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Classical Music from India

Classical music is a common kind of music in the Indian continent. It is both an intricate

and expressive piece of art. Therefore, Hindustani classical music provided the first layout,

which is also known as the north Indian style. It is a tradition that has evolved since the 12th

century in northern parts of India. Indian classical music style has grown into two major

subgenres over the years, namely, Hindustani (the North Indian style) and Carnatic (the South

Indian style).

Looking at The Hindustani music, it is clear that it is a complex traditional music that

dates back over 3500years ago (Moutal 23). It originally came from Indian music and was most

popular in the northern parts of India where indo-Aryan language was most spoken. Most of its

music has three main elements, which are melody, rhythm and harmony. Hindustani mostly

concentrates on melodic developments. Most performances, Hindustani concentrates on rhythm

as an important aspect of its music, which sends a message of sense and purpose to its melody.

Harmony is majorly supplied through musical instruments such as tempura and sitar. However,

harmony from the Indian classical is very different from the western music. Therefore, making a

combination of the two creates a more important interpretation.

Carnatic music is a common system of composition usually associated with the southern

parts of India. Its main components include vocal performances of either a single or couple of

singers. Glisasandos and vocalists almost sing a chromatic endless scale, which descends and
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ascends all through the songs that are known as ragams (Moorthy 50). This is a melodic module

used in carnatic rhythm whose synchronized vocals are in songs of this genre. The Localized

inflextions are an averaged pitch, which entails dividing 12 major intervals leading the creation

of microtones. Therefore, microtones are majorly used in an interval whose significance is

different from surrounding notes meaning the carnatic music is improvised depending on the

melody and rhythm templates of tala and raga (rhythm and melody). An instrument such as

tambura is extensively used as a buzz instrument to assist in the sustenance of the pitch. In

addition, there is a type of loot named veena, which is an instrument with 24 frets. Nevertheless,

the violin can produce a type of sound continuously, thereby yielding a tone and category of

ornamentation.

The nadaswaram and flute are some types of the different traditional instruments used in

carnatic music. In accordance to the saxophone and guitar, which are also included when

performing carnatic music, the chief percussion is the mriangam instrument, with kanjeera,

ghatam, and morsing performing the assisting role (Subramanian). Therefore, Indian traditional

music is taught through acoustic method, and till the 20th century, notation was not employed as a

primary media of instruction, transmission, and understanding. The rules of these types of songs

were taught specifically by Guru to shishya. However, the classical kind was based on a

monophonic nature of a one tune line, where it was performed on a preset drone. However, in

this 21st century, the emerging trends from the past few decades tend to mix music genres like

kyhal and western music, which are combined to appeal to wider audience. Few organizations

that came about promoting classical music include Sangeet saptak, Sankalp to whom were

recognized in the year 1977 respectively.

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To sum up, the Indian classical music has a rich history and comprises of different kinds

and styles. The two central genres include Hindustani (the North Indian style) and Carnatic (the

South Indian style). These genres are marked by different methods, but majorly most of them are

traditional methods. the different genres used varied instruments such as nadaswaram and flute

among others.
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Works Cited

Moorthy,Vijaya. Romance of the Raga. New Delhi, India: Abinav, 2001. Print

Moutal, Patrick. Comparative Study of Hindustani Raga-s. New Delhi, India: Rouen, 2012. Print