Agi loving he via. One ofa serie of miniature pangs rom Rajatnon | depiting the characteristic moods of different raps tis Tod rao Indian music in performance A practical introduction INEILSORRELL and RAM NARAYAN, witha cassette recording by RAMNARAYAN Forenord by YEHUDI MENUHIN MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESSBook Neilf1SertellandRam Naray30 1960 “Cassette recording @Ram Narayan 1960, Allrightsresenved Contents Contents of the cassette v1 Foreword vi Pretace vii ‘ranslveration and pronunciation. x Notation xii Fie published 1980 by Manchester Universiy Pras Oxtord Road, Manchester M13 9L ISBN 07190 0756.9 frtish Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Introduction 1 1 The artist 77 2 The Instruments 33 sore, Nell Tdidn music in performance, Musi, Hindustani History and etiam 2 Malena Peformance ae eee Fer! Lara 4 The rag alone 92 isan o-7190-0756-9 5 The rag with ta 175 6 Accomplete performance 144 Bibliography 175 Glossary 178 Index of terms 147 Typeset by Northern Photoypesetting Co, Bokon Printed in Great Betain by Unwin weathers Limited, The Gresham Press, ‘ld Woking, SurreyContents of the cassette Side 1 (approximately 24 minutes) 4 Tuning ag Bhairav) 2 scale rag Bhairas) 23 alts (rag Bhairav) 4a Thekas: Tinta Ext! JIhapeal Repek ab Rola (extracd 5 Composition (69g Bhairav: sang played oatated example \see pp. 58-9) Chapter 36s. 25.33 Chapter 3B. 3485 Chapter § pp. 118-18 Chapter 5 p13 Chapter § p. 10 Chapter 5 p. 120 (See pp. 130-1 Chapter § Ex 81 Chapter 56x 82 Side 2. {approximately 2} minutes) 1 Complete petformance rag Se) chapter 6 Be 85 Foreword Iu gives me great pleasure to presentthis excellent book tothe ever-widening Uiisnces & Englshspeaking counties who share my fascination with the bescal musical att of India, tis an Indication of how far this interest has rgresed since 1955 when | rst brought indian sic othe UnikedStatesin fhe ersonsf Ali Akbar Khanand ChatuLal and very shortly theretter, Rast Shankar, that lteady to-day, ome Twenty-five years Inter, 30 frorouah, iormativo, lascnating and erudite 2 book can appear. Lm particularly tippy that kis so closely associated with my greatand reveredolleague, Ram Rereyan for heard hin as @young man in ela these many years ago playing {he daly Indian Instrument whiek is bowed and played like our violin, the saesont ut how much more complicated ts, asthe reader will quickly lean, PEO veslsed what a supreme artst he s and what unbelievable sil nd Inaginaton 1s required 10 bring out trem ths somewhat Unwieldy yet [Rate challengingand wonderfulinsrurnent she musicwhichlies within its ody. Altough eur Western violin evolved from its Chinese, Middle-Eastern nd poly even African forebears thas been totaly adopted by an, in fc. ioated ato indian muse, even to being played i a totaly cifferent way — intauion way-equattingon the ground with thevioliasupported on one ofthe Eigtoes, the istfree to oscilate ver widely and,emay say, very accurately in eich of the Indian singing shle. The sarangi remains not only the Mithenfe ond original Indian bowed singed instrument but the ane which ner aunty, adin the bande! Ram Nazajan, most revealingly expresses {Ronen soutof fodion feeling and thought eannct separate the sarangi fram RorNgravan,so thoroughly fused are they, notonly inmy memory but inthe acofihiaubime decicalion ofa grest musiclante aninstrument whieh sno Toner archaic because of the matchless way he has made it speak.Preface “The classical music of North India has atracted much interest outside its homeland butso fer most ofthe books about itavallable in the West have concentrated onis theoretical arpects. The Western concertgoer andstudent item finds it dificule to appretiate ow the theory is applied in actual pelformance and tokio whatte listen for: and itis tosuch alistener that this Pook ic ade-essed the gul between theory and practice stoberemoved we need to know what actually happens i the musi rom the participants’ poine of view. For the sake of claity and concitaness one musician’ performance and explanations have been taken as the main material and incorporated ito an Shuljieal study of the important aspects of North Indian classical music Obviously the book would have litle valdty unless two major criteria weve met the musician should be accepted In his own culture as a leading ‘apocent, and his performance shouldie typical of thatculture. Ram Narayan fashot only esablshed himeelfat leading musician inindia buthas become fone bf the teletvel sal numer to gain a world-wide reputation through ‘Concert tours and disc recordings. n india he isin demand asa concert artist ‘Std teacher He's generally Ben te honoured ile of Paneit learned man} {nd has recently been give prestigious awards which confirm his high status, “These include the Padmasht of the Government of Incia and the award for Hindustan musle ofthe Sangeet Natak Akademi The fact that he plsys the Latur! aditionaly an accompanying fnstrument — only! in’ solo ferlormances i certainly unusual, even unique, but the Kind of music is ypiealof North indian clasial music itis derived com vacal music,to which instcumental musi fs subser len and the sarangi perhaps best suited to this {Uston of vocal and instrumental sles, being one of the most versatile of Indian instruments, The sarangi emerges as one ofthe most beautiful voces (the mot jose) in Indian music and yet at the same rime the victim of Considerable prejudice on account of te asociation with dancing grb, and RamNarayan’e achievement has beea to overcorne much ofthis prejudice and Fealie hit instruments potential to the fll Tor these tensons the sarangi (san especialy interesting and appropriate medium tough which t9 suNey the wide spectrum of Indian music. Bat throughout the book continual slerence is made to other instruments and sles of playing and singing in ofder to give as complete a coverage posible ‘The career of Bam Narayan as typical instrumentalarists discussed inthe fase chapter followed by an examination ofthe sarang! ang the ater main fnvuments and ther funetion, The remaining chapters are about the music Rei How and what the musician practises are considered at some lerath, thee practice not only isthe key to fluent performance but alco sheds some Tight bn the question of improvisstion in Indian music. The progress of tppical performance taring with asecton in which the rag isuntolded alone se contnuing with onein which the rag ssUbjectedo the discipline ats UrGsSineed agsiost he theoretial background of ag and tl, and finally 2 ible nerformancels pesentedin notstionwithan analjsisand commentary, TWdstaltng severelof the polntsmade ear! in the book. Iisthisfinal chapter thick temper te answer the question of what happens in. typical pavformance of North indian casi music By combining the recording with Fatation tis pouible to give a continuous and complete description of a aeemance, rather thaa sieply provide the