Indian Classical Music from a Student's Point of View

Indian classical music is a tradition nearly three thousand years old, the basis of which can be traced to the holy scriptures of the Hindus, the Vedas. According to Hindu mythology music originated from the first sound of the universe, the sound of om. Omis also called the Naada Brahama (the first note) as is supposed to be the purest sound ever produced. In fact, the correct rendition of it is believed to clear the system of the karmic cycle. Sarasvati, the Hindu goddess of learning and wisdom, is often depicted as playing theveena, an ancient string instrument. Many musicians worship Sarasvati before a practice session or a performance. The Hindu god Krishna is often depicted as playing the bansuri(the north Indian bamboo flute) and there exist many a mystic legends around the romances of Krishna and his bansuri. It is not surprising then that the prime themes of Hindustani music are rasleelas (Hindu devotionals) of Krishna and Nature's splendor. A listener coming from a background of Western music should not judge Indian classical music on the same parameters. Indian music does not have harmonies and is more of a solo-oriented form which relies heavily on melody and rhythm, and the ability of a performer to improvise on stage. Most performances are not rehearsed and the success of a performance relies on how well the performer can induce a certain mood in the minds of the listeners. Technically, Indian classical music can broadly be defined in terms of two basic elements - the raga and the tala. The raga is the basis of melody. The term raga literally means colour, andso the raga is 'that which colours the mind'. It is supposed to induce an emotion or a mood - tranquility, devotion, eroticism, loneliness, pathos, and heroism to name a few. The raga could be considered as a set of rules or constraints that binds a performance, constraints within which a performer is free to improvise. Another fascinating aspect of the ragas is that most of them are associated with a time of the day in which they are to be performed - the time is generally specified by intervals of three hours and corresponds to the mood that is supposed to be associated

with that time of the day. Some ragas, like raga malhar for example, are associated with specific seasons. The raga is closely tied to the tala (the rhythm). The tabla, a unique kind of drum, serves as the main percussion instrument. The talas are often depicted as bolsor spoken words which are then adapted by the tabla player in his playing. Indian classical music has developed into two distinct but related traditions. The north Indian tradition is generally referred to as Hindustani music and the south Indian tradition is called Carnatic(or Karnatak) music. The south Indian form has well defined, stricter rules, and is therefore more rigid than the north Indian style, which is comparatively more flexible. The advent of Islamic rule under the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire in northern India during the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries caused the fusion of Hindu and Muslim ideas. This also marked the separation of the north Indian tradition from the tradition of the south, the Carnatic remaining untouched by other cultures, retaining its original form. Amir Khusrau, a legendary musician and sufi poet is credited with the merging of Indian and Persian ideas and creation of forms such as the qawwali and the khayal. Tansen, another legendary figure who was, consideredone of the nine jewels in the Mughal emperor Akbar'scourt, is reputed to have had such power in his music that he could light lamps and bring rain by his singing. Many current ragas like raga deepak are attributed to him. A number of musical instruments are associated with Hindustani classical music. Theveena is a string instrument which has traditional and mythological significance but very few play it today and it has largely been superseded by its cousins the sitarand thesarod. The santoor is another famous (plucked) string instrument. Among bowed instruments, the sarangi, esraj (or dilruba) and violin are popular. The bansuri (bamboo flute), shehnai and harmonium are important wind instruments. For percussion, thetablaand the pakhavaj are the most popular. Various other instruments (including the banjo and the piano) have also been used in varying degrees. Indian classical music has always been an oral tradition. It has been passed on from theguru (teacher) to his shishya (disciple) through word of mouth. Therefore, there are

not many written works available on the subject. There exists no sheet music or uniform written notation in Indian classical music as in the Western classical tradition. The basis of the tradition, the ragais supposed to be something that can only be felt by listening and feelings cannot be put down on paper. The gurukuls and the Guru-Shishya parampara has been the soul of this oral tradition. The gurukul is a type of an ancient Indian school in which the students lived inside the premises, in close proximity to the guru. The student not only learns from the guru but also helps the guru in his day-to-day life, helps doing mundane chores such as washing clothes, cooking, etc. The guru is much more than just a teacher; he is a parent, a guide,even a philosopher, encouraging the pupil to imbibe crucial moral values. Indian classical music has had many great performers. A lot of people in the west associate Indian classical music with Pandit Ravi Shankar and the late Ustad Allah Rakha who brought this tradition to the west during the late 60s and the early 70s. There are a lot of contemporary performers who are bringing popularity and fame to this ancient tradition including Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Bhim Sen Joshi, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Vilayat Khan to name just a few.

