World Music of India Indian music is a

World Music of India

Indian music is a classical art music tradition with many similarities to Western classical music: it appeals to and is patronized by a small, educated segment of the population n it has a body of theory and a formal system of study n it is disseminated through public concerts in which there is an expected program order. n

There also significant differences pieces are mixed pre-composed and improvised material n there are different levels of improvisation that occur at specific points in a piece n a performer’s skill is measured by the ability to improvise in free rhythm. n

“It’s all the same music!” Western music uses mostly the same two types of scales, major and minor. n Indian music uses about 250 different ragas. n Times of day n Seasons n

Two major musical systems exist in Indian music n n Karnatak (also spelled Carnatic) in the south Hindustani in the north

n Karnatak is the older Hindu tradition

n Hindustani has been influenced by the later arriving Islamic culture. Hindustan is the region of North India.

Roots of Indian Music n The Vedas –– a corpus of texts originating in Ancient India; the oldest scriptural texts of Hinduism

Vedic chant–– intoned verses of Vedas performed by Brahmin priests http: //www. youtube. com/v/A 0 t. Qt 2 CS 9 P 4? version=3& hl=en_US& rel=0

Indian culture, sometimes translated as “caste” Brahmin or Brahman - the highest varna, or caste, in Indian society http: //www. youtube. com/v/Oh_xv. KLh. ZHg? version=3& hl=en_US& rel=0

North Indian “Hindustani” music Hindustani music n The Hindustani tradition encompasses Indo. Aryan-speaking areas of North India (including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sinhalese areas of Sri Lanka). The musician Tansen was brought to the Mughal court of the Emperor Akbar in Delhi. The Mughals were Muslims, as were the Hindustani musicians, so musician families passed their profession through inheritance by tradition while maintaining a low social status. The dissolution of the Mughal court in the 18 th century led to a dispersal of musicians to other centers of patronage.

n From the thirteenth century, the influence of the Persian and Turkish cultures of Islam became of singular importance for North India when the foreigners established political control over the area from the city of Delhi.

n Gharanas –– a school of professional musicians in North India who originally traced their heritage to a family tradition but which now includes non-biological descendants as well. An ustad is a master; a shagird is a student. The gharanas extend from the famous sixteenth -century musician Tansen, who was brought to the imperial court near Delhi by the Mughal Akbar.

Hindustani Instruments n n n Sitar Harmonium Tambura Tabla Pakhavaj Bansuri n n n Sitar (Solo Instrument) Tambura (Drone Instrument) Tabla (Percussion, Membranophone) These are the most important instruments

n n n n Terms Lay – tempo Tal - Meter Raga – A scale associated with musical characteristics Gat-tora – The section of Hindustani inst. Performance accompanied by tabla, in which a short composed melody, the gat, is alternated with improvisational passages, the tora Alap – Raga improvisation at the beginning Jor – After the Alap, introduces a pulse Jhala – The concluding section of instrumental improvisation. Following Jor, includes… Tan – rapid and florid kind of improvisation

n This Example will take you through a typical North Indian form. The link below is to your Pearson’s music website. n http: //media. pearsoncmg. com/ph/hss_nettl_worldmusic_6 e/active_listening_guides/index. html#nettl 6 e_ alg 03_ch 02 -lg Ghazal, Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil, by Zasar. Textbook CD 1, track 3. Rag: Pahari, a scale similar to the major scale but with occasional accidentals Tala: Keharwa (8 beat)

Karnatac Music

Tyagaraja –– a Karnatak musician and composer of the eighteenth century who refused an appointment to the southern court of Tanjore. He instead composed songs for the god Rama, and they were not kept as the inheritance of his family tradition. n Guru –– in Karnatak music, teacher n Shishya –– in Karnatak music, a student n

n Devadasis –– translates as “servants of the gods. ” In South India, they were female children dedicated to the service of the temple and received intensive training in the art of dance. Being “married” to the temple deity, they were not allowed to marry any man in the usual sense.

