HINDU MUSIC

CALDITO, JEMMALYN C.
INDIA

• Is the one of the oldest countries in the world having at

least of Fifty- centuries of history, Along with Egypt and
China it is also considered as one of the cradles of
Civilization .
• According to ancient, Hindu scriptures it was believed that music is from heaven.
• They thought the sound is God and everything is a manifestation of God.

Shiva
Brahma Vishnu
(The Destroyer)
(The Creator) (The Preserver)
• In India, music is call “Sangeet,” which means the art of
playing musical instruments, singing and dancing.
• Vedas – religious chant where Indian music began
and without accompaniment.
• Indian music is the oldest unbroken musical tradition
in the world.
• It is considered the most intricate musical system
that contains highly developed polyrhythms, delicate
nuances, ornamentation, and microtones.
THERE ARE IMPORTANT ASPECTS THAT FORM THE
“HEART” OF THE MUSICAL TRADITION OF INDIA.

• Guru – teaches the Vedas through oral tradition.

• Vinaya – teaches students to be humble towards elders,
or those who are in authority.
• Sadhana – teaches practice and discipline.
The art of Indian music has been constantly called
guided improvisation.
• The music of India can be divided into two unique
traditions:
1. Carnatic (folk) - with its main musical center located in
Chennai (previously named Madras) - a more pure form of
Indian music with less influence from the migrating people
Purandara Dasa is considered the father of Carnatic music
2. Hindustani Vedic (religious) -dominates the northern half
of the Indian subcontinent largely developed in the courts of
the major centers for Indian music
• Tala (Rhythm) -Known to be the rhythmic time cycle of Indian music
Composed of long and short beats that are accented and unaccented.
• Sam – the first beat of tala/ accented beat
• Khali – the empty beat/ unaccented beat - Marked by hand claps, hand
waves and movement of the fingers.
• Raga (Melody) - Indian word for scale or melody - It is a specific
arrangement of tones. - Compositions are based on 72 types of scales,
many of them similar. - The literal translation of the word Raga is "that
which colors the mind.“
• SA RE GA MA DA DHA TI Do re mi fa sol la ti 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 HISTORY

• Indian classical music is based on the ragas ("colors"), which are scales and
melodies that provide the foundation for a performance.
• the Indian ragas are not "composed" by a composer, but were created via a
lengthy evolutionary process over the centuries. Thus they do not represent
mind of the composer but a universal idea of the world.
• Hindu music is music created for or influenced by Hinduism. It includes Indian
classical music, Kirtan, Bhajan and other musical genres.
 MUSICAL GENRES OF HINDU

• A BHAJAN is a Hindu devotional song, often of ancient origin.

Bhajans are often simple songs in lyrical language expressing
emotions of love for the Divine, whether for a single God/Goddess,
• Great importance is attributed to the singing of bhajans Is loving
devotion. "Rasanam Lakshanam Bhajanam" means the act by which
we feel more closer to our inner self or God, is a bhajan.
 KIRTAN

• This is the communal, call-and-response chanting of mantras, often with

instruments and dance. Kirtans are deeply rooted in Vedic tradition.
• Kirtan is a musical meditative practice based on ancient chants, which are
traditionally the names of Hindu deities, sung in Sanskrit—though modern
kirtan music can also be in English or other languages.
• The purpose of kirtan is to create a peaceful, meditative state, as the
repeated chants give the thinking mind a chance to become quiet
• RAGA- is a melodic framework for improvisation to a melodic mode in
Indian classical music.
• Raga (a Sanskrit word), refers to the color. Specifically the emotion or
mood by a particular combination or sequence of pitches

• In a technical sense, raga is described as the continuum between a scale

and a mode, encompassing both straight, emotionally neutral lines of
ascent and descent, and a fixed song or melody full of feeling
• Tonal characteristics include: ascending or descending pattern of five,
six or, seven tones
• Observes tonal centers and strong and weak notes (vadi-samvadi &
alpatva-bahutva relationships)
 Hindustani Tala and Laya
• Tala, a metric cycle would repeat cyclically
• Laya, relating to musical time, has 2 meanings
which correspond to notions of rhythm and
tempo
Vilambit lay slow
Madhya lay medium
Drut lay fast
Ati, greater sense of the extremes of tempo
DHRUPAD, hindustani vocal song

Hindustani Instruments:
SITAR
• a plucked stringed instrument with a long
neck which has adjustable frets to
accommodate the needs of a particular raga
• many pitches can be played from a single fret
by pulling the string the string sideways to
increase tension
• Anoushka Shankar daughter of the Sitar
Master, Ravi Shankar
 SAROD
• a fretless, plucked, stringed instrument

• to move smoothly from one pitch to another,

the player slides a finger along the string
rather than pull it to the side

• popular in Hindustani music

TAMBURA
• a fretless lute that
supply drones as
harmonic
accompaniment to
other instruments
 PAKHAVAJ
• Scholars assumed, ancient instrument

• 2 Sanskrit terms:

paksha – side
avaja – instrument, drum
• a double-headed, barrel-shaped drum

• Sangitaratnakara (chap.6, verse 1077) Sarangadeva

• Each head is made from a circular piece of goatskin

• Drummed syllables: ta, din, thun & na

• Alternative name for pakhavaj is mridang

• Shares many traits with its cousin South Indian mridangam

(Karnatak)
 TABLA
Popular percussion instrument for North Indian
music
• Dahina, smaller treble drum
• Bayan, larger bass drum Organological
relationship to the Pakhavaj; has indeed been
chopped in half
• The treble drum is tuned,
Bayan is adjusted to produce a low,
resonating boom
• Body carved from a single block of wood; left
drum, commonly made of copper or brass
HARMONIUM
• introduced by Christian
missionaries
• One hand plays a
bellows while the other
plays a melody on a
keyboard
SHEHNAI
• a double reed instrument
similar to the
(Karnatak
Nagasvaram)
• traditionally associated
with temple rituals but
are now common in the
concert hall