Indian classical music
refers to the art music of
the Indian subcontinent.
The origins of Indian
classical music can be
found in the Vedas , which
are the oldest scriptures in
the Hindu tradition. Indian
classical music has also
been significantly
influenced by, or
syncretised with, Indian
folk music, and Hindustani
music has also been
influenced by Persian
music. The Samaveda , one
of the four Vedas,
describes music at length.
The Samaveda was derived
from the Rigveda so that its
hymns could be sung as
Samagana. These hymns
were sung by Udgatar
priests at sacrifices in
which the Soma ritual
drink, clarified and mixed
with milk and other
ingredients, was offered in
libation to various deities.
This chanting style evolved
into jatis and eventually
into ragas . Bharat 's
Natyashastra was the first
treatise laying down
fundamental principles of
dance , music, and drama.
Indian classical music is
both elaborate and
expressive. Like Western
classical music , it divides
the octave into 12
semitones of which the 7
basic notes are, in
ascending tonal order, Sa
Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa for
Hindustani music and Sa Ri
Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa for
Carnatic music , similar to
Western music's Do Re Mi
Fa Sol La Ti Do . However,
Indian music uses just-
intonation tuning, unlike
most modern Western
classical music, which uses
the equal-temperament
tuning system. Also, unlike
modern Western classical
music, Indian classical
music places great
emphasis on improvisation.
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 . Because of the focus
on exploring the raga,
performances have
traditionally been solo
endeavors, but duets are
gaining in popularity.
Notation system
Indian music is
traditionally taught via oral
methods and, until the
20th century, did not
employ notations as the
primary media of
instruction, understanding,
or transmission. The rules
of Indian music and
compositions themselves
are taught from a guru to a
shishya, in person. Various
Indian music schools
follow notations and
classifications (see
melakarta and thaat ); these
are generally based on a
notation system created by
Vishnu Narayan
Bhatkhande.
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Hindustani music
Main article: Hindustani
classical music
Hindustani music is mainly
found in North India. Khyal
and Dhrupad are its two
main forms, but there are
several other classical and
semi-classical forms. There
is a significant amount of
Persian influence in
Hindustani music in terms
of the instruments, style of
presentation, and ragas
such as Hijaz Bhairav,
Bhairavi, Bahar, and
Yaman. Also, as is the case
with Carnatic music ,
Hindustani music has
assimilated various folk
tunes. For example, ragas
such as Kafi and Jaijaiwanti
are based on folk tunes.
Players of the tabla, a type
of drum, usually keep the
rhythm, an indicator of
time 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 ,
and which provides both a
point of reference for the
musician and a background
against which the music
stands out. The task of
playing the tanpura
traditionally falls to a
student of the soloist.
Other instruments for
accompaniment include the
sarangi and the
harmonium .
The performance usually
begins with a slow
elaboration of the raga,
known as alaap. This may
be very short (less than a
minute) or up to 30
minutes depending on the
preference of the musician.
In vocal music, the alaap is
followed by a "bandish',
generally accompanied by
the tabla, around which the
raga is improvised. In the
case of instrumental
music, the alaap can be
followed by a more
rhythmical piece know as
"jod" and subsequently a
piece in fast tempo called
"" jhala "; the tabla does not
join the musician in alaap,
jod or jhala. The
counterpart of the bandish
in instrumental music is
known as the "gat". The
bandish or gat is initially
sung or played in slow
tempo known as "vilambit
laya" to be followed by
medium tempo known as
"Madhya laya" which in
turn may be followed by a
composition in fast tempo
known as "drut gat". The
instrumentalist may finally
play a jhala accompanied
by the tabla.
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Carnatic music
Main article: Carnatic Music
Carnatic music, from South
India , tends to be more
rhythmically intensive and
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. In
addition, accompanists
have a much larger role in
Carnatic concerts than in
Hindustani concerts.
Today's typical concert
structure was put in place
by the vocalist Ariyakudi
Ramanuja Iyengar . 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. The pallavi or
theme from the raga then
follows. Carnatic pieces
also have notated lyrical
poems that are reproduced
as such, possibly with
embellishments and
treatments according to
the performer's ideology.
Primary themes include
worship, descriptions of
temples, philosophy, and
nayaka-nayika (Sanskrit
"hero-heroine") themes.
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 the father of
Carnatic music.
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Instruments
Instruments typically used
in Hindustani music include
the sitar , sarod, surbahar,
veena, tanpura , bansuri ,
shehnai, sarangi, violin ,
santoor, pakhavaj and
tabla. Instruments typically
used in Carnatic music
include venu , gottuvadyam,
harmonium , veena ,
mridangam, kanjira ,
ghatam and violin.
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 .