theoretal information and [ave the rear to apply ita bert he can to whatever performances he may heat aim Narayan’s most tangible and valuable contribution to the book sits prevented isthe casette recording. The material presented there isnot so Flach an ilistration of ides in the tet asa starting point irom which those Jean grew. OF equal Importance to the author in wsiting the book was the Seses Sh intersiens itn Ram Narayan conductod Inthe space of afew days, Sed more Impromptu conversations 4d lessons sretching over sixyea's The Menens were specifically ntendedto cove the opiesplannedor inclusion Inthe book, andar Narayan kindly consented tobe virtually ncareerated in \Fioom'n che Universi of York and subjected to whole days oi conversation, i Ghaehich seas recorded, The insights and explanations thus obtained from iim, and also from several others 2 dlfeent times, are cherished because they come ror respected practising musician, and itis on these foundations that ir bool rest, Any errors, omissions and obscures are, of course, the ic rerporabiiy of teauthor. {should lke to thank Mark Resme for taking the piekogeaphs ofthe instrument, and the following institutions for kindly raking the struments available for protography: University of York: (5,6, $45) Verona and Albert Museum 2,489 12 crown copyrighl; Horniman Midveur 1): Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan 10). The photograph of Ram Narayan tay Sepp Suegen andthe frontispiece rom the Victoria and Albert Musaumy (crown eopsrishsi Indian music in performance Musical terminology, including names of Indian insrument, spelt actor ing f0 the tranviteraion polley, but the diacritial marks are given Shee only in the Glossary, and are omitted in the body ofthe text. Names of people and places pore a ciferent problem. tn many cases there falready an Etcapled English spelling (retained inthis book) which does not conform to the tansiteration policy (Caleurta’ fs 8 good example) and itis the author’ pinion that moseal terme ane other words whieh may be consulted in a ‘Tetionary are moreimportant irom the pointof view of precise andcomsistent transliteration thin nates of people and places. “The Glossary shows the spellings appeas inthe other pages ofthe book, and ss it writen in Devnagri script with tansiteration according to the polieyset out above. A brlel definition given which iskepi very simple and Ffould not be taken as complete butrather usedin conjunction with the fuller discusion ebewhere in the book Notes Inonly afew cases isthe pronunciation sigoifcanly eiferentforSansiit, Ihgyond rhe inclusion ofthe inherent short 2. Also, some of the Sanskrit Tenors not used in Hind have been omitted, while others which are included are found in Hindi but notin Sanskrit. 2 This and the next sx letters wih» dot underneath are cette Consonant the tongue is curled back and touches the hard palate, The Same laters without dot underneath are dental consonants: the tongue fouches the front teeth The English equivalents lie somewhere between thetwo whichis why the rime Ergish words havebeen given forbot sets ‘of corconans in the pronunciation column Notation ‘The purpose ofthe music examples in this book fs to ve as clear an idea as posdble of what happening. They are limited to the main melodie atrumeat (or voice), Tus, when the sarang, tambura and tabla are all [ying only the sarangi partie notated, but in such 3 way a to show how its Birt lato the tal rrrked by the able, Theres earainly no need to notate {he erone, supplied by the tambura(oeyond inciating which nowsare use), he felt tat verbal explanations of the part played on the bla are Preferable to attempting an aetdal notation, mainly because ro really Pleslactory one exis and there would be a rik of complicating the whele Uanscription beyond the limits of usetulnest Inthe Interests of maximum lnty tothe maximum number ofreadersthe stemof aotatonchosen sth Fmilar Western staff notation. Athough alien to Indian music, and tous Unable ce cope with all the subtle nuances of that musi, it én give a “Gmarkably thorough tepresentation. which should be readily {[Smprehensible tothe majority 0 teadats. nia theres no notation system sihlch even attempts to go beyond the simplest outline ofthe music, and rotation in any case not normally used Inthe learning and performance of Ihusie The great simplfcy of the Indian system known assargam (namedalter the notes $8 Re, Gay Ma, ete, and an equivalent of Western tonic soba) elu when nothing but the outline of a musical structure conveyed, and bccasionaly ie sed in this book, “Sagar notation uses the abbreviated names ofthe notesaf the heptatonic vale: fullname Abbreviatedto Sed Se Riabh Re Gandtar G Madhya Ma Pancar Pa Dhaivat Dba Need Ni These abbreviations are used not only in writing butalbon speech and evenin the course ofa voedl performance Lines under natesingicate flattening and ‘erica ine next to a note (applying only to Ma indicates sharpening, These Jigne ate noe however, used n this Book, where the policy Isto request theiv Indian music in performance 1 to do 0 move than learn the abbreviated names ofthe notes; any. egies are shown by the usual Westen signs, I the Indian nove name area with dol above it the uppermost ofthe three main ocaves $PPetieedinindian music and fit appears wth adotDelow kisinthelowest necobhies pote name with no dots therefore in the middle octave Is perant co realise tht these risers are derived from the range of the eaevoice and there sna concertpiich in India, ThusSaiswhatlies suitably eae ice or onthe strument. For the ake of simpliciyand consistency, 58 se yays Cin the sal notation, and apologies must be made o those readers fit peciect pitch who will immediately notice thatthe transcriptions of vtafiaton the casette have been transposed by almost pettect fourth. The itgjon of sargam Tosti notation, appleable v9 this book, may be simply Shown ia bo In sections wth tl some of the Indian notation system has een retained. The sain is shown by a crow (e) and the Khal by a zero (0), Otherwise, the be FE pecialy closes the sang) the bestinstementioascompany the voice because it comes closest to it in sound and technical versatility? r The anise 21 Many other leading instruments of North Indian classical music, for example the sitar, sarod and bin, were used in the past in accompaniment to vocal music, but they have become firmly {established 28 solo instruments, and the only instrument sil used to company vocal music are, apart from the ubiquitous harmonium, bowed instruments — especially the sarangl. “Accompaniment, as wel {sits Indian equivalent sangail, i something af a misnomer, since what thesavangi plays comes ater the vocal part and ismainly an imitation of i thus it’shadows' or ‘echoes’ rather than “goes with’. Itprovidesakind ‘of commentary on the vocal part and fills in the gaps between vocal phrases, when the singer pauses for breath, oF 10 think