Indian Classical Music by Dr. Made Mantle Hood

MUS1100Semester 1, 2006

Lecture Outline - India

• Part I Breif Histroical Background• Part II Instruments and Music Form• Part III Raga and Mode• Part IV Tala and Tintal Rhythm• Part V Khyal –vocal example

Part I Brief Historical Background

• 3000BC – Civilization in the great Indus Valley are labeled Hindus by Persians, Sindhu is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘river’

• 400BC – Mahabharata and Ramayana Epics are written down and influence the performing arts

• 13th Cen. AD – Northern India is overrun by Muslims, the South maintains Hinduism

• 16th Cen. – Two related but distinct musical styles emerge, Hindustani in the north, Karnatak in the south

Northern India

Hindustani music

Southern India

Karnatak music(from May, E. ed., Music of Many

Cultures, Berkeley 1980)

• 17th Cen. – British Empire takes ‘the jewel of their colonies’• 19th Cen. – Patronized instrumental virtuosity begins after

predominantly vocal tradition (Druphad) Ex. Bin player Nyamat Khan

20th Cen. – Indian music goes global• Adaptation of the European violin, clarinet, and harmonium

for classical music • Bollywood cinema music explodes enjoyed by the masses • Ravi Shanker and the Beatles• Yoga, karma and Mahatma Gandhi (peaceful protest/non-

violence)

Music Types: • Folk – work, festival and devotional songs regular rhythm,

simple melodies, suggests movement and social togetherness through gang singing, verse and chorus structure.

• Listening Example: Purna das Baul, Rough Guide to Indian Music, Crammed Discs

• Classical – highly virtuosic instrumental and vocal ‘art music’ that emphasizes an introspective and meditative side of music through a single line of melody, drone and drumming.

• Listening Example: Amjad Ali Khan, Navras Records trk. 9

Part II Instruments and Forms

• Sitar – plucked lute with 7 principal strings and 10-12 sympathetic strings, moveable frets, gourd resonators (single line melody) (from May, E. ed., Music of Many Cultures, Berkeley 1980)

Drone instrument

• Tambur – 4-stringed long neck lute, played with one hand (melodic drone) (from May, E. ed., Music of Many Cultures, Berkeley 1980)

Drum

• Tabla – a pair of bowl-shaped tuned membranophones, wax tuning paste, layered heads (drumming) (from May, E. ed., Music of

Many Cultures, Berkeley 1980)

Musical Form and Improvisation

• Alap, Jor/Jhala, Gat - Tripartite musical form where sections are differentiated by the relative emphasis on melody or rhythm and progress on a continuum from slow, unmetered to moderate, to fast tempo.

• Alap:• Emphasis solely on melody through improvised expression of mode (raga)• Gradual presentation of principal pitches in a mode• Builds climax through constantly rising pitch register• As register rises, tension is released in anticipation of regular rhythm

• Jor/Jhala:• Pulsating rhythm from the end of the alap culminates• For example sitar plucks regular rhythm• Typically introduces melodic motive

• Gat (Druhpad):• Tabla drum enters and provides tal (rhythm)• Gradual progression of tempo• Increasing emphasis on rhythm (tala)Listening Example, Ali Akbar Khan, track 1 – Rough Guide of Indian Music, BMI Records

Part III Raga and Mode

• Raga:A system that encompasses the given elements of a melodic

nature including:• A hierarchy of pitches• Distinctive melodic shape/register• Characteristic ornamentation• Extra-musical associations

• Time of day (night raga/morning raga)• Seasons (time of year)• Emotional state of mind

Rag example – Bageshri - hierarchy of pitches/mode• Ascending (Aroha) C, Eflat, F, G, A, Bflat

• Descending (Avroha) C, Bflat, A, G, F, Eflat, D, C

• Saragam – Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa solfege syllables

• Vadi – principal pitch of the rag similar to Tonic Samvadi – 2nd principal pitch similar to Dominant

Oranmentation

Gamak – ornamentation in terms of:• Grace notes• Slurs and slides• Slight vibrato• Wide vibrato

Listening example – D.N. South Indian traverse flute, tambur, violin and merdangam drum. Rough Guide to Indian Music ‘Classical Karnatic Flute’ Nimbus Records.

Part IV Tala and Tintal

Tala – a term used to describe the Indian metric system• Refers to meters measured out in terms of specified cycles

of counts• Ex. Western meter ¾ is a cycle of 3 counts, 4/4 a cycle of

4 counts.

• Tintal – Indian meter with 16 counts• Ektal – “ with 12 counts

Keeping Tal counts are subdivided to give rhythmic weighting

• Tintal: hand clap and wave integrated to ‘keep the tal’• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16• x x o x

• x = soft clap o = wave

• Indian audiences will often keep the tal during performance• Rhythmic theoretical framework that functions as the

container for improvisation• Sam is the beginning and simultaneously the end of a

phrase

Part IV Khyal vocal

• Listening Example: The Raga Guide, 74 Hindustani Ragas, Nimbus records, 1999.

• Raga – Alhaiya Bilavel• Tala – Tintal

• 1. Intro alap and the principal tones C, E, and G to outline raga

• 2. Cycles 1-12 elaboration around raga and refrain text Kavana batariya, long sustained note end of cycles 11 and 12.

• 3. Cycles 13-22 – gamak tana ornamentation or fast melodic patterns in the voice are featured

• 4. Cycles 23-32 – long gamak tana are featured until the end of the piece.

Library Listening• India• Shivkumar Sharma and Sakir Hussain, Raga Purya Kalyan (Classical Indian Music). • WDR Cologne 1980, CD1269

• Trk 1 Dadra Santour and Tabla

• The Rough Guide of the Music of India and Pakistan, World Music Network, CD2515.• Track 1 Ali Akbar Khan with Asha Bhosle: Guru Bandana (prayer) Composed by Ali Akbar Khan.

Words traditional P and C 1996 AMMP/BMI.

• Trk 2 Purna Das Baul: Agun Pani composed by Purna Das Baul and Subhendu Das Words Traditional 1994 Cramworld/Crammed Discs.

• Track 9 Amjad Ali Khan: Extract from Raga Bhairav. Traditional arranged by Amjad Ali Khan. Published by Navras Records Ltd. From Navras Records Ltd.

• Track 11 Dr. N. Ramani: Ninnade Traditional arranged by Dr. N. Ramani. Copyright Control. Pub. Nimbus Records. From the Album ‘Classical Karnatic Flute’