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Scholars
Ancient texts give
fundamental rules of
Indian music but the
modern writings of
Omkarnath Thakur ,
S.N.Ratanjankar, Lalit
Kishore Singh, Lalmani
Misra , Acharya Brahaspati,
Thakur Jaidev Singh, R. C.
Mehta, Premlata Sharma,
Subhadra Choudhary,
Indrani Chakravarty, Ashok
Ranade, Aban E. Mistry,
and contemporary ones of
Pushpa Basu, Prabha Atre,
Ragini Trivedi, Ravi Sharma,
Swatantra Sharma,
Saubhagyavardhan
Brahaspati, Suneera
Kasliwal, and the like have
given a rigorous basis to
the Indian music system.
Besides these, scholars
from other streams[1] have
also written about Indian
music. There are a number
of biographies of Indian
musicians [2] although
some critics [3] feel that
Indian biographers have
not paid due attention to
the music. [4][5]
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Vocalists
Indian classical music
tradition recognizes
historic musicians whose
contributions may be
legendary: Tansen , court
musician of the Mughal
Emperor Akbar, Baiju
Bawra, court musician of
Man Singh I, Amir
Khusrow, often credited
with the creation of the
khyal and tarana, and
Sadarang , court musician
of Muhammad Shah and
another possible creator of
the khyal . Modern classical
vocalists have often been
recognized by the Indian
government through the
Indian honours system and
the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award and Fellowship .
Dhrupad singers include
the senior and junior Dagar
Brothers and Gundecha
Brothers . Carnatic vocalists
include Ariyakudi Ramanuja
Iyengar , Chembai
Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar ,
D. K. Pattammal , G. N.
Balasubramaniam , M.
Balamuralikrishna , M. S.
Subbulakshmi,
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer .
Khyal vocalists include
Abdul Karim Khan, Abdul
Wahid Khan, Amir Khan,
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan ,
Basavaraj Rajguru ,
Bhimsen Joshi , D. V.
Paluskar , Faiyaz Khan,
Gangubai Hangal , Hirabai
Barodekar, Kesarbai Kerkar,
Kishori Amonkar, Shruti
Sadilokar Katkar, Ashwini
Bhide Deshpande , Kumar
Gandharva , Mallikarjun
Mansur , Mogubai Kurdikar ,
Nazakat and Salamat Ali
Khan, Nivruttibua Sarnaik,
Omkarnath Thakur , Prabha
Atre, Rashid Khan , Roshan
Ara Begum, Sharafat
Hussein Khan, Ulhas
Kashalkar , Jitendra
Abhisheki and Vasantrao
Deshpande.
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Instrumentalists
Allauddin Khan was a
versatile instrumentalist.
He trained his son and
sarod player Ali Akbar
Khan, his daughter and
surbahar player Annapurna
Devi , sitarists Nikhil
Banerjee and Ravi Shankar ,
the flautist Pannalal Ghosh ,
and the violinist V. G. Jog.
Younger-generation sitar
players include
Chandrakant Sardeshmukh,
Budhaditya Mukherjee and
Shahid Parvez. Among the
list of younger-generation
flautists are eminent
names such as Vijay Raghav
Rao and Hariprasad
Chaurasia.
The name Bismillah Khan is
synonymous with that of
the shehnai . Zia Mohiuddin
Dagar and Asad Ali Khan
were known for their
proficiency with the Rudra
veena. Lalmani Misra
revived Vichitra Veena
along with creating
Misrabani – a tantrakari
style suited to string
instruments.
Alla Rakha made the tabla
popular in the West with
Ravi Shankar . His son Zakir
Hussain is also a well-
known tabla player.
Among the southern
classical musicians, U.
Srinivas is known for his
introduction of the
mandolin to Carnatic
classical music. Other well
established Carnatic
instrumentalists are Lalgudi
Jayaraman, the late
Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan ,
T.N. Krishnan, L.
Subramaniam, M.S.
Gopalakrishnan, and the
duo of Kumaresh and
Ganesh, all known for their
violin performances.
↑Jump back a section
Status in the 21st Century
Indian classical music is
seen by some to be going
out of favor gradually and
is being replaced by Pop
music , especially music
from the Indian film
industry. [6] Another
emergent trend of the last
several decades has been
that of fusion music , where
several genres such as
khyal and western pop
music are intermixed to
appeal to a wider audience.
The Late Pandit Ravi
Shankar was one of the
earliest to have
collaborated with western
musicians. [7]
Nonetheless, several
organizations continue to
promote this genre. Some
of them include Sangeet
Sankalp, [8] which was
established in 1989[9] and
SPIC MACAY , which was
established in 1977 and has
more than 500 chapters in
India and abroad. [10][11]
SPIC MACAY holds around
5000 events every year
related to Indian classical
music and dance.