of the next phrase, or even to listen to the sarangi player. It ison this last point that the controversy arises, Some singers require the constant background music of the sarangi but are otherwise unconcerned with what happens ‘ulside their own performance. They expect the sarangi player tokeep to his rele of imitation, Compare one singer's view of sarangi jecompaniment with that of a sarangi player (Ram Narayan): che singer tmaintained thatthe sarangi player should be there to help the vocalist, and not try 10 steal the show, for in so doing he might destroy the Singer'sse!f-confidence and concentrationand jeopardise the perform- ance, while Ram Nareyan’s view is that the sarangi player is there 10 Keep the vocalist in tune {in addition to the drone instrument, the ‘ambura) and give him inspiration. More than this, he must be more alert than the singer and guide him. Iris only a poor singer who fears that the sarangi player mightstealtheshow, whilea good onewill enjoy the element of friendly compatition and encourage the sarangi player. Ir was parlly this jealousy which he encountered from certain singers that determined ara Narayan to abandon accompaniment anddevote himself to a solo career The implications of vocal accompaniment for a sarangi player's musical knovledge and versatility are far-reaching. He must be conversant with all the vocal styles and forms in North indian classical ‘music as well asbeing at least competentinall the main agsand als. His. ‘music will be vocal in conception (as, 10 repeat a main theme of this book, itshould bel. tis a measure of the close link between thesarangi ‘and vocal music that not only wll any sarang’ player clsimsomeskillasa ‘vocalist but that also many great singers, atleastin recent times, played22. Indian music in performance sarangi (in varying degrees of ability). Curiously enough, a large Huber of these singers eschewedthe accompaniment ofthe saranglin their ov recitals, preferring instead the harmonium, an import from Europe now used widely in all kinds of Indian music, much to the Chagrin of traditionalists. Fear of an accompaniment which is both out Gfiune and too prominent is 2 main reason for rejecting the sarangi. A Ginger, while not necessarily being compelled to accept a particular Sarang? player, soften not familiar with hisaccompanis’s special mers Or failings, ip nearly every case the singer will look down on his Sccompanists, both on sarang’ and tba, [tis the fate of accompanistsin Indiz te bein a conspicuously lower position than the main artist; they fit on either side in attitudes of humility before the master who Gominates the stage. Ifthey are not parciularly good they will probably be taken for granted and have to suffer indifference and virtual anonymity. Those few who are outstanding, however, can command Tespect and attention from both singer and audience. Past soranig) layers like Ghulam Sabir and Gopal Misra fell into this category. Ram Narayan too received acclaim from some, though not al, ofthe singers he accompanied. In his experience, the better the artist the more ely fhe was to give encouragement and appreciation, since a truly good singer need never fear the accompanist who aspires to be his equal Some of those musicians whom he respects as great masters and who ‘id help him by their encouragementweze Omkarnath Thakur, Krishna Rao Shankar Pandit, Mushtaq Hussain Khan (singers) and Ahmad Jan Thitkwa and Kanthe Maharaj (tabla players). These musicians would even express theit admiration in public, during the course of the performance, and the two tabla players mentioned, veritable gianis of Frusic whe knew no supers, would even callout, over theheadot the Singer a were, such things as very good! or ‘play that bi against Shula be remembered that moments of excellence fs an indian performance ats marked by spontaneous outburs of approval, usualy Nerbal and sometimes through clapping, both from the other Portcipating musicians and from the audience.) Ram Narajan’seffots, from the beginning of his career, to elevate thestatu of the sarangi were bound oleadto ibestablshmentssa1tue Solo instrament (in his hands at leasd. Accompaniment, in its stick __sene, held tle attraction for him. Hisaim, even in that stuation, wat " { l The arist 24 to influence the course of events and even the duration of the formance, and to share equally the praise — and blame. Mediocre Fingers resented his assertiveness and mischievousness. He would Uoiberately expose them by emphasising particular notes, thereby Confusing them and making them lose the tonic. Ona singer was led t0 Sind at the right moment, otherwise the sound will be uneven. The { paradox about the tambura is that such an instrument should be used to provide a drone in the first place. A stringed instrument which is plucked seems hardly the best means of ensuring @ constant sound; Better would seem to be a wind instrument like the harmonium, and indeed one does find a small key-less harmonium, called sur pet), used for this purpose, No instrument, however, can match the tombura’s special Umbre which is characterised by a rich and complex harmonic Speeteurn, Not only are the notes vibrant with harmonics, which greatly “sist the intonation of thesinger or instrumentalist, but hey arelasting Thus the tambura Is the ideal drone instrument for the intimate chamber style of indian classical music. Merely plucking the stings Correctly could not give this unique sound. Itisthe design of thebridge, Combining ingenuity with simplicity of means, that contributes most o the seund. Unlike the bridges on insruments lke the violin, those ofthe tambura and siter have a fiat, Bone surface on which the strings lie for ‘bout hall an inch, The front the bridge is led intoa smooth curse so that the tring leaves it ata fine angle. This angle is crucial and must be prepared carefully and periodically adjusted, especially on thesita. fi Bitoo small the sound will be harsh and jangly and if cis coo great the ound will be dull and lifeless, A correct javar, as this curve on the bridge is called, i the main reason for the sweetly shimmering, slighty ‘buzzing tone of the sitar, The same s basicaly true ofthe ambura,butit ig by no means the whole story. On the flat surface of the bridge and Lnder each string is pulled a short length of thread. When it has been pulled to the correct part of the bridge the sound from the plucked Eling suddenly inereases in intensity and duration, and the instrument fits its special buzzing sound, Because ofthese trifling bis of thread the whole instrument seems to become transformed, and itis posible topluck the strings in a fairy slow rhytam without fear thatthe sound 94 the previous string will decay t00 soon. “The tambura player, often a relative, friend or pupil of the main artist, isconcerned only with producing the kind of sound desired by the main antist, who azo tunes the instrument. The plucking of thestrings