The Indian Subcontinent (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan)

HUGE variety of ethnic groups, belief systems, languages. Music in India roughly divided into North (Hindustani) tradition and South (Carnatic) tradition. Much of the history of North Indian music involves Islamic influences brought from Persian conquests, the later Mughal Empire, and court patronage from those governing systems.

Later British colonization introduced English, large-scale urban infrastructure, and institutionalized education systems. The British left the region in 1947, creating Afghanistan from a conglomerate of highly disparate and conflicting ethnic groups (similar to African colonization in this respect), India, and Pakistan. In 1971, Eastern Pakistan seceded and became Bangladesh.

Primary religion throughout the region is Hindu, but Islam is also prevalent throughout North India (due to a number of conquests) and is the dominant religion in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Other religions in the region include Jainism, Sikhism, various types of Buddhism, and Christianity.

As a result of numerous conquests and culture changes, North India tends to be more secular while South India tends to be more religious.

The Music- North India (Hindustani)

Indian Classical Music- in its basic form, a combination of drone, melody, and rhythm. Traditionally one melody player (or else singer+melody player) and one percussion player plus someone playing the drone on Tanpura. It is VERY unusual for there to be any non-drone harmonic material in Indian music. As a result of the improvisatory nature of the music, the audience generally values the individual rather than the composition, and quality is assessed on the creativity of and interplay between the soloists, as well as their virtuosity.

Raga (melody)- Indian music divides the octave into 22 (uneven) shruti, of which 12 are most common, and most melodies choose a subset of 7 (this is similar to WEAM in this way). A Raga is NOT a scale or mode, in the sense of an ascending/descending collection of pitches. Each individual Raga encompasses a different set of elaborate rules that govern ascending and descending pitches, which may be different (similar to Maqam in this way…), but may also skip pitches, have certain required melodic turns, ornamentations, etc. In this way, more than one Raga may contain the same pitches but have an entirely different sound due to its melodic rules.

Much of the characteristics of Raga have to do with pitches that are ornamented, along with various slides, glissandi, microtones, and pitch bends. [Ravi Shankar- Intro to Indian Music]

Common Melody Instruments Sitar- large plucked string instrument having a set of melody strings and a set of drone strings. Drone strings need to be retuned for each raga to produce different pitches. Played with finger plectrums. Ravi Shankar is the most famous player, worldwide. Sarod- smaller stringed instrument, similar to guitar but with drone strings, metal fingerboard. Ali Akbar Khan most famous player worldwide Surbahar- essentially a bass Sitar Rudra Vina- bass type instrument with two huge gourds providing resonance

Tal (rhythm)- metric cycle- iterated (“keeping Tal”) by a series of claps and waves or else by Tala Cymbals. Most common percussion instrument in the North is the Tabla (two-drum set). Zakir Hussian is probably the most famous tabla player. Theka- basic pattern Bols- syllables that instruct the drummer what to play [Zakir Hussian- Lineage (duet with his father, Alla Rakha, who was Ravi Shankar’s longtime tabla accompanist)].

Basic Theka for Tintal (16 beats)

C Count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Tal X - - - X - - - O - - - X - - - Clap C r m i C r m i W r m i C r m i Theka Dha Dhin Dhin Dha Dha Dhin Dhin Dha Dha Tin Tin Na Na Dhin Dhin Dha

Lehara- repeated melodic pattern (often played by Sarangi or Harmonium) that provides the foundation for tabla solo [YouTube- Pandit Yogesh Samsi Tabla Solo]

Tihai- cadential phrase consisting of a syncopated motive played three times to end back on the ‘1’. [Hands On’Semble- From One Intro]

Rag and Tal in practice- Each Rag has certain moods/preferred “time of day” that are dependent upon the pitches used and the melodic idiosyncrasies of the given Raga. The “ToD” reference has largely become obsolete due to the stringent requirements of broadcast times or else the general tendency for concerts to be in the evening.

