Music of India and

Pakistan
Music 8 – Module 5
Review of the Previous Lesson
• Gagaku Orchestra – musical orchestra in Japan.
• Lus – musical notes in Chinese.
• Samul Nori – Korean musical ensemble
2 Main Groups of Traditional Korean Music:
1. Court Music – performed based on the type of ceremony.
2. Folk Music – performed bases on singing, dancing, and acrobats
with instrument playing.
• Elements of Music – building blocks of music
Review of the Previous Lesson
Classification of Musical Instruments by Erich Moritz von
Hornbostel and Curt Sachs
1. Aerophones – These produce sound by vibrating columns of air.
2. Chordophones – These produce sound by vibrating string
3. Idiophones – These produce sound by vibrating themselves or
vibrating the actual body of the instruments without the use of
strings.
4. Membranophones – These produce sound by a vibrating
membrane or by a skin attached on the instrument
INDIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
PAKISTAN’S MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Lesson 1: Music of India
• India is known as the “land of spirituality and philosophy”. It is
the largest country in South Asia.
• The music of India reflects different aspects of Asian culture
through its timbre, rhythm, melody, texture, form, and style.
• Music to the Indians is sacred. They play the art of music with the
gods and goddesses such as Brahma, the creator; Shiva, the
destroyer; and Vishnu, the preserver. The melody of Indian music
is based on the 7 tones.
Vocal Music of India
1. Dikir – is believed to be a Maranao song dedicated to Mohammed. It
identifies with India in its melismatic way of singing and microtonal
ornamentation.
2. Vedic Chant - religious chant of India, the expression of hymns from
the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of Hinduism.
3. Raga - (meaning “to please”) is a distinct way of melody
arrangement and it is composed of more than 5 principal tones. It is
the basis of Indian classical music.
• Vadi plays the principal tone of a Raga.
• Samvadi plays the second principal tone of the Raga.
Characteristics of Traditional Music from
India:
1. Carnatic music
• refers to music from South
India
• directed to a Hindu god,
which is why it is called
“temple music”
• compositions called krti are
devotional songs
2. Hindustani music
• predominantly found in the
northern and central regions
• nasal singing is observed in
their vocal music
• in North India, the most
common style of singing is
called khyal, a word which
means imagination
Instrumental Music of India
Instrumental music in India is often similar to vocal music but
sometimes they have distinctive instrumental styles.
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Western
DO RE MI FA SOL LA TI
Notation
Indian
SA RI GA MA PA DHA NI
Notation
Classification of Musical Instruments from India:
1. Ghan – described as a non-membranous percussive instrument but
with solid resonators. It is one of the oldest classes of instrument in
India. It may also be a melodic instrument or instruments to keep tal.
2. Avanaddh – described as a membranous percussive instrument. This
class of instruments typically comprise the drums.
3. Sushir – also known as blown air. It is characterized by the use of air
to excite the various resonators.
4. Tat – referred to as vina during the old civilization. Instruments in this
class are plucked (stringed instruments).
Rhythm of Indian Music
1. Tala – literally means “clap” or “rhythm”; variously transliterated as
“tal”, “taal” or “taala”; is a regular, repeating rhythmic phrase,
particularly as rendered on a percussive instrument with an ebb and
flow of various intonations represented as a “theka”; is the common
Indian system of rhythm.
2. Theka - a sequence of drum-syllables or ”bol”; in Indian classical
music, both Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music use
complex rules to create elaborate patterns of rhythm
Traditional Musical Instruments of India
A. Aerophone
1. Shehnai – made of wood with a
metal flare bell at the end; an Indian
oboe.

2. Bansuri – plays the melody part

Traditional Musical Instruments of India
B. Chordophone
1. Tanpura or Tanpuri – a four- or five-
string long-necked lite instrument that
provides the melody and the drone
effect that represents the music to its
tonic or home key tone.
2. Sitar - a plucked lute instrument with
adjustable metal frets which may be
tied to the fingerboard in the positions
of a particular raga.

Ravi Shankar is a famous Indian sitar

player.
Traditional Musical Instruments of India
B. Chordophone

2. Rebab – a thin-necked string

instrument.

3. Veena (Vina) - has three melodic

strings and three drone strings.
Traditional Musical Instruments of India
C. Idiophone
1. Jal Tarang – consists of a set of tuned
ceramic bowls. The bowls are struck by a
beater to produce a watery sound

D. Membranophone
1. Tabla - most common instrument for
keeping rhythm in Hindustani music; a
pair of hand drum.
2. Mridangam - most common instrument
for keeping rhythm in Carnatic music
Other Musical Instruments of India
• Sarod - an Indian stringed musical
instrument that may be played with a bow
or plucked
• Kashth Tarang – is a type of xylophone
• Pulluvan Pattu – one-stringed violin
• Nagara – is a pair of kettle drums.
• Chengila – an Indian gong
• Geger – a brass vessel
True or False
1. Vedic Chant is a religious chant of India. True
2. Raga is the common Indian system of rhythm
3. Tala is the basis of Indian classical music False, Theka
4. Rebab is a thin-necked string instrument.
False, Raga
5. Tabla is a pair of hand drum and the most
common instrument for keeping rhythm in True
Hindustani music.
True
Lesson 2: Music of Pakistan
• The music of Pakistan developed through influences received from
various parts of South Asia as well as Central Asia, Persian,
Turkish, Arabic and some Western popular music influences.
• Pakistan’s classical music has two main principles: sur (musical
note) and lai (rhythm).
• Raag – systematic organization of musical notes into a scale.
• Taal – the cycle of rhythms.
• Improvisation is also a distinct feature of Pakistan music.
Two Types of Vocal Singing in Pakistan
1. Ghazal – a traditional expression of love, loneliness and
separation.
• It follows strict structural poetic forms and is considered as the
main poetic forms in the Persian civilization.
• Khyal (a modern classical singing genre)
• Thumri (semi-classical music genre).
2. Qawwali – a devotional music of the Chishti Sufis. It is originally
performed at Sufi shrines all over Pakistan.
• Humnawa is a group of qawwali musicians in Urdu. It consists of
8 or 9 men.
Instrumental Music of Pakistan
Punjabi Music
• Punjab is a region in northernmost parts of the Indian subcontinent
or South Asia which is separated into West Punjab and East Punjab.
• Punjabi music has varied musical styles from folk to Sufi to
classical, also known as Patiala gharana (vocal Hindustani classical
music).
Musical Instruments of Pakistan
1. Rubab – a short-necked plucked lute
originated in Afghanistan and West
Pakistan. This has a membrane covering the
hollow bowl of sound chamber on which
the bridge is place.
2. Dafli – also known as daf, daffler, or
tambourine. This is a wooden instrument
with double rows of bells. This is a must for
wedding celebrations as accompaniment to
the dholak.
Musical Instruments of Pakistan
3. Tabla – a two-drum instrument originated in
India; considered as the most important
accompaniment in classical Pakistan music.

4. Dholak – a two-headed hand drum from

South Asia. This is a pitched instrument used
during weddings.
True or False
1. Raag is the cycle of rhythms. False, Taal
2. Qawwali is a devotional music of the Chishti True
Sufis.
3. Taal is a systematic organization of musical
notes into a scale. False, Raag
4. Ghazal is a traditional expression of love, True
loneliness and separation.
5. Dafli is a wooden instrument with double rows True
of bells which must be played for wedding
celebrations as accompaniment to the dholak.