The Swara-s and The Saptak

In Hindustani music there are seven main swara-s or notes. These notes correspond to the solfege in western music. The names of the seven swaras are Shadja (Sa), Rishab(Re), Gandhr (Ga), Madhyam (Ma), Pancham (Pa), Dhaivat ( Dha) and Nishd (Ni) but they are usually referred to by their coresponding symbols for convenience. This group of seven notes is called the saptak (sapt=seven). The eighth note is the repitition of the first, but is one octave higher. This scale is analogous to the Western major scale. If we consider C note(the first white key) on a piano or keyboard as the tonic or the Sa, then the position of the other notes would be as follows. The seven swara-s occupy the seven white keys of the keyboard. This is shown below.

It can be seen above that in between the seven swara-s we have five intermediate notes. These notes are called vikrit swara-s (altered notes). In this context, the original notes are referred to as the shudha swara-s (pure notes). The swara-s between the pairs Sa and Re, Re and Ga, Pa and Dha and Dha and Ni are known as komal Re, komal Ga, komal Dha and komal Ni. The term komal means soft or flat. The swara between Ma and Pa is called tvra Ma; tvra meaning sharp. The swaras Sa and Pa do not have altered forms and they are known as achal or immovable swara-s. The following table shows the twelve swaras, their western couterparts and the notes if C is taken as the Sa.

Hindustani Name (Symbol) Shadja (Sa) Komal RIshabh (Re) Shuddha Rishabh (Re) Komal Gandhr (Ga) Shuddha Gandhr (Ga) Shuddha Madhyam (Ma) Tvra Madhyam (M) Pancham (Pa) Komal Dhaivat (Dha) Shuddha Dhaivat (Dha) Komal Nishd (Ni) Shuddha Nishd (Ni) Shadja (Sa)

Solfa Doh

Scale of C C C#,Db

Ratio to Sa 1 256/243 9/8 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2

Re

D D#,Eb

Mi Fa

E F F#,Gb

Sol

G G#,Ab

La

A A#,Bb

Ti Doh

B C'

It should be noted here that this analogy to the keyboard is not technically correct. In western music the instruments are tuned to the chromatic or the even-tempered scale whereas in Indian music the notes are based on the natural or the diatonic scale. For this reason the harmonium is not considered correct by many classical musicians. If you do not understand what this means, you can ignore this for the moment and we will discuss this in a separate article. Another thing to note is that in Western music, the frequencies of the notes are fixed for example the A of the middle octave is supposed to have a frequency of 440 Hz. This is not the case in Indian music. The relative frequency and not the absolute frequency is of importance here. In the above example we have taken C as our tonic (Sa) but we could consider any one note as Sa and the pitch of the other notes will be relative to the Sa. The ratios of frequencies for various notes with respect to the Sa is also shown in the above table.

What is a Raga?
In the broad sense a rga is a set of rules or constraints that binds the performance of a singer or a musician in such a way that it induces a certain emotion or mood in the minds of the listeners. Although the raga is governed by certain rules, not every set of notes that follows those rules becomes a rga. This is because the rga has to induce an emotion and that is what makes this concept abstract and intriguing. The raga is not a scale or a tune or a mode. It is more like a framework that binds all these things together. Each rga has a name and generally an associated time of day when it is best performed, depending on the mood it projects. The following are some of the characteristics associated with a rga: A rga consists of a defined set of notes which could vary in number

depending on the individual rga. Each rga is associated with an ascending and descending pattern that defines the order of notes known as the roha and the avroha. These notes are classified in a heirarchy based on their importance and the two most important notes lie in two different tetra-chords(half-octaves). The most important note is called the vdi and the second most important note is called thesamvdi.