The central performative feature of Indian Classical Music is that it is almost entirely improvised. The melody and rhythm player may decide beforehand what Rag and Tal will be performed (the rhythmic sections of a Rag can be performed in any Tal), but the material itself will only emerge in the moment. In this way, it is similar to the Taqsim, as the opening improvisation (often a section called Alap) offers the melody player an opportunity to uncover and explore the Rag in a meditative and patient fashion, often only revealing a single new pitch at a time. This section is often slow and nearly always unmetered (non-pulsatile). For this reason, Indian music concerts tend to be very long (usually well over two hours). Once the player has finished the Alap, they will move on to the Jor, which is a pulsed, but non-metered section where the player will explore and improvise on various melodic motives and short compositions common to that particular Raga. In the third section, the Jhala, the Tabla player will enter and the Tal of the piece will emerge. The melody player will play compositions specific to both the Raga and Tala in question, called Gat. [Ravi Shankar- Rag Bairagi Todi. Alap 0:00-7:55, Jor 7:55-12:12, Jhala 12:12-27:00 in a cycle of 23 or 11 ½ beats]

Different performance styles of both melodic and rhythmic material were transmitted in a master-apprentice framework that resulted in the emergence of particular “schools” of playing called Gharana. Each gharana had their characteristic style, compositions, etc, that were carefully guarded. The Gharana system remains today, but is becoming increasingly obsolete to due the globalization of Indian culture, the Internet, and the open-mindedness of modern players. [YouTube- Talavya: Tabla Ecstasy]

Hindustani Vocal Music Qawwali- Sufi devotional songs; also popular in Pakistan [YouTube- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Qawwal]

Khyal- combines aspects of Qawwali (florid melisma) and Dhrupad (older, court-based vocal form); often fluid, lighter in tone and material, romantic texts. [YouTube- Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar- Raga Jaunpuri]

South India (Carnatic) Music Less influence from outside cultures, some consider it to be “more pure” Indian music than in the north. Have similar, but slightly different conceptions about both Raga and Tala.

Kriti- popular songs often setting Hindu devotional poetry. Often in verse/refrain format, can incorporate elements of improvisation [South Indian Classical Song- Kriti]

Bhajan- another genre of popular devotional songs, often have simple, repeated lyrics sung in a call-and-response fashion [Bhajan Devotional Song]

Instrumental Music Much more focus on compositions than improvisation; pieces often are built around a system of speed/subdivision changes, reductive phrases, etc.

A larger number of common percussion instruments than in the North, but fewer common melodic instruments Mridangam- double-headed drum, most common, Southern analog to Tabla [YouTube- Mridangam Demonstration]

Kanjira- single-headed, single-jingle tambourine, traditionally lizard skin, can bend pitches, must perform all Mridangam material, but with only one hand. [YouTube- Amrit Nataraj Kanjira Solo- example of a reductive phrase]

Ghatam- clay pot [YouTube- Amazing Indian Percussion- Solo Ghatam]

Melody instruments include the Vina (similar to the Rudra Veena above, but smaller and placed on floor) and the Violin (introduced by British colonizers) [YouTube- South Indian Violin- Thodi Ragam]

Filmi Music Pop songs used to accompany “song-and-dance” numbers in Bollywood films (as in a Musical or Disney movie). Style is understandably quite varied, but may include combinations of various Indian and Western instruments (Sitar and Orchestra, for example). Often incorporates Indian folk rhythms with Western Harmonic language, so music tends to be more “Western”-sounding and does not tend to use Raga as a basis (since there is no harmony in the Raga system). [YouTube- Dil Cheez Kya Hai-Umrao Jaan Song]

Baul Music (Eastern India/Bangladesh) Distinct cultural (not ethnic) group; belief system combines mystical Hinduism and Islam; songs are usually self- composed and deal with issues of religious or moral allegory related to social suffering. Common accompaniment instrument is called a Khamak, a small string drum. [YouTube- Banjira Khamak, light; Baul song from Bangladesh]

Indian Music’s Influence on the West -Typically credited to Ravi Shankar- George Harrison of The Beatles took sitar lessons from Ravi and was later instrumental in bringing him to the wider Western audience (1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock, etc). Harrison later based a number of later Beatles songs on Indian musical concepts [The Beatles- Within You Without You] -Indian music also influenced Jazz musicians by showing them a method for improvising on scalar materials rather on harmonic progressions. A number of jazz artists such as John McLaughlin went on to intensively study Indian music and integrate it into their creative projects (including the group Shakti and the development of the Jazz Fusion genre with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc). [YouTube- Joy-Shakti] -Indian music has also influenced WEAM avant-garde composers by offering different tuning systems, exploration of drone textures, rhythmic cycles, etc.