Reality, Brahma.
Brahma is said to be the author of the four Vedas, of which the SamaVeda was chanted in definite musical
patterns. Vedic hymns were sung in plain melody, using only 3 notes.
It took a long time for music to come to the form found in present-day India. The most important advance in
music was made between the 14th and 18th centuries. During this period, the music sung in the north came in
contact with Persian music and assimilated it, through the Pathans and the Mughals. It is then that two schools
of music resulted, the Hindustani and the Carnatic. Hindustani music adopted a scale of Shudha Swara
saptaka(octave of natural notes) and Carnatic music retained the traditional octave. During this period,
different styles of classical compositions such as Dhrupad, Dhamar, Khayal,etc. were contributed to
Hindustani music, along with many exquisite hymns, bhajans, kirtans, etc.
TRADITION OF MUSIC
The music of India is a pervasive influence in Indian life. It pervades the big and small events of Indian life,
from child birth to death, religious rites and seasonal festivals. Originally, not all developments of music were
reduced to writing. To keep their traditional integrity, they were imparted orally from teacher to pupil -- the
Guru-Shishya tradition. In the past, there used to be a system of Gurukul Ashram where teachers imparted
knowledge to deserving students.
The Indian musical scale is said to have evolved from 3 notes to a scale of 7 primary notes, on the basis of 22
intervals.
A scale is divided into 22 shrutis or intervals, and these are the basis of the musical notes.
The 7 notes of the scale are known to musicians as Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni.
These 7 notes of the scale do not have equal intervals between them. A Saptak is a group of 7 notes, divided
by the shrutis or intervals as follows --
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
The first and fifth notes(Sa and Pa) do not alter their positions on this interval. The other 5 notes can change
their positions in the interval, leading to different ragas.
The combination of several notes woven into a composition in a way which is pleasing to the ear is called a
Raga. Each raga creates an atmosphere which is associated with feelings and sentiments. Any stray
combination of notes cannot be called a Raga.
Raga is the basis of classical music. A raga is based on the principle of a combination of notes selected out the
22 note intervals of the octave. A performer with sufficient training and knowledge alone can create the
desired emotions, through the combination of shrutis and notes.
There are a limited number of ragas in Hindustani music; as the use of a ``KING" note and a ``QUEEN" note
restricts to a great extent, the creation of new ragas. The raga forms the backbone of Indian music, and the
laws laid down for the ragas have to be carefully observed to preserve and safeguard their integrity. The
following points are required in the construction of a Raga --
Another aspect of the ragas is the appropriate distribution in time during the 24 hours of the day for its
performance, i.e. the time of the day denotes the raga sung a particular time. Ragas are also allotted a
particular time space in the cycle of the day. These are divided into four types --
1. Sandi-prakash ragas or twilight ragas when the notes re and dha are used -- such as Raag Marwa,
Purvi.
2. Midday and Midnight ragas which include the notes ga and ni(komal).
3. Ragas for the first quarter of the morning and night which include the notes re, ga, dha and ni(komal).
4. For the last quarter of the day and night, the reagas include the notes sa, ma and pa.
All the ragas are divided into two groups -- Poorva Ragas and Uttar Ragas. The Poorva Ragas are sung
between 12 noon and 12 midnight. The Uttar Ragas are sung between 12 midnight and 12 noon. The
variations on the dominant or ``King" note help a person to find out why certain ragas are being sung at
certain times. This raga classification is about 500 years old and has been adopted by Pandit V. N.
Bhatkhande in his textbooks on Hindustani music.
The beauty of the raga will not be marred by the time of the day it is sung. It is the psychological association
with the time that goes with the mood of the raga. The object of a raga is to express a certain emotional mood
and sentiment without any reference to time and season. For a student of classical music, this classification
may give an idea as to how to base his reasons for the traditional usage of ragas.
Another division of ragas is the classification of ragas under six principal ragas -- Hindol, Deepak, Megh,
Shree and Maulkauns. From these six ragas, other ragas are derived. The first derivatives of the ragas are
called raginis, and each of the six ragas have five raginis under them. Further derivatives from these ragas and
raginis resulted in attaching to each principal raga 16 secondary derivatives known as upa-ragas and upa-
raginis.
All the ragas are supposed to have been derived from their thaats. Every raga has a fixed number of
komal(soft) or teevra(sharp) notes, from which the thaat can be recognised. In other words, a certain
arrangement of the 7 notes with the change of shuddha, komal and teevra is called a thaat. There are several
opinions in this matter. According to Pandit V.N. Bhatkhande, the 10 thaats used to classify the ragas are --
Classical music is bound by certain laws and restrictions having a definite standard and scale with 22
intervals. Folk music, on the other hand, has different forms depending on the region it belongs to. With
flexibility in its expression, it is not bound by laws or any set pattern. Folk music has its peculiar expressions
and emotions and has established a tradition of its own.
In classical music, emotions are expressed through a particular raga, though the lyric or composition has its
own importance. Classical music can be effective if the musician renders the raga in its various stages and
moods. This is not the case with folk music, where the musical notes have less value and the poetic content
has greater impact and rythm plays a very important role. Songs and lyrics of folk music portray the common
life of the villagers.
The common listener has a general liking for music and has to cultivate and develop patience in listening to
classical music. Such a listener may not appreciate the imaginative approach of the performer. To understand
and appreciate a raga, one should know, understand and feel the inner meaning of the shrutis and how these
create a desired effect on the mind and heart. Basically one has to be initiated into the art of listening to
classical music.