 The raga generally has a characteristic phrase known as the pakad which helps

in identifying that raga.

For a raga there exist several compositions or songs which obey the rules of the raga. The words generally relate to the mood being conveyed by that raga. A singer or musician sings or plays the notes in various combinations playing the static compositions and embelishing them and adding improvised parts in between. A typical performance could go on for an hour or even two. The success of the performance depends on how effectively the musician builds up the desired mood.

Introduction to the Tla

The term tla literally means rhythm. The rhythm is a fundamental element of music. A melody consists of two things - a sequence of notes and the definition of time intervals for which these notes are to be played. In Indian classical music, the tala can be quite complex and intricate. There are two main characteristics of the tala which differentiate it from Western music. In Western music each segment or measure has the same number of beats like, say 3+3+3 or 4+4+4+4, whereas in Indian music each sub-division can have different number of beats. For example the Jhap tl has a 2+3+2+3 pattern. This means it has four sub-divisions with the first and the third sub-divisions having two beats and the second and the fourth divisions having three beats. Another tala the Dhmar tl has a pattern of the form 5+2+3+4. Each sub division is called a vibhga or khand and the beats inside the vibhga are referred to as mtr-s. Even if two sub-divisions have the same number of beats, the pattern that they signify could be changed by laying different emphases on the first beat marking the beginning of the sub-division. In Indian music there are three different kinds of beats : The Sam signifies an emphatic beat The Khli signifies an empty beat or rest The Tli signifies other beats

This means that the drummer plays the sam with a hard stroke and the khli is represented by a distinctly soft stroke. The sam is generally the initial beat of the tl. It has a special significance for the soloist as well and more often than not the soloist sings of plays an important note like the vdi or samvdi on this beat. So the sam is also emphasised by the music.

The main percussion instrument in North India is the tabl. The instruments consists of two drums which differ in shape and character. The sounds that can be produced by the tabla are often depicted as bols or spoken words which are then adapted by the tabla player in his playing. Theoretically there are over hundred tl-s but there are only about twenty or so that are in use today.

http://www.knowyourraga.com/ragagyan/?docname=tala

http://www.unicornbooks.in/books/book/nuances-hindustani-classical-music-hemahirlekar/isbn-9788178062068/zb,,484,a,18,INR,0,3e8/index.html

How to Enjoy Classical Music? Now that was a lot of information. It is time to sit back and enjoy the music. To let the sound waves wash over you and drench you in Paramanandsupreme joy. Musical preferences do vary from person to person. There are many reasons for this. Our musical tastes are shaped by our exposure to music, our personalities, and some undefined element in our brains that determines how we respond to music. Even with variations in musical tastes, Hindustani art music can have a profound effect on the listeners. But we dont understand it! say some. That is perfectly fine. To understand a language, you do not need to know the grammar. However if you do know the grammar you can understand the literary value and your enjoyment multiplies. Similarly Hindustani music need not be understood, it will still be enjoyable. The emotions and moods evoked by the music will not fail to affect you. But if you know the broad aspects your enjoyment will increase. Over and above if you are aware of the nuances, you will experience bliss! Like any other music, Hindustani music can be enjoyed at two levelsemotional or intellectual. Initially you can just listen for the heart. Gradually when you feel like knowing more about it, you can try to understand it. As you are giving the artiste the most precious thingyour timeyou should be able to get maximum pleasure out of it. While learning to understand it, you can continue to enjoy it. It is like learning and earning. Keep an open mind, that is essential. Also one more aspect of this music needs to be kept in mind and that is one particular music rendition may suggest different things to different people. Go by your own feelings and judgement. Getting swayed by others is not the answer. First is music, then is listening and then comes the supreme joy. Hindustani art music is based on raag and taal as we have seen. You have read about these elements, and about a few genres of this music and some schools (gharanas). You know about different instruments. You also know what to expect in a mehfil. Armed with these knowledge now let us learn how to listen. The steps to listening are:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Listening to music Understanding the laya Understanding the raag Enjoying the ornamentation Experiencing the emotion pertaining to the raag

