Hindustani Music

Hindustani Music

Music is a fact of life that we take for granted. A child starts crooning tunes long before learning to speak. From the beginning to the end of our life, we come across, appreciate and listen attentively to the form of music that appeals to us most. And unless one has an extremely inquisitive disposition, one naturally ignores investigation into something that permeates our daily routine from start to finish. I am attempting here to explore the North Indian music (Hindustani music).

Music has always occupied a central place in the imagination of Indians. The range of musical phenomenon in India, and indeed the rest of South Asia, extends from simple melodies, commonly encountered among hill tribes, to what is one of the most well- developed "systems" of classical music in the world. Indian music can be considered to be one of the oldest unbroken traditions in the world. The basis for Indian music can be derived from Sangeet, which involves vocal music, instrumental music, and dance. It is said that the origins of this system go back to the Vedas (ancient scripts of the Hindus).Indian music has seven modes and follows modulation like the Greek music. Sangeet is the basis of Indian music which consists of three art forms: vocal, instrumental, and dance.

Vocal music occupies a considerable part of Natya Shastra. The "Samaveda" is the oldest musical text in India. Most of the classical songs of north India are devotional in nature, but there are few genres which are especially oriented toward religion. Most notable is the bhajan, dhun or kirtan for Hindus, the kawali (qawali) for Muslims, and the shabad for Sikhs. Not all the music is serious; there are also many popular genres. The gazal is one style, which is known for it rich poetic, and romantic content. The Hindi geet which is basically just a song and undoubtedly the most popular is the film song .There are also a few genres which are oriented specifically toward musical education. The most notable example is a genre called lakshan geet. In this style the words of the song actually describe the rag which is being performed. India also has a rich tradition of folk music. These will vary from region to region.

The term "Indian Classical Music" refers to two related, but distinct, traditions rooted in antiquity. Both are very much alive in India today. The North Indian style is known as "Hindustani", while the South Indian tradition is referred to as "Carnatic". They vary in nomenclature and performance, even the instruments differ. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Smt. Gangubai Hangal are vocalists well known to Hindustani music fans.

Indian music is different from Western music in two major ways:

1. All of Indian classical music is melody, and

2. Indian classical music is never written down, and cannot be played off a written score

If it was played off the score, it would lose its authenticity. Over centuries, the artists learn to play or sing by listening to the song. As the artist learns the song and plays it, he adds his own authenticity to the song. In this way, the work of numerous generations has been put together to make a singular song that has been made seamless over the years. This is how Indian music has survived over the years.

An important part of Hindustani music is the gharanas. A gharana is more a school of thought than an institution. It is a school of a particular style of singing or playing instruments. Each of the gharanas has distinct facets and styles of presentation and performance.

The basic scale of Hindustani music is similar to the western 12-note scale. The main difference is that the Hindustani scale is not tempered. Thus, the intervals between consecutive notes are not equal. They can be slightly varied to produce a feeling or atmosphere in accordance with the way they are singing. The notes themselves have different names. The Western convention for Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti is called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni in Indian classical music. These represent the seven white keys on the keyboard. Then there are also five more intermediate notes. These are Komal Re, Komal Ga, Tivra Ma, Komal Dha and Komal Ni. These notes correspond to the black keys on a keyboard.

The combination of these notes is called Raga. A Raga is a subset of notes ranging in number from five to eight, with a set of rules that are made to create a certain mood. How the performer uses this, is what separates some artists from other, better artists. Raga specifies rules for movements up (arohanam ) and down (avarohanam ) the scale, which notes should figure more and which notes should be used more sparingly, which notes may be sung with gamaka (particular ways of ornamenting certain notes with slides and oscillations), phrases to be used, phrases to be avoided, and so on. Each Raga has a name. A Raga also has a time of day at which it will be best performed. It also has a character, which can be devotional, erotic, bold and valorous, or tragic. Some Ragas are related to seasons, for example the Malhar Ragas are performed mainly in the monsoon season. These Ragas also work just as well with instrumentals.

Raga is not a tune, melody, scale, mode, or any concept for which an English word exists. It is instead a combination of different characteristics. It is these characteristics, which define the Raga. There must be the notes of the Raga. They are called the "Swar" . There must also be a modal structure. This is called "That" in Hindustani music and "Mela" in Carnatic music. There is also the "Jati". "Jati" is the number of notes used in the Raga. There must also be the ascending and descending structure. This is called Arohana/Avarohana. Another characteristic is that the various notes do not have the same level of significance. Some are important and others less important. The important notes are called "Vadi" and less important are called "Samavadi". There are often characteristic movements to the Raga. This is called either "Pakad".

The two main streams of Indian classical music, Hindustani and Carnatic make use of melodies, not harmonies (harmonies are used in western classical music). They have the same structuring principles. The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called "Tala"."Tala" means "clap". The tabla (Indian drum instrument) has replaced the clap in the performance, but the term still reflects the origin. The basic concepts of "Tala" are "Tali", "Khali", "Vibhag",