inno The instruments 45 soy Imended to coincide with notes ofthe melody ot beats of the fal from the very beginning to the ven end ithe tambura starts and ends the piece and continues without any breaks throughout) an independent pattern is maintained, something lke En. 3 ital anche able grag thst cin Hever BE Cle He Pa Dt eee esERTSn el sinc demas than ove dude mentored i hte Survey tras RING tt cE EES Ee eho must always Keep going and never changeOr ese ft Nonally rernocrelt naseersrad ah une ee ne 1 he pate wt bed eta cutee oe pe {i letsgood ban HO be apt rnresr er le Naas dane tema ane eee ee soi Binenclanetne cantare ent aaees sch te sm afte (he fader sah he Beeline car que Waiclaieaae one ean Sa tea oy oreane REMMI iks ee Tat eee gee RENTE |e coer Shatceol of aig eee gear EIR abt aes (osha See en RE ee dere rirtet Snel escapee eee ee cheddar whet at aaah taped see GH fet oped HIE etn eee aE rae ier oan eve anaes cone eestor Teele oreeaEen Ieee aE RMSE aS ad ot Nor nd tiene ee ene ere ee npnicsngtich abana cnBatn oe o eee ee Cae ae ee poten te oe aha la ger eer acer Boies46 Indian music in performance ey ee as Ma $2 Pa/Ma ga fa/Ma Sa Sa Saige Another tuning, pioneered by one of the greatest living sitar playes, aa Vilayat Khan, actualy eliminates one string altogether and keeps the overall register of the instrument high, The first wo strings are again tuned to Ma and Sa and the cikarl 10 Sa and $2, but the middle wo aon ic taned to ary of five osx notes, according to theres. [ far testance, the Ga and Pa ace present in the rag and relatively strong notes the tuning may be’ etewd i : syle aaa teas, RSE (Mist sa rien care esr alent of a major chord on strings 210 6. Another Miningimay have Ca¥ on number 3 and Dhab on number 4 (another Tajowchord, as ithappens), and so on. The points that in the Vilayat Tlontjlestings 310 6are ory played open, numbers 3 and 4sparingly, weal the melody is played on the fust two strings. Another leading | player, Ravishankar, has eone int Iheother direction, exploiting wider Penge and playing melodies in the very ow octave, while Vilayat Khan ie a ee Shem an sees tnd ol mae such as aap. Shc asings of the star are plucked by the first finger ofthe righthand on witch i clipped a metal plectrum, called mizrab, The fiest wo fingers ofthe let hand (occasionally the third also} stop the strings by pressing them agains the curved wire frets of which there are usual pimeloen or tweniy. These fetsareattached tothe longrneck of thesit eboer three fect in length) by threads and can be moved to changeth fale or simply for fine tuning. They obviously help the player find the Sertecr notes and play in tune, and simple plucking is not dificult st the sitar quite easy to play in the beginning stages. Fast pit i presents problems but perhaps the most dffieult aspect of sis Ll iFe I technique, as well as the most distinctive and important is puling the tring sideways with the fingers ofthe lefthand in order fo producethe | slides and subtle ornaments exsential to Indian music Not a great deal is known for certain about the hisiory ofthe sitar, and this not the place to engage in controversial arguments onthe subject, but it seems that the frequent and systematic vse of the pulling technique has come relatively recent}, perhaps only within the las, tighty or hundred years. Vilayat Khar’s graniather, Imdad Khan. was poted farit,and Vilayat Khan himself has developed itto she extent that Fis whole styles based on it. Thesignificant point sthat this represents 4 metging of instrumental and vocal techniques, and the name for this Sojle gay, erally singing’. Yet again we se that instrumental music aspires to the condition and, no less so, to the status 0f vocal music ‘The sitar, surbahar and tambura are all long-necked lutes. Other kinds of plucked stringed instruments of Nerth Indian classical music Include the bin, sarod and surmandal. The bin, or rudra vinais perhaps the most venerable of North Indian instruments like is counterpan, the sarasvati vina, of South Indian music. Unlike the sarasvatl vina o Siter its not clasifiable a a lute but as astick zither. Ithas long about four to five fect) bamboo stick to which are fixed twenty-four immovable straight frets, At each end of the stick is atached a large fourd resonater. (According to one legend the Lord shiva wasinspired| ee create this insiument while contemplating is wife's breasts) There ire usually four main strings and three used as iksri, Nojnstrumentcan {Quite macch the deep and noble tones ofthis instrument which is used Shly for the dignified dhzupad style either solo or with pakhava Sccompariment. Unfortunately, the decline of dhrupad has loco the Jirwal sizappearance of the bin rom the concert hall, Among the ven few distinguished exponents of thislficult instrument are Ustad Asa ‘Ali Khan and Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dager ‘Similar to the bin isthe vcita vina, but the main difference jsthat the later has no frets and the strings are stopped not with the fingers be with a round or ovold piece of glass. This permits slides and ornaments GFthe utmos delicacy and smoothness, and again itis fair to presume] that a closer approximation to the human voice has been the mai Impetus behind the invention of this instrument. Its southern Counterpart is called gottuvadyam, and is played rather more The bin (above) The South Incian wine (below)frequent eauenty ally related chordophones which have a limited but sebeatt tole ia North Indian music are the surmandal (or So MT the satu. Both are hoard zilher, and the aa arse iled a psaliery, wile thesantur may becaleda sacral ae open suing ol the urmandal, tuned the nos of aa ea tked while Tove ofthe saturate stuck with the 1g, ate Potted each hand. Thesntur i used grea deain eae a aah buconly rare in Nonth Indian classical mus, sa emon that, in common with instrument Uke the 1 eet anor profuce the essential ornament. The suman db Ferg efind a drone instsurent for accompanying vocal si fava a per svaly accompanies himselBy tumingthe Ton eter agan. (i use does not obvite the need fra a over ne finds singers wsing Western aurohatps 2% ey dao tvates an onthe cassete Rare Narayan zctomaies accent ty eran te smpatetie stings of ssa 2 eos a etactne may of achieving the same effect SEO ihe main bowed instruments of Tad music cans ie reangl one omer Inporart and inereasineh HOPE Saye must be considered. THs js the sarod, a shon Po ch boos s many resemblances othe sarangi tht one Hees ate ey tea common origin in the rabab ol West and I eee tice one asa plucked equivalent ofthe other. The Central Alea Jed oaden body covered with kin and he front of Fear oaths meta ple. There are usally eight main sted nee polar arestopped wih he ingers ofthe efthand ad Se oe ane stings, and abou! fifteen sympathetc sing four are wed = Chum of the ight hand held a wooden plectum Fre Bee itp end ofthe instrument there is a smal exta four Fee ane obe made of meta. 1 not thought to make muck oped ete ad butte have becn addedto give theinstruments Miler ete ecarance: The Goma scl fatto ne sound 2 that each note bat ae: than Soothe. 