Karnatak instruments n Chordophones –– sitar, tambura, vina (stick zither of Karnatak music), sarod (fretless lute of Hindustani music), violin, guitar (played slide-guitar style) This video is of Sarod

n Aerophones –– harmonium (free reed), shehnai (double reed), bansuri (flute) This video is of Shehnai.

Membranophones –– tabla, pakhavaj, mridangam (double-headed, barrel-shaped drum)

Karnatak Terms n Varnam –– a type of song with which Karnatak recitals generally begins, sometimes compared to the Western classical “etude” or “study”

n Kriti –– the major song type of Karnatak music, divided into three parts: pallavi, anupallavi, and caranam

Typical Karnatak recital n Karnatak recitals include several items starting with simple, pre-composed pieces with little elaboration, moving to more complex improvisatory structures, then concluding with short fixed compositions. A typical performance might include one or more of the following:

n n Varnam: Etude-like pieces used mainly as warm-ups. Kriti: Performed with little/no improvisation. Simple kritis consist of three sections: pallavi, anupallavi, and caranam (pronounced charanam), all accompanied by percussion in a regularized meter (tala). The first portion of the pallavi serves as a refrain, recurring at the end of all three sections. Texts are usually devotional. More complex kritis: Preceded by ragam and tanam, and elaborated with niraval and svarakalpana.

Ragam-tanam-pallavi: n A long, largely improvised piece that may be sung or played with augmentation/ diminution (trikala) of the pallavi theme (usually a line from a kriti). It demonstrates the musician’’s skill and requires exceptional training, confidence, and spontaneous creative ability. Short lyrical pieces: n Either from the dance repertoire (e. g. , padam, javali, or a fast tempo tillanam) or from Sanskrit devotional verses.

http: //media. pearsoncmg. com/ph/hss_nettl_worldmusic_6 e/active_listening_guides/index. html#nettl 6 e _alg 02_ch 02 Kriti “Banturiti, ” sung by Seetha Rajan, composed by Tyagaraja. Textbook CD 1, track 2. n Raga: Hamsanadam (c-e-f#-g-b) n Tala: Adi (4 + 2 beats) n

Key Concepts for the Unit Layers of Musical Activity: n Indian music performance, Karnatak and Hindustani, is triple-textured, for there always three layers of musical activity: a melodic soloist (ex. the sitar or singer), an accompanying drummer (ex. the tabla or mridangam), and a drone instrument (tambura). If the ensemble is large, there may be secondary melodic and/or percussion instruments. n

n Raga (ragam in South India) is a way of making melodic music. A raga has a scale, a typical order of tones, a character that musicians agree on, some non-musical ideas with which it is connected, and a typical time of day and season for performance. In North India there are some 200 ragas. In South India there are 72 main ragas and many secondary ones.

n Tala (talam in South India) is a way of organizing meter. It is a fixed, cyclically repeating time span in which beats are arranged in an abstract hierarchy. In South India there are seven main talas and four secondary ones. In North India there are many more.

Listening Skills Hearing the ayers of Musical Activity: n Melody and drone –– Drone may be understood in terms of a steady repeated pattern serving as a foundation under the melody. When a tambura drones under a sitar, the two may sound like the same instrument. The drum layer is more easily recognizable due to its timbral character. n

Differentiating between North and South Indian Forms: n The simplest way to do this is by comparing a South Indian kriti with a North Indian gat-tora, demonstrating the greater structured nature of the kriti and improvisational freedom of the gat - tora. n

Differentiating between Composed and Improvised Material: n This can be clearly demonstrated in a South Indian kriti in which a vocalist is accompanied by a violinist. In improvised sections, the violinist doesn’’t know what the vocalist will do, so he lags slightly behind. In composed sections, the tune is known to both performers, so they play together. n

Counting Exercise n n n n Counting Tala: Each North Indian tala has a theka, a repeated pattern of syllables (bols), used as a memory aid. Have students speak theka of tintal (4 + 4 + 4) while adding its hand movements to the gat-tora section the CD 1 track 1. + represents a clap, • a finger count, and O a wave): + • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 dha dhin dha O 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 dha tin ta ta dhin dha