Indian Traditional Music

Indian traditional music is one of the most varied and complex types of world music. The music follows well defined theoretical ideas which pre-date any form of western music theory by far. Along with this, music ties in extremely close with religion in India and is seen in a number of important ways such as a channel for spirituality or well being.  As a ‘world music’, India specifically gained a heavy amount of interest from the western world during the mid to late sixties through George Harrison’s sudden  obsession with the country’s advanced perceptions and approaches to music.(6) There are a number of different stories as to what led to his fondness of the music of India but what remains undeniable is that both he and Shankar became a key connection between the music of India and the west. (6) (10) 

(pictured: George Harrison and Ravi Shankar)

At the earliest, a piece of scholarly work called ‘Natyashastra’ was written in the second century BC. Although the work covers all types of performing arts it contains many ideals on music which has been generally abided by in India since it’s time of writing, giving us the idea that the Indian music we recognise today was formed around that time. (8) There is a noticeable divide in the characteristics of music from the north of india and that of the south. A general opinion is that the music from the north is open to more influence from the countries surrounding it whereas the southern music remains more ‘conforming’ to Indian traditions.(14) This opinion however has to be taken in hand with the fact that the north of India fell under Muslim rule for quite an extensive period. Music from the north of India is called Hindustani music and music from the south is called Carnatic. (6)

Indian music in terms of structure is based around two relatively simple concepts, rag and tal. Rag is the term used to describe the melody of a composition and tal is the rhythmic section. Rag is similar to what we in the west would know as a scale but with a few differences.  Rags are counted as Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa (rather alike the do re mi scale counting system). Regarding structure, ragas are generally of an ‘AB’ structure with the first section of the raga called ‘alap’ and the second called ‘gat’. The alap stereotypically defines the feeling or ethos of the song and will more frequently than not stick to a single droned note, or key.  Alap also lacks much of a rhythmic intensity. The gat section of a raga is where the rhythmic elements of a piece become more noticeable and everything contributing melody builds together often to a frenzied climatic ending with displays of extreme virtuosity a common sight. (3)

     (A video briefly explaining the basics of Indian music)

As a form of world music, Indian traditional music has arguably gained far more attention and appreciation in the West than any other countries’.  Whilst George Harrison and other 60’s musicians associated with psychedelia are the main credit to popularising the music towards western listeners, a number of significant musicians had adapted traits of Indian music into their own in some minor detail.  Gustav Holst composed ‘Savitri’ in 1908, a piece which is based on Hindu literature more than music admittedly, but it was still one of the first representations of Indian culture influencing the western world.(2) Immigration also played an extremely important role, with Indian citizens being allowed to move and settle in the UK due to a 1948 commonwealth act (which also helped other forms of world music shape the music of Britain).(1) After the initial trouble Indians had been confronted by with the British public, people began to realise the cultural diversity these new citizens held and before long people were deeply immersing themselves in Indian culture.  George Harrison was one of those people, and due to his already huge celebrity status, the public also embraced a huge turn-around in their attitude towards Indian immigrants. (11)

The sitar, a traditional Indian instrument, is one of the most recognisable non-western instruments worldwide. The instrument again gained attention in the sixties and was used in a number of western rock albums. The sitar however does not always form the base drone in Indian compositions. In fact, they are very rarely used as the principal droning instrument as a similar instrument called a tanpura or tambura is used for this purpose.(9) (14) The tanpura is a smaller looking sister instrument to the sitar but contains a large number of differences,  a tanpura has no frets and only four strings as opposed to the sitar’s 19 frets and 18 strings (both of these numbers vary). It is tuned to the tonic and is only ever droned in performances. Whilst it may look a bright side smaller than a sitar the pitch and dynamic presence of the drone largely remains just as low and powerful when played on a tanpura. Of course it would be ignorant of me to not mention a few other stringed instruments used in Indian traditional music, I will however only mention a few as there is quite a large number of the instruments and even more variants of each instrument. The third most popular stringed instrument is the veena which exists in both fretted and an unfretted form and is coined as either a rudra veena or a saraswati veena dependant on whether it is being used in Hindustani or karnatic music. Another instrument is the surbahar which is more similar to the sitar than anything but differs in that it has fixed frets and a wider and longer neck, giving it an extremely deep bass tone. A sarangi is a completely fretless stringed instrument which is bowed. It has an extremely large amount of strings, most of which are sympathetic, as only three thick strings are bowed whilst another thirty-five are left to resonate the sound of the instrument. The final stringed instrument I will briefly mention is the surmandal, a zither like instrument often used to accompany female vocalists in Indian music. (12) (13) (14)

                                                         

 (A stereotypical tanpura)

Sources used

(1) British Library (?) Immigration from India. Available at: http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item107671.html (Accessed at: 8 October 2013)

(2) Taylor, K. (2007) Compositions The Music Of Gustav Holst. Available at: http://www.gustavholst.info/compositions/listing.php?work=49 (Accessed at: 11 October 2013)

(3) Tóth, S. (?) The raga's structure. Available at: http://india.tilos.hu/english_ragarend.html (Accessed at: 8 October 2013)

(4) Scaruffi, P. (2002) A brief summary of Indian music. Available at: http://www.scaruffi.com/history/indian.html (Accessed at: 7 October 2013)

(5) Courtney, D. (2012) Overview Of Indian Classical Music. Available at: http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/ (Accessed at: 7 October 2013)

(6) Manas. (?) Indian Music. Available at: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Music/Music.html (Accessed 12 October 2013)

(7) Shahani, U. (?) Introduction to Indian Classical Music. Available at: (http://www.likhati.com/introduction-to-indian-classical-music/ (Accessed at 11 October 2013)

(8) Balu, Y. (2010) Natya Sastra. Available at: http://natyasastraced.blogspot.co.uk/ (Accessed 9 October 2013)

(9)  Shahani, U. (2009) T is for Tanpura not Sitar; it's good to know the difference. Available at: http://www.likhati.com/2009/01/19/t-is-for-tanpura-not-sitar-its-good-to-know-the-difference/ (Accessed at 11 October 2013)

(10) Ghosh, P. (2011) George Harrison and India: The Real 'Magical Mystery Tour'. Available at: http://www.ibtimes.com/george-harrison-india-real-magical-mystery-tour-212539 (Accessed 11 October 2013)

(11) National Archives (?) Postwar immigration. Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/immigration.htm (Accessed 7 October 2013) 

(12) Courtney, D. (2012) Tanpura or Tambura. Available at: http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/tanpura.html (Accessed 7 October 2013)

(13) Courtney, D. (2012) The Sitar: An Overview. Available at: http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sitar.html (Accessed 7 October 2013)

(14) World Music: The Rough Guide, Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific (2000) London: Rough Guides, New Edition (Pages 72 & 73 regarding instrument descriptions) (Page 71 regarding the 'purity' of karnatic music and it's closer ties with hinduism)

Images and video links,

Features, R. (?) Sitar Stars. Available at: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Music/Pix/pictures/2010/8/18/1282127147656/George-Harrison-and-Ravi--006.jpg (Accessed 11 October 2013) 

EmoryUniversity (2010) Understanding the Basics of Indian Raga Music. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nom-_EYjIrg (Accessed 23 November 2013) 


Photographer unknown (?) banjira 38" Flat Back Inlay Indian Tanpura + Hard Case. Available at: http://www.ethnicmusicalinstruments.com/banjira-38-Inch-Flat-Back-Inlay-Indian-Tanpura-Hard-Case.html (Accessed 8 October 2013)