3 Practice itis obvious that Indian music, being technically very dtficule, cam only bbe mastered through the most disciplined and assiduous practice. In this there are definite parallels with Western classical music. Both cultures lay considerable stress onvictuesity and solo performance, and the musician is unlikely to sueceed unless he undergoes a very thorough training from an early age. Its easy for the European te take slitheee poinisfor granted, butitshouldbs borne inmind thatin a large number of world musical cultures solo performance and hence solo practice, of the kind found in Indian and Western music, would be i meaningless. This raises a number of questions which are beyond the scope of this book. Suffice it to say that Indian and Western classical music are among those musical cultures, often somewhat clumsily called ‘art musi’, which attach great importance to practice and view sctual performance rather like the tip of the iceberg. ‘The importance of practice How practice relatesto performance in terms of musical content willbe discussed later in this chapter. Fltst some anempt must be made to answer such questions as how much does the musician practise? and how isthe importance oi practice assessed? The first ofthese questions is the easier to answer, and quite a lot has been spoken and written fon the subject. Some indian musicians take their riyae, the word commonly used in North India for practice, to almost fanatical centromes. Dally stretches of between six and twelve hours, er even ‘more, are often mentioned, and such musicians clearly believe that ‘no's satus and credibility ata musician are in ditect proportion to the umber of hours spent practising. Normal eating and sleeping habits ate often sacificed for the sake of the ar, | was told of ene musician ‘who tied his hair to the ceiling to prevent himsell from falling asleep,(8. Indian music in performance and of another who tookhis instrament everywhere he wentso thatany Spare moment could be used for practice. The latter was undoubted, fone of the outstanding musicians of his time ang his sense of ety ee ‘2gualled by a genuine love of his instrument, which is significant. The Sceptic is bound to 23k if long hours of practice will in themselvg, produce excellence, quite apart from the question of whether such fenathy sessions actually did happen. It's reassuring that some erninent ‘musicians in india put the matter Into perspective by stating wha, Should be obvious to any intelligent musician; what and how one practises are more important than how long; ten minutes of corre practice with full concentration ate worth more than any number of hhours of unsystematte doodling. Tc follows from this thatthe musician must be thoroughly trained in the correct methods of practice. In the West, guidance is normally given, but actual practice isleft ro thestudentto doin private between lessons, This often happens in India too, but the traditional way of learning from an ustad or guru means that the student will be under the same roof =: his teacher and therefore al his practice will be supervised. Veteran ‘musicians often speak of lowered musical standards nowadays, and ppoint to the decline of the guru system as a main cause; undoubtedly Thissystem, which integrates music with everyday life, and practice with performance, has contributed enormously to the high standards of Indian music: Another feature, apart fromthe thoroughness which such a system fosters, sts emphasis on patient, unhurried learning, n one hhouseliold, where dhrupad singing was taught, the pupils would practise eath every morning for months on end just holding one nove. ‘They would even go abui their morning chores singing the note, and no further exercises would be attempted until a long and completely Steady sound had been achieved, Several masters would expect thei Students to practise on justa few exercises for between six months and two years before any instruction in rag and actual compositions wes iver) For an aspiring musician to attempt such discipline and to be 50 patient there must be complete trust in the master and complete Gevotion to the art. This word ‘devotion’, like the Sanskrit sachare Which is often used with the same meaning by Hindu musicians indicates an fntegration of musical achievement with the religious Practice 9 specs of harmony and sell-perfection, For Ram Narayan the religious rivation is certainly important; he used to practise daily in the ‘Emples of Udaipur in order, ashe putit, to get inspiration from Gos ‘What Ram Narayan practised then and now isthe main consideration {or she remainder of this chapter, and it sheds light on what I think are Bene of the mos important questions rated: {il what isthe aim of practice? (2) what exactly does the musician practise? {3) how isthe practice systamatised? {g) how doas the material of practice relate to that of performance® ‘The first ofthese questions has ateady been partly answered. It may seem that a general answer is obvious: the aim of practice is technical Mastery. But this simple answer can be qualified in a number of ways. For one thing, technical perfection cannot be the only aim of an improvising musician for whom practice involvesa large and significant tlement of composition. Ram Narayan distinguishes between physical practice and mental practice, the latter being virtually synonymous with Composition, Another leading musician, the late Ustad Amir Khan, fold me that he worked out his ideas in his head on train journeys (which are usualy very lang in India). Ina sense he was practising mentally and in aserse composing: retaining someideas and discarding thers, though of course nothing was ever written down. The Indian Inutician thus spends much time thinking music and thinking about musi and often his practicewillserve to vy outideas which have come inthis way, The more prosaic aspect of practice, namely the pursuit of technical perfection, is stil there, and i should not be surprising that Indian musicians have a practical and workmanlike approach to their art. For Ram Narayan, 2 deeply religious and idealistic man, the main ittobutes of a musician are that he should be in tune, bein time, haves ood tone quality, and have command of fast tempi. These basic ‘qualities, ofa completely practical nature, can only beattained through hard practice Materials for practice Having developed the motivation for practice, which mustcome largely from within, the musician must have the correct material for practice,70 Indian music in performance which must, forthe most part, be taught. But such isthe importance creativity in Indian music that mere repetition of received ideas will ny sufi, The practice must grow from basic exercises