What to listen to and how to listen? That depends on what you wish to do. Do you just wish to spend a pleasant evening, being entertained? Then you can attend any mehfil by a skilled artiste and enjoy. It could be vocal or instrumental depending on your choice and availability of such a program. Or you could just put on a CD of ghazals or thumries and let the words and the laya soothe you. Let your mind be free, attuned to the music. Listen without prejudice and expectations. In the beginning just let the music flow over you. No need to go in for any technical details. Slowly the details will emerge and you will be able to differentiate various elements. Soon you will be able to anticipate the events such as the sum and these will be thrilling. In fact maybe first you may experience the thrill and then identify that point as the sum. Listening to Recorded Music If you wish to become an aware listener and lose yourself in music, you need to make some effort. Refer to the raags, their characters, their rasa generation, and their time. Choose one that appeals to you. Let us assume you have chosen Yaman. This is a simple, pleasant raag, regal in demeanour, best enjoyed during late evening. This late evening raga belongs to the Kalyan thaat and is favoured as the first raag in an evening mehfil because of its inherent grandeur. The raag uses the teevr Madhyam and all the shuddh notes in its scale. The Waadi is ga Gandhar and the samwaadi is ni Nishad. Yaman is a very popular raag. It is said that the calibre of a musician can be judged by her/ his exposition of raag Yaman. Collect music by many different artistes presenting this raag. Art music, thumries, taranas, ghazals such as the wonderful rendering by Mehdi Hasan, Ranjish hi sahi, dil ko dukhane ke liye aa or the ever green qawwali from Dil hi to Hai, Nigahen milane ko jee chahata hai all in Yaman! There are many websites listing songs based on raags. Take your pick. Instrumentalists and vocalists may present this raag slightly differently, depending on their interpretation, the chosen bandish or gat, the skill of the artiste in generating the bhaav intended in the bandish. Listen to various artistes till you become acquainted with the raag expansion and phrasing. Soon you will know the raag when you hear a familiar melody. Voila! You can work the raag out in this way, and learn to appreciate the ornaments used such as meend, murki, gamak, kampan, andolan and the taseer of each one. What exactly is taseer? Taseer means the positive effect of some musical ornaments executed. Supposing a vocalist lands on the Shadaj with effective intonation, timing resulting in a musically effective phrasing, this will be called taseer. Why a particular music piece appeals to you while others dont? Maybe this music reaches your inner self immediately. In all probability the music matches your imagination and your enjoyment peaks when the presentation takes some unexpected turn and feels even more beautiful than what you imagined or expected. Music has pronounced tonal and pitch shades and this makes it capable of expressing ideas that are difficult to put into words. Music is capable of conveying subtle human emotions and moods and even creating Natures various moods. When this happens then the music becomes simply beautiful and the performance seems in harmony with your inner self. Once you are familiar with one raag, repeat the process of getting friendly with another raag. The next advanced stage is to identify the swars. Keep listening to sa intonation; maybe sing along

with a skilled vocalist saying sa. If you are confident listen to the entire sargam, all the twelve swars including the shuddh and vikrit. A lot of listening will establish the swars firmly in your mind. Then do the exercise of imagining the nature and character of each swar or a cluster of swars. Does a raag cause you to mirror the feelings depicted? Then come the beats or the rhythm element. You will be able to figure out the taal. Which taals are generally used in vilambit khayal, which in Drut khayal, which taals are preferred by the dhrupad singers and what makes thumri and Dadra exciting all will become clear as you go on. Well, if it does not become clear it is not a very bad scene. Maybe that additional perception of raag rules, patterns will develop over time. Some of it gets stored in such a way that when a new melody with similar pattern is heard, association will place the melody into a raag previously recorded and stored in the memory. The process of abstraction and association may not be at conscious but subconscious level. Some people are better at this than others. Knowledge about a raag is not the deciding factor here. It is a different ability altogether. Even if you think you do not have this ability, just forget every technical detail and enjoy the music!

