INDIAN MUSIC

ORIGIN

• Divine origin• First sound- “OM” –

Manifestation of Brahma

• In beginning only devotional and restricted to religious and ritualistic purposes

• Indian classical music is based on the ragas ("colors")

• Tumburu was the first singer; • Saraswati was the goddess

of music and learning; and • Bharata was the first to draw

up rules for theatre, of which music was a major and integral part.

• In beginning music was devotional in content and was restricted to religious and ritualistic purposes and used only in temples.

• Indian music developed from the ritualistic music in association with folk music and other musical forms of India and gradually derived its own musical characteristics.

• Indian classical music is based on the ragas ("colors’)

• The main difference with western classical music is that the Indian ragas are not "composed" by a composer, but were created via a lengthy evolutionary process over the centuries. Thus they do not represent mind of the composer but a universal idea of the world.

• Hindustani (North Indian) ragas are assigned to specific times of the day (or night) and to specific seasons.

• There are thousands of ragas, but six are considered fundamental: Bhairav, Malkauns, Hindol, Dipak, Megh and Shree.

• A raga is not necessarily instrumental, and, if vocal, it is not necessarily accompanied.

• The main instrument of the ragas is the sitar.

• Indian classical music is mainly a vocal (not only instrumental) art.

• Miyan Tansen, who lived at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th century, is credited with codifying Hindustani (north Indian) vocal music, notably the dhrupad style that he learned from his teacher Swami Haridas.

RIG VEDARIG VEDA SAMAVEDASAMAVEDA HYMSHYMS

SAMAGANASAMAGANAJATISJATISRAGASRAGAS

TALASTALAS

RAGASRAGAS

RHYTHMICALLYRHYTHMICALLY

MELODICALLY MELODICALLY

VEDIC MUSIC

• Music formed an important part of the rituals, which structured sacrifice.

• Singing, instrumental music and dance were described as divine in Vedic literature.

• Music in India has been passed on in a tradition best described as Guru-Shishya Parampara

RAMAYANA 500 BC – 200 BC

• The first Indian epic, Ramayana, was composed by the sage Valmiki. It was written in shloka form. The word shloka refers to a particular kind of easy tempo and lilting rhyme.

• The knowledge of music was widespread. Ravana the demon-leader was proficient in music.

• Mahabharata used the term gandharva instead of sangeet.

MAHABHARTA • Mahabharata used the term

gandharva instead of sangeet.• The science of music was called

gandharvashastra.• Both gandharva and their

consorts, the apsaras‚ were experts in singing, playing musical instruments and dancing.

• Arjuna had learnt these musical arts from Chitrasen gandharva.

BUDDHISM- MUSIC• Jatakas are stories written in

Pali around 300 BC about the previous births of Buddha.

• The jatakas describe Buddhist monks singing and dancing to the accompaniment of instruments like the veena

• Sculptures based on Buddhist lore are a major source of information on music. Sculptures in Bharhut (200-150 BC) and Sanchi confirm that music flourished during the Buddhist period.

Natyashastra The Science of Theatre

• Authored by Bharata sometime between 200 BC and 200 AD.

• Natyashastra devotes itself mainly to theatre, dance and music.

• Gandharva music, the techniques of playing musical instruments are explained.

The Gupta period 300-600BC

• Kalidasa, who was in the court of Vikramditya (380-413 AD), epitomises the artistic accomplishments of the Gupta period.

• He was a lyrical poet and a writer of epics and plays. The poem 'Meghadoot', the epic 'Raghuvamsha' and the play 'Shakuntala' are some of his creative masterpieces that adorn the Indian literary tradition.

• Kalidasa's works mention musical instruments like the Parivadini vina, Vipanchi vina, Pushkar, Mridang, Vamshi and Shankha,

• Vatsyayana wrote his famous manual, Kama sutra (400 AD) during this period. In it, he lists 64 'Kala's or arts essential to refined living, which include singing, playing musical instruments and dancing.

• The Gupta king Harshavardhan (606-648 AD), was himself a singer. There are references to music making in his plays, 'Nagananda', 'Ratnavali' and 'Priyadarshika'. A story in the 'Panchatantra' (fifth century), one of the most celebrated compilations of fables ever produced by mankind, also refers to music.

• The tradition of Indian art music flourished in four kinds of performing spaces: sacrificial areas, temple precincts, stages and platforms and princely courts.

Tansen• Tansen, the legendary

musician of Akbar's court.• Among the many works are a

treatise named the 'Ragamala', many 'Dohas' describing the 'lakshanas' or the attributes of ragas, 'Sangeet Saar', and 'Shri Ganesh Stotra'.

• Tansen reduced the 4000 ragas into a system of 400. He is said to have created many ragas like 'Miyan Malhar' and 'Miyan ki todi'

MUSIC IN AKBAR”S COURT

• During the Mughal period, and especially under Akbar's reign, temple music took a back seat and Darbar Sangeet came into being.

• There were numerous musicians in the court, Hindus, Iranis , Kashmiris and Turanis, both men and women. The musicians were divided into seven orders. There was one for each day of the week.

• Headed by the legendary Tansen, there were 19 singers, three who chanted and several instrumental musicians

• The main instruments were the sarmandal, bin, nay, karna and tanpura

• Akbar's court was witness to a complete fusion of the Persian and Indian music systems.