so that more ideg, suggest themselves without outside help, and the musician extends hy, technique and repertoire, Constant variation and extension of why, may seem to be relatively litle material is the essence of Indin performance, and it applies equally to practice. Without it sag3tion fccurs, and, in Ram Narayan's words, “the practice daes not mean anything! This is why the teacher will often give a student a small number of simple exercises with instructions to practise therm dally for a yeat ° more. These little exercises, sometimes remarkably similar £0 the Western counterparts, are known in Hin aspaltas (and sometimes by the Sanskrit name afenkara)" and are the fons et origo of fruitl practice, Ram Narayan has devised 2 set of paltas which he uses fo: practice and teaches to his pupils, encouraging them to develop furthe tones on their own, as he did. Naturally, these paltas are particulary suited to the sarangi and to Ram Narayan’s unique style of sarang playing, and he has the concept (alo found in Western music) of particular palta being an exercise for avery specific technical problen, for example, bowing, crossing strings, playing in a particular octave, producing gamak, ete. Pallas for other instruments do net differ very much from the ones given bela, since a good palta develops musical fluency and technical proficiency on whatever instrument itis played, and In all cases the under}ying conception te vocal, Athovgh fan { Narayan tends to practise on relatively few peltas and his entire Tepertoire is not very large it would be pointless to try and give the Complete number here. Rather, is appropriate to offer afew which he regards 2s spedial favourites, and ta show how palas can serve asabasis for performance material, Some of his more important paltes are performed on the cassette and he demonstrates ways of improvising on them and developing them into music sultable for concert performance, A pala is distinguished from other exercises (such as scales) by the factthat t moves within a small range and repeats the constituent notes for example Ex. 4 i which has two's, three Re'sandthreeGa's Thepaltaisthenextended iit the range of the instrument by transpesingitto each degree ofthe geale (E 5) eS & ndescent Ram Narayan tends to keep the shape ofthe palte and simply tpanspose it downwards (Ex. 6) but many other musicians prefer to elicit a further variation, by inversion (Ex. 7). Thispalta isaslightly extended version ofanother,agreat favourite oF am Narayan (Fx. 8) which should be practised at first with one note per bow, then with si hates per bow, an finaly with as mary notes as possible per bow. BOW Control is no less important on the sarangi than on any other bowed iistcument, and the importance of being able to sustain a note with a very slow and steady mavementof thebow cannotbe overestimated. In fis early years Ram Narayan used to practise timing himself for a full minute om one bow. When the above peta is played in one bow the problem of s/ticuleting the repeated notes in themiddle|GaGz MaMa,72. Indian music in performance Practice 73 ‘ete arises. This is usually solved not by altering the speed or pressure og jmagination on what can seem the meagrest of material and extracts the bow, a5 would probably be the case on a European stringed | jeautful and even surprising possibilities iromit. hus the requirement instument but by sightly wobbling te elt hane, producing whateqy | gatthe student should practise only on onor weopaltsisnetaninauit bbe notated as in bx. 3 uta challenge, There is one palta whichis often used in India because ofits enormous variety of note patterns ~ probably more than the ‘fudent will ever need. It is derived from the permutations of a given umber of notes. This can be put quite simply Ec Jor 2 notes there are 2 permutations for 3 notes there are 6 permutations for 4 notes there ate 24 permutations Jor 5 notes there are 120 permutations for 6 notes there are_720 permutations for 7 notes there are 5040 permutations Ain ether wordsasimple embellishment which is typically Indian anda basic part of sarangi technique. Practising with differentbow pressure, accenis on individual notes, and so on is also recommended This simple palta, which already can develop so many basic aspects of technique, may be varied in several ways, for example Ex. 10 EE 2 suming the notes are treated equally Infinive possibilities of variation SS. yaa ee ise if rhythmic alterations, repetitions of notes, ec. are introduced, ee ‘he straightforward permutations of four notes give what is probably % the ideal length and complexity for apata ofthis kin. The structure of Pi this complicated pelts can easily be grasped irom its Sargam notation, cspecilly ifthe note names are further abbreviated to just the intial | = | a | and combinations may be used (E. 12). SRGM SRMG SGMR RGMS [ SGRM SMRG SMGR RMGS ee RSGM SMG GSMR GRMS == Se RGSM RMSG GMSR GMRS ri =| GSRM MSRG MSGR MRGS When thisis played fast with many notesto abow theleithand'wobble | GRSM MRSG MGSR MGRS Is exercised and a fast gamak is produced. Sarangi playing ~ in fact all North Indian classical music — without gamak is as unthinkable as Western classical music without, say, vibrato. The complicated movements of paltas make them tring to play but they help concentration, exercising both fingers and mind. In fact pats, itself meaning varation, generates further variations andis thereforean Important basis for improvlsation. Improvisation in indian music means freedom within relatively tight constraints; the artist exercises his tobe read one column (downwards) ata time. Ths also given in staff notation as Bx. 13, ee74. Indian music in performance Practice 75 The next stage, a6 usual, to transpose the whole thing to star on { successive degrees of the scale, which would make the whole exercise + ten times the length ofthis notated extract its played in aacent and | descent within the compass of only one octave: ‘Mastery ofthis kind of exercise notonly improves technique But aie enriches the musician’s store of ideas for improvisation by Concenteating his attention on the abundant potential of such limites ater In the next chapter we shall see hows, in the alap portion of Tig performance, the musician explores the melodic possibile, Inherent in just afew notes. Iv is an open secret that practising pala, uch as his one has helped many ofthe leading artists to establish thei: Tepttations as fluent improvisers. The transformation of exercise to rusic suitable for performance, hawever, is not without difficulties in this ease. Several of the permutations would violste the rules of 2 particular rag, so the musician would need a thorough knowledgei / frder to use the pala in 973g Practice into performance The relationship between exercise and ea” music very intrestig | Ti of cbrral concern to thischaptr. As have implied sofa, there oe the separation beaveen these categories n