Genre Research

Indian Classical

Vijay Singh Gola

Classical/ Traditional (1)

• One convention of Indian classical (IC) music which is similar to European Classical (EC) is that songs will only use traditional instruments such as a tabla or dholki (types of drums), harmoniums and etc… just how in the European version, instruments such as harps and violins are used which are not seen as particularly modern. The difference the two styles of classical have while comparing instruments is who plays them, for example, in EC a musician who can play a harp or violin is considered a very accomplished person where in IC it’s common for people of all Classes to be able to play the traditional instruments.

Classical/ Traditional (2) • Another feature which IC has is that there is almost always

someone singing, and it would be about an event e.g. a wedding or a special festival or even about love. In EC, singing is almost completely avoided, the only example when singing is used is in opera however opera does not have guaranteed singing.

• This is important because if you were to make a music video on IC, it means you will already have an outline which you can follow, so for example if a song was about a festival, you would be able to film and make shots of the different ceremonies taking place while inserting the appropriate music into it. It also means it’s easier to focus on a specific character; the singer, and can make the whole video less confusing. This genre is useful because it means that the music is easier to follow and it’s also clear so you know exactly what instruments are being placed and what words are being sung.

Classical/ Traditional (3)

• Overall its important to consider this genre of Indian music as it is still extremely popular and may be compared as the more soulful type of pop in our own society.

• A good song to consider which contains these conventions would be ‘Mamala Garbar Hai.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Jd-x-nAD0

• This song is about a pre wedding ceremony and the lexis used refers to the male and making him seem like a funny Character by saying (in Punjabi!) “the lad sneaks out at night to go to pub and drink, because he’s nervous …”

• This is a good example because you can easily identify that different instruments are used and what the singing is about aligns with the conventions.

Music which use traditional and classical styles and themes

This is a songs list which contains some tracks of music which would be considered to have this Indian genres style or theme. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Jd-x-nAD0 Mamala

Gar Bar Hai – Gurdas Maan • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BhivVIZQ6s Ghalla

Gurian – Punjabi MC • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSJ_jcEPOu0 Aaj Mausam

– Mohammed Rafi • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjuVjasezig Kali Teri Gut –

Asa Singh

(Additional info) Mainstream Today, most Indian themed songs are from the Bhangra genre or even drum and base. This, in my opinion is because of the instrument know as a dhol.

A dhol is a larger type of drum which requires specialist drum sticks (carved out of wood) to play. The dhol also serves as one of the conventions to mainstream Indian Music and is fair to presume that it will continue to be so in the future.Despite this, there are songs which are popular to the largest of audiences because they have traditional influences but are new because of the use of technology to add sounds which you wouldn’t be able to make normally.

(additional info) Bhangra

• Bangra originates from the Punjab region and the main convention is that it is lively. It is seen as extremely upbeat and many people would play this at parties because you can dance to it in sync and Bangra even has its own dance form.

• Recently, artists such as Punjabi MC have tried to integrate classical themes into Bangra, although would keep the music updated by using DJ decks and special effect sounds. This shows that even today, music audiences enjoy listening to ‘tranquil’ music as well as upbeat.

• A song which shows integration of the two genres is by Punjabi MC and is called ‘Kuriyan Punjab Diyan.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Lrx-8ywuQ

Extra : Indian themes in ‘western’ societyWestern Society has also been affected by Indian Genres and many songs have been influenced by it such as;

• Artist Selena Gomez made a song called ‘Come and get it’ which has people playing the Tabla drums dressed in traditional Indian costume. The main influence is even from Classical Indian Genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-D1EB74Ckg

• Maroon 5’s song ‘Daylight’ features various different influences from many different backgrounds including Indian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqR-ElB5kXY

• Finally, a song that is from a Bhangra background has been mixed with a ‘grime’ rap song. It is by Kray Twinz ft. Twista, Lethal B & Gappy Ranks and is called ‘What We Do.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYk635pttNQ