Music of the Indian Subcontinent

You can either fill in this sheet by hand, or do everything in a separate document. Year 9 investigation: Remember it is extremely im- portant to write in your own Music of the Indian words—do not copy and paste! India subcontinent 1. Understanding the history of the Indian subcontinent Look up the information required, and write your answers in brief sentences or bullet points. What was the British Raj? Include dates in your answer. What was the Partition of India? Include dates and list the different areas after partition. Include a map if you like. What are the official languages of India? What other languages are spoken? 2. Investigating some different Indian styles Indian classical music Watch www.youtube.com/watch? v=ANEGhfyLvSA Can you identify the instruments being used? How does the music change as it progresses? (mention tempo, dynamics, texture) This is a very famous Indian musician. Who is he? You will find lots of useful information on the BBC Bitesize site (music—world music) bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/ Find out what these terms mean: Find out about these Indian instruments—write a description of each, and its role in the music (i.e. does it play melody, Raga drone or rhythm? Can you give any further detail?) Description Role in music Tala Sitar Drone Alap Tabla Gat Oral tradition Tanpura Bollywood music— Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU7- ’filmi’ F25r7Fk Describe the scene that you see, and how the music fits with it. What is a playback singer? Find some Find out about the music for Bollywood films. What instruments examples of some famous ones. are used, and which ones are Indian, or from Western music? What languages are the songs in? Bhangra Watch www.youtube.com/watch? v=kfmq4PGaOvE The first is the original version of Mundian To Bach Ke, by Panjabi MC. Here is a transla- tion of the lyrics: Don’t just give your love to anyone Be careful of the boys You’ve only just grown up It’s not your fault that you’ve got beautiful eyes Now listen to Jay-Z’s version of the same song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TcD_IeMdG4 Jay-Z’s lyrics include this: On the count of three drop ur body like its hot 1 young 2 you want to 3 young hovs a snake charmer Move ur body lika snake mama Make me wanna put tha snake on ya What do you think of Jay-Z’s decision to change the meaning of the song so completely? Justify your What typical features of bhangra answer. can you hear in Mundian To Bach Ke? 3. Complete a timeline analysis of any piece of Indian music that fits into one of the styles you looked at in Q2. So, you can choose ANY piece of music that fits into one of these styles: Indian classical music Bollywood ‘filmi’ music Bhangra You can also choose HOW you do your timeline: You can simply use the guidelines below, and structure your analysis according to these You can timeline support documents (either middle or max support level) to give your analysis a structure. You will find these on the VLE in the KS3 Music section, or on your teacher’s website. Success criteria: Use correct terminology accurately to describe the music Include timings (minutes and seconds) or identify sections (verse, chorus etc.) to make it clear what happens when Identify the style of the piece (jazz, pop, classical etc.) Identify the context of the piece (what is it for? Why was it written?) Refer to all the musical elements: Melody and What is the main part of the music? (It will sound as though it is at accompani- the front.) What is in the background? This is the accompaniment. What does it consist of – bass line/drum beat/chords, perhaps? ment Dynamics Loud and soft. Remember that music cannot be loud and soft at the same time! Describe any gradual or sudden changes. Tempo Fast and slow. Do not get confused between tempo and the length of the notes! Remember, in many pieces of music the tempo does not change. There is no such thing as a ‘good’ tempo! Texture Thick and thin – how many different things are going on? You can use words like solo, build-up, melody, chords, countermelody, bass line. Instrumenta- What instruments and voices are there? Listen really carefully – tion there may be more than you think! Articulation The way that notes are played. Are they staccato (short, with a gap between each one) or legato (joined up smoothly together) Harmony and Is the music in a major or minor key? Or maybe no key at all? Are tonality the chords consonant (the notes sound as though they fit together) or dissonant (clashy)? Rhythm There is more to a rhythm than a drum beat! Are the rhythms regu- lar (on the beat) or syncopated (off the beat), repeating/ predictable or unpredictable? How many beats are there in a bar? How is silence used? 4. Create an extended piece of work about music from the Indian subcontinent. You can choose how you do this: The focus is up to you: A piece of extended writing (word A particular style of Indian document) - this should be over music 1000 words Music from a particular part A podcast (i.e. audio recording) of India A video Music associated with a A powerpoint (minimum 8 slides, particular religion, i.e. Sufi include diagrams, pictures and music hyperlinks) How Indian music relates to A detailed mindmap other art forms (film, dance) Recommended websites to find more info You will find lots of information of Wikipedia about specific areas of Indian music. Also recommended is the BBC World Music archive http:// www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnmp/features/worldmusicarchive Subject-specific terms that can/should be used: harmony, melody, drone, chord, sitar, tabla, tanpura, raga, tala, alap, jhor, gat, riff, chant, scale. Academic words that can/should be used: challenge, conflict, contact, draft, enable, energy, equivalent, evolution, expansion, exposure, external, facilitate, fundamental, generated, generation, image, liberal, licence, mar- ginal, mental, modified, notion, objective, perspective, precise, prime, psy- chology, pursue, stability, styles, symbolic, transition, trend, whereas. .

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