Hindustani Classical and Folk Music

Classical music is bound by certain laws and restrictions having a definite standard and scale with 22 intervals. Folk music, on the other hand, has different forms depending on the region it belongs to. With flexibility in its expression, it is not bound by laws or any set pattern. Folk music has its peculiar expressions and emotions and has established a tradition of its own. In classical music, emotions are expressed through a particular raga, though the lyric or composition has its own importance. Classical music can be effective if the musician renders the raga in its various stages and moods. This is not the case with folk music, where the musical notes have less value and the poetic content has greater impact and rhythm plays a very important role. Songs and lyrics of folk music portray the common life of the villagers. AN APPRECIATION OF THE INTRICACIES OF raga' AND CLASSICAL MUSIC The art of appreciation and listening of classical music requires a special approach. In this context, the requirements are love of music and sympathy towards the artist. The people having initial background knowledge of raga', notes, shrutis and taals are classified as ideal listeners. The common listener has a general liking for music and has to cultivate and develop patience in listening to classical music. Such a listener may not appreciate the imaginative approach of the performer. To understand and appreciate a raga, one should know, understand and feel the inner meaning of the shrutis and how these create a desired effect on the mind and heart. Basically one has to be initiated into the art of listening to classical music. The responsibility of a classical musician lies in the mode of his presentation to the listener, in his capacity to make 'perfect' and 'common' listeners understand and appreciate classical music. The classical musician should have the zeal as a missionary to create the true spirit and essence of classical music, so that he can help in the growth of an appreciative audience. VOCAL MUSIC AND DIFFERENT STYLES OF SINGING One distinguishing characteristic of Indian Music is the relationship of each swara(note) with the Shadja(tonic) which determines the placing of the swaras and the expression of each swara in the saptak (scale). Hence the constant playing of the drone is necessary. A singer is always accompanied by an instrument called ``Tanpura" which is tuned to suit his key note. It should be suitable for his voice, to suit one and a half octave above the tonic and one octave below. This range of his voice should be used effortlessly. In sketching the outline of the raga, he improvises on the ascending and descending notes, observed the prescribed relation of ``King" and ``Queen" and the important group of notes which characterises the particular raga. After the Alap, he starts the actual raga, accompanied by the Tabla. 2. The Antara or the second half of the song, going upto the higher Sa and returning back. 3. Sancharee or using both halves of the song and complete octave with the ascent and descent. 4. Aabhog or the mixture of the above three, covering the three octaves. In singing, the musician improvises the song with alap, or an improvisation of notes is slow tempo. The alap proceeds leisurely, without being particular about the time measure, but

laden more with the emotional content of the raga. Then he starts the ``boltaan", an improvisation of notes in medium or fast tempo, with the wordings of the song with particular emphasis on rhythmic variations as the aim. The third is ``sargam", the improvisation of notes with short names, and these are produced in various rhythmic patterns with suitable combination. The last is ``taans", an improvisation of notes taken in slow, medium and fast tempo. The main characteristic of classical music is the scope of systematic improvisation in the building up of the raga. An improvisation of the raga means a succession of musical sounds denoting the fertility of genius. A master musician always brings out startling new combinations. Every musician is supposed to improvise, but real improvisation is supposed to weave new patterns into the framework of a raga. A great stress is laid on voice culture through a regular and systematic training. The following are some important rules for the vocalists to be observed -Highly trained and melodious voice, with perfect control. A thorough knowledge of most of the raga', the techniques and all the types of compositions. Simple and pleasant expression of the face and hand gestures. Thorough knowledge of tala theory and important talas. Possession of a perfect tone, perfectly in tune, in relation to the notes used in his singing and a perfect understanding and a practice of the use of shrutis.