MODERN PERIOD

• This modern period saw an increasing number of musicological works in Persian, Urdu, Hindi and other regional languages, instead of Sanskrit.

• The modern period saw the birth of many of the musical forms dominant today, like Khayal and thumri.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

BANSURI

NAGESHWARAM

SHEHNAI

HARMONIUM

DRUMS & PERCUSSION

DHOLAK

GHATAM(south India, Punjab)

MADGA

KACCHI DHOL

KANJIRA Smallsouth indian frame drum

KHOL

MRIDANGAMMost important in Karnatic music

MADAL

PAKHAWAJNorth indian counterpart

Thavil

Tabla Queen of drums the Bayan (big

bass drum) and the Dayan.

SAROD

. Next to the Sitar, the Sarod is the most well-known and most important Indian stringed instrument of classical northern Indian music… Ali Akbar Khan

Stringed Instruments

SITAR

DOTAR

SANTOOR

The Indian Santoor which is played with sticks has developed out of the folk music in Kashmir. It took a long time for it to find acceptance also in classical Indian music...The Santoor virtuoso Shivkumar Sharma.

EKTARA

Ek means "one" and Tar means"string". The Ektar or -as it is often called - the Gopi Yantra, is a simple instrument that is mainly used in Bengal as a folk instrument. It is made of dried pumpkin, wood or coconut to which a split bamboo cane is attached as a neck.

RUDRA VINA

The Rudra-Vina is a very old instrument around which many legends of magic powers have developed. Most of the instrument makers refuse making a Rudra-Vina because they believe it is bad luck to do so.

SARASWATI-VINA

The popularity of the Sitar in the north of India corresponds more or less to the Saraswati-Vina in the southern Indian tradition. It is regarded as belonging to the classical solo instruments and is similarly structured as the Sitar. The whole instrument is manufactured from one piece of wood.

SURMANDAL

The Swarmandal mainly serves to accompany female singers in India who stroke the open strings with their fingers, similar to harp playing, especially when they want to bridge short intervals.

Bowed Instruments

SARANGIOne of the most impressive

timbres of Indian instruments is produced by the Sarangi.

With its unique keen, slightly nasal, melancholic sound it has been a less important melody instrument for a long time which was used mainly for singing and dancing performances.

ESRAJ

The Esraj is a stringed instrument that is mainly popular in Bengal and is used for instance for accompanying Tagore songs whereas it is hardly ever played as a solo instrument in classical Indian music. It has six playing strings and 15 resonance strings.

TANPURAIt is usually stringed with 4 or 5 metal strings (rarely with 6 strings) and it is a basic note instrument and as such an important component in classical Indian music… an ideal companion for musical meditation

Female

Male- length of 140 - 150

MUSICIANSAll musicians are poor; this is the law, but they have a rich tradition to fall back on.

Ustad Ali Akbar KhanUstad Ali Akbar Khan was one of the most accomplished Indian classical musicians, admired all over the world for his brilliant compositions and his mastery of the sarod.

Ustad Amjad Ali KhanUstad Amjad Ali Khan was born at Gwalior Madhya Pradesh in 1945, and is the sixth generation sarod player in his family.Infact , it is said his family invented the sarod.

Hariprasad ChaurasiaPandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, is a world-renowned exponent of the bansuri or bamboo flute. He is one of those rare classical musicians who expanded the peripheries of classical music by taking it to the common masses.

MS SubbulakshmiMS Subbulakshmi was a legendary Carnatic musician. She was popularly known as Nightingale of India. Her rendering of bhajans (devotional songs) was divine and used to enthrall and transfix listeners, and transport them into a different world

Ustad Bismillah KhanThe legendary shehnai player, Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India's most celebrated classical musicians. Bismillah Khan has been credited with taking the shehnai from the marriage mandap to the concert hall.

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Pandit Ravi ShankarRavi Shankar is a legendary sitar player and one of India's most esteemed classical musicians. Pandit Ravi Shankar has made a major contribution in popularizing Indian classical music in the West

Shiv Kumar SharmaShiv Kumar Sharma's name is synonymous with santoor, Indian classical music instrument. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma is credited with single-handedly making the santoor a popular classical instrument.

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Zakir HussainZakir Hussain is a classical tabla virtuoso and the most famous tabla player in India today. His contribution in the field of percussion and in the music world at large is highly appreciated

• AR RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman, who is better known as AR Rahman, is a world-class musician of India. Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6 January 1967 at Chennai in Tamil Nadu, AR Rahman holds the credit for totally overhauling the style in which music was being made in India.

• Pandit Debu ChaudhuriPandit Debu Chaudhuri also known as Debu, is the leading Sitar exponent and a prominent personality in the field of Indian classical music in India. The Indian government presented him with the coveted Padma Bhushan award.

Annapurna DeviAnnapurna Devi,

was born as Roshanara Khan in

1926 was a secluded maestro of Surbahar or the bass Sitar in the classical music

genre.

POP CHANGES WEEK TO WEEK, MONTH TO MONTH. BUT GREAT MUSIC IS LIKE LITERATURE.

-RAVI SHANKAR