Indian music that find in Weavern sie: Ramn Narayan is by no means alone in tressig the importance of pales end other pracee material asa ba ft improwation sed susie generally presented to an audience We hv areigy seen how one pats exerdees gamak- The ptt can lio Bes! | b 3s the starting point of a more extended line (Ex. 14 | in which the last four notes of the palta Sa Re Ga Ga Re Sa (Ex. 8) are ited. The rest ofthe line isa straight ascent and descent of a particular gland itwould be modified to ft other rags). Such extended patterns Gf notes, usualy played or sung fast, are called tans, When they are perlormed very fast they add a very obviously vituosic dimension to fiian music, and almost any performance one is likely to hear ewadays will abound in them. For Ram Narayan the relationship fReosecn tan and palta is 50 close that, in his words, ‘every tan has some portion ofpala’. This becomes apparentto anyone fortunate enough to Fear both his practice and his concerts, The starting point is a tnowledge of several paltas; from thete others are composed, and the treater the repertoire the greater the variety of 127s, which must be Srotacterised by interesting and distinctive melodic shapes, Not only must tans canform to the rules ofthe rag but they must also fieinto a particular ta if they are to be performed inthe section of the performance with table accompaniment. This willbe dealt within the heat chapters, but a few examples may be given here of tans in fartcular rags 'and tale which clearly show their derivation from paltas fathough they were not espacally composed to demonstrate this but eextracted [rom the course of actual performances). In each case the tan is given, followed by the palla from which itis derived. Inthe first ‘example (Ex. 15) the rag is Marva and the tan isin the twelve-beat Ekta: ets Inthe next three examples (xs, 16-18) theragis Yaman and thetansarein the sixteen-beat Tinal: exis 76 Indian muse in performance prscice. 77 Practising in rag and tal fe dee tls batneen paca ar cea I a Ease ccghalies te eee ree loins cn beac ating tnodenee ae eee ainaconr br eee eee ae Fea a ee ee ae Hosen uu cunans a) crcl bean amd Beonerrernerr ci ce Se eee ere ccnen ee eee es annot be used, since the rag has no Re and the Gai flat. But even the modified version (Ex. 20) is unsatisfactory, since in Malkos Ma should be a much stronger note than Ga®, Thus we arrive at the ideal solution (Ex. 21), which on the furface is not very different but fits the rag much beiter. a Keeping to the example of ag Malkos, probably the most common pentatonic rag, we-can examine other aspects of practice. Considerable Importance hss been attached to palas, but it should not be thought fat they are the only practice material Asin the West, scales are an inportant part not only of practice butaso of performed msc. Indian Imusic, especially in #98 tempi, Uses stales a great deal, The four tans rotated above (Fxs 15-18) may tart out as pala but hey allcontinue in trove scalar patterns, ironing out, as itwere, the angularitiesand narrow' | 78 Indian masic in performance bends of the paltas, There fs, however, an important diferenc Petveen the Indian and Western concepts of scale: a Western scale enerally has. constant interval structure (sequence of intervals) and ae fe (ansposed ast stands into any key, butin Indian music which Goes not permit a change of tonic anyway, the internal organisation of coos ote Hepends on the rag 30 that most scales differ in thelr interval Bre Sane, Very few rags would permit anything sounding like the Western major or minor scales, up and down. The tendency C0 Omi aera notes, especially inthe ascending line, so that most as which Ceeaan eer tes in thei descending line have fewer than seven inthe peSaahag line. All kinds of ocher ules lixhich willbe discussed in more ast in the next chapter) must be observed ifthe scale Isto the rag Since Malkos only has five notes, all of them are used bothin ascent and descent (Ex. 22) x22 This in itself i dificult to play on most instruments, including the siren Because ofthe large gaps (Sato GaP and Mato Dat} soit mus sar practizedcarelully before any other detals ofrag Malkos ae tackled (# Te Practice 73 jjation and help create a“porteat of the rag; they musttherei isl y mustthereforebe sr nnd ren arcing in orderto bringoutthe character ofthe sor hichin thiseases generally consideredtobe vile and dignified), Fe eppes not mean that the rag canrot be canceled in anether, ore Tasssr way: much depends on the background and atitude of both abstfer and pupil. Apart from the musical ‘ules’ of the fag it the te which the student mustlear and understand, and the words (i tere merely an aid to this understanding. Thecomposiion, whether 2) socal (with words), oF purely instrumental (without), will bein a ular ta, and the musilan must keep the rhythm of the eal in his part throughout. Usually there is no tabla player on hand during acice *0 keep the thythm for him, and even when tabla Pe paniment is provided he shouldstll be able to keep the al inhis head, FPatas and scales may also be organised in the framework ofa tal. A da ample is the ascending and descending line of rag Bhimplasi, ich may be played on the sarangi as in Ex. 25 &, Ber esbloms @ intonation and ornamentation. The j the thiny-two notes fit very conveniently Ito the Nos commen saree ub and Dhal should be played slat and the note Ma should be ‘approached by a side from below (bx. 23) a rather than from above (Ex. 24) & ee From thiskind of knowledge ofthe rag the student goes on to lear composition, which, assuming itis vocal in origin, will probably have cape hese words, often describing the Lord Shiva in this rag, serves! ei dla Tal which nas sheen bess For practice purposes erty tte cocering met ofthe uments ange, can be eed rather Ike's fixed compostion around which varalions are ree ea crerything fig ino Tinta Some ese varaors nay | intoduce snatches of paltas and develop int fully-fledged tans In ek the practice becomes virtually indistinguishable from actual performance, Methods of practice ‘this point a distinction between practice and rehearsal canbe made. Inthe West these may be broadly differentiated asa solo activity, in the cue of practice, nd group activity in the case of rehearsal Practice Shs nvclves exercises, scales, eC, whereas rehearsal means thefi tndian music sa performance preparation ofa fixed piece for performance. Practice certainly exis ig Tada, where the musical terminology includes at least one word for, Rehearsal, on the other hand, is rare and a musician, ifhe talks about, is likely to use the word’practice'or one ofits Indian equivalents. Ver Shten the soloist will not have played withthe cabla player (and anyone Ghse involved in the performance) before the concert; the artists may Even be complete strangers to each other. More likely, however, the train musician will perform 26 often as possible with