The responsibility of a classical musician lies in the mode of his presentation to the listener, in his capacity to
make 'perfect' and 'common' listeners understand and appreciate classical music. The classical musician
should have the zeal as a missionary to create the true spirit and essence of classical music, so that he can help
in the growth of an appreciative audience.
One distinguishing characteristic of Indian Music is the relationship of each swara(note) with the
Shadja(tonic) which determines the placing of the swaras and the expression of each swara in the
saptak(scale). Hence the constant playing of the drone is necessary. A singer is always accompanied by an
instrument called ``Tanpura" which is tuned to suit his key note. It should be suitable for his voice, to suit one
and a half octave above the tonic and one octave below. This range of his voice should be used effortlessly.
In sketching the outline of the raga, he improvises on the ascending and descending notes, observed the
prescribed relation of ``King" and ``Queen" and the important group of notes which characterises the
particular raga. After the Alap, he starts the actual raga, accompanied by the Tabla. 2. The Antara or the
second half of the song, going upto the higher Sa and returning back. 3. Sancharee or using both halves of the
song and complete octave with the ascent and descent. 4. Aabhog or the mixture of the above three, covering
the three octaves.
In singing, the musician improvises the song with alap, or an improvisation of notes is slow tempo. The alap
proceeds leisurely, without being particular about the time measure, but laden more with the emotional
content of the raga. Then he starts the ``boltaan", an improvisation of notes in medium or fast tempo, with the
wordings of the song with particular emphasis on rythmic variations as the aim. The third is ``sargam", the
improvisation of notes with short names, and these are produced in various rythmic patterns with suitable
combination. The last is ``taans", an improvisation of notes taken in slow, medium and fast tempo.
The main characterstic of classical music is the scope of systematic improvisation in the building up of the
raga. An improvisation of the raga means a succession of musical sounds denoting the fertility of genius. A
master musician always brings out startling new combinations. Every musician is supposed to improvise, but
real improvisation is supposed to weave new patterns into the framework of a raga.
A great stress is laid on voice culture through a regular and systematic training. The following are some
important rules for the vocalists to be observed --
Khayal is an extempore development and improvisation of the typical composition sung in different ragas
with alap, boltaan and taans. Khayals are of two varieties -- Vilambit(slow tempoed) and Drut(fast tempoed).
They are sung in different talas.
Tappa is another style of song composition, which has short and modulated graceful taans: a sort of
ornamental chain of small cluster of notes.
Ragasagar consists of different parts of musical passages in different ragas, as one song composition. These
compositions have 8 to 12 different ragas and the lyrics indicate the change of the ragas. The peculiarity of
this style depends on how smoothly the musical passages change along with the change of ragas.
Tarana is a style consisting of peculiar syllables woven into rythmical patterns as a song, and it is usually sung
in faster tempo.
Chaturang denotes four colours or a composition of a song in four parts: Fast Khayal, Tarana, Sargam and a
``Paran" of Tabla or Pakhwaj.
Thumri is supposed to be a romantic and erotic style of singing; the song compositions are mostly of love,
separation and devotion. They are usually sung in slower tempo, giving more importance to the lyrics with
short alaps.
Hori compositions are based mostly on the description of the spring season: of colour throwing, based on the
Radha-Krishna episodes. Horis are of two varieties -- ``Pakki Hori" and ``Kacchi Hori". ``Pakki Hori" is very
dignified, sung in Dhamar style, while ``Kacchi Hori" is sung in Deepchandi Tala, in which fast taans are
used.
The laws governing the performance of vocal and instrumental music are much the same. There are 2 modes
of training for instrumental, one which is purely instrumental, and the other who first receive training in vocal
music.
The Gharana or family is a school of a particular style of singing or playing instruments, or a traditionally
characteristic individual style. The birth of Gharanas must have taken place in the 18th century with the idea
of preserving the tradition of music and the musical compositions. A Gharana has got a particular discipline,
system and style. The character and style of traditionally disciplined music of a gharana remains with one
generation only, and in due course one of the brilliant pupils adds his own individual contribution and creates
a new style of singing.
In the case of the instrumentalists, we may divide Gharana into 2 categories. The first is the traditional
disciplined style giving more stress on the ``JHOD-ALAP" and exploring all possibilities in this direction,
plus the gat and a perfect layakari. The second gives less importance to the ``JHOD-JHALA", but lays more
stress on the gat and the perfect layakari.
There is a perfect balance in the universe. This balance is the essence of Tala and therefore Tala is in classical
music is an important factor. The Tala is the theory of time measure. It has the same principle in Hindustani
and Carnatic music, though the names and styles differ. The musical time is divided into simple and
complicated metres. When accompanying the dance, vocal and instrumental music, the Tala maintains the
balance which is the most essential function of music. Tala is independent of the music it accompanies: it has
its own divisions. It moves in bars, and each beat in it is divided into the smallest fraction.
Rythm has three aspects: Tala, Laya and Matra. Tala is a complete cycle of Metrical phrasecomposed of a
fixed number of beats. There are over a 100 Talas, but only 30 Talas are known and only about 10-12 are
used.
The Laya is the tempo, which keeps uniformity of time span and it has 3 divisions -- Vilambit, Madhya and
Drut.
Tala is the most important aspect of classical music, and it can be considered to be the very basis or pulse of
music. To appreciate the structure of simple and complicated divisions, the improvisations of Tala and its
theory, one should listen to an accomplished solo drummer. A classical drum player requires at 8-10 years of
methodical training and another 4-5 years of hard practice.
GLOSSARY