the seme tabi, player, whom he knows and trusts There may well be some practice Fesslons involving both musicians in which they adjust to each others temperament and try out various ideas, but itis extremely unlikely thi they will even attempt to play through an entire piece in the way t might happen in performance. The most obvious reason for this ithe Amount of improvisation ~ spontaneous creation ~ involved in the fhuste, but alsa significant isthe fact that Indian music ix essentially. Solo aftThe tabla accompanist provides an audible realisation of abe, Val which is already in the main artist's mind» thus abl ployer iso, indispensable to this artist's practice, nd rehearsal isnotasimportantas inthe West, where its a prerequisite of a successful performance involving more than one musician Ram Narayan and other North Indian musicians of my acqueiniance do not, then, practise - of rehearse entire concert pieces by playing them throughs as a Western musician would. Theoretically, the India musician could do ths, even allowing for the claims of improvisation anu the lack ofa fixed [notated or otherwise] version of aconcert piece. ‘less advanced musician may prefer to rehearse a piece beforehand ind, having fixed iin as much detall 5 possible, present iin this tried ahd trusted way, taking no risk, Ie says alot for the leading musics that they are confident and experienced enough toleave the detallsoi| performance to the moment and inspiration of the performance ise What is played during practice and performance may bear sutprisnay litte resemblance to each other, although, a | have tried to show, the fone is unquestionably the basis for the other. There is nothing - oF should be nothing ~ unsystematic about Indit music practice. The more systematiit the less time it needs and te Trote encompasses, After three years af hard practice Ram Nara Teamnt exactly what wasof value and what wasmnot, and since that time ike Practice 81 ssnever had £0 practise more than three hous day. He admits that emeef the time spent in those arly years was wésied. The duly ser se was grueling by any standarG 1020 asm t05 pam, andagain Hae fo dasa right Once hehad gained mastery oftisimsuurrent tame to syatematize his practice he could not only reduce the Jiars but go for days or weeks without practice and then only ned howe of Woursa day or about fourdastoregain his form, Sar (aiPeskedtopiy aragith which helsnotveryfomllarhe wilfpractse pra tow day concentatng on ie ascending and desconding ine tn afew pales which he hs composed and chosen fortha particular 0 lshghl likely that he and mioicansin general, proce lar mote Apt they scaly pst Thecorenon hat aug mony be Petoxmed a particular time’ ofthe day or night does ot spply fo Price. Even i all is performance are between the houts of & pm. Bef puma the music must know ras of ether tes of day The ‘Cans fr ths wll be examined inthe next chapter Sulfice it to say ecthat one ofthe functions of practice the thorough knowedge of foteal wich might never be wsedinactal performance sewellas of that which most deaf Examples on the cassette: scales and paltas Items and 3 on side ofthe cassette illustrate some of the materialsand ‘methods of practice discussed in this chapter. They are in the moraing fag Bhairav, The frst one presents the scale of the rag, with variations, tnd the second presents some paltas, with ways of developing them. ach note of the scale is first played with one bow in a slow tempo. The zim of the exercise subsequently isto keep the bow speed mare ot less ‘constant while gradually Increasing the speed of the left hand, in other words gradually fitting in more notesper bow. The fist example (Ex. 26) B26 presents the scale with one note per bow, the second (Ex. 27)2 Indian music in performance with two notes per bow, the third (Ex. 28) x28 ; (ie er Sie as eaeold pet er arcina rh > 28 sith four notesper bow. The exercise could be continued with fives, even and cight nates per bow, but Ram Narayan, while keeping tothe Spirit, departs from the letter ofthis straightforward pattern, although hhe does end by playing eight notes per bow (Ex. 32. This final versions preceded by two which areirregular. x. 30starts outwith fvenotesper bow but has an overall sequence of 5+8-8:813 notes per bow. Similarly, Fx, 31 starts out with six notes par bow but continues to produce an overall sequence of 6+8+8+8+2 notes per bow. 539, Practice Be Such scales are to Indian music precisely what they are to Wester! Imusic: excellent practice material but not quite ‘real’ music a thes Stand. It is easier to justify this remark in terms of Indian musi “| Western, since the scale as played here could not be called ag Bate. | ( hisdictum that ‘palta makes tans’ The fi lin rag Bhairav, Ram Narayan goes on to demonstrate some id developing them, Hlustating ‘one (Ex. 34) may Sound like ={4 Indian music in performance Y Practice 65 random siting of notes, but analysis reveals that itis a regular thirtesp, getween xs. 35 and 36 Ram Narayan plays the open first string twice, | Pee eos ercer coer Sa Reb Ga Reb $a Reb Ga Ma Ga Reb Ga Reb Sa with an implied internal grouping of 4+4+2+3 notes falthough anothe, possibility 5-5-3). 3 “This is subtly disrupted in the next playing -the same pafte but withine smaller range~ by the asymmetrical bowing and disposition af accents & site The preceding palta moved entiely step-wise. The next one (Ex. 37) introduces a leap of a third!{Indian music in perforane Practice Sa Reb Ga Ma Re? Sa It's played quite slowly with two notes per bow, t | | t oe \ The third version fe 91 sgainan improvisation, nthe form oso | ; tan, on the palta. t | | SSS ‘When this repeated note i incorporated into one bow, 2 nthe next czample (®x 41), femust be played with gamak: bu J A99 Incian music In performance Practice 91 ‘The increasing length and musical interest of these examples shows how simple exercises can be spontaneously iranslormed inte something more sophisticated. The imagination of the musician and his, Allin Improvisation enable him to extend a small amount of material intolong sections of music. Practice becomes virtually inistinguishable from real performance and this ereaive process sat he heart of North, Indian classical music Notes 1 ate lneraly meansaretunaranexchange. Thiscanbe extended to mean ‘Tuscalvanation and heterm can also reer tovanaionsinghe course te performance gs, fr example, nthe pakas of tabla solo. Amvara none frnamen’ or decoration and can alsa virus synonymous wi gama int general sense of embelishment 2 Indian musicians often tlk these terms and the immediate question Aatreltwe to what’ The only answer relative to oer ra using the same notes Thure area few musica who have an absalic sale of imicrotanes, ind many thoorts maintsin that intonation 1 raid SSsematised downto the smallest det 1am doubifu on tis pint and alierur tothe highly controversial aspect at ndion music the nest chapter