about hindustani classical music
An
Introduction to Indian Classical Music
It is through the medium of the arts
that people of different nations and backgrounds are able to communicate and
understand each other better. The West is gradually becoming more familiar with
Indian music - it is no longer merely an exotic expression of the East, but is
reaching an ever growing and more knowledgeable and appreciative audience.
Drone
Raga
Tala
Dhrupad and Khyal
The Performance
There are three main components to the classical music of India - drone, raga, and tala.
Unlike western music, Indian music is not based on harmony. The harmonic principle of contrasting pitches is foreign to the Indian conception of music. The concept of modulating (or changing) keys is also absent. Instead, the music is based on a drone, a continual pitch that sounds throughout the concert. This acts as a point of reference for everything that follows; a home base to which the musician returns after a flight of improvisation. The drone may be provided by an electronic device, called a note-box, or by a tanpura (taan’-poo-ra)
Raga (raag) is one of those annoying words that has no English equivalent, and is therefore frustratingly difficult to define. Terms like “generalized melody” or “melodic framework” are perhaps the best English descriptions, although they are only somewhat helpful.
A raga is best described as about halfway between a scale and a tune. A scale is just a set of notes, which can be used in any way you want. A tune leaves no room for spontaneous creation of melody. A raga lacks the total freedom of a scale, but has much more freedom than a tune.
A raga may be characterized in a number of ways. It is built out of a specific selection of tones from the octave (at least five), like a scale. But in a scale all notes are equal. Ragas have more and less important notes: the principal note, King, is the note on which the raga is built. It is emphasized in various ways, such as stopping for some time on the note, or stressing it. The second important note, Queen, corresponds to the King as the fourth or fifth note in relation to it. In addition, the ascent and descent of the notes in every raga is very important. Ragas in the same scale may be differentiated by their ascent and descent. Finally, every raga contains an important cluster of notes by which the raga is identified, or specific ways in which the notes cannot be used. Each raga is also associated to a particular mood, and to a particular time of day or season of the year.
The melodic structure of each raga has something akin to a distinct personality or a prevailing mood. In Indian music theory, each raga is described with a short poem that enables the artist to visualise its personality during meditation prior to the performance, in order to enter into the mood of a particular raga and perform it successfully.
The result is a melodic structure that is easily recognizable, yet infinitely variable. No two performances of the same raga, even two performances by the same musician, will be identical.
In the same way that ragas are melodic structures, talas (taal) are rhythmic structures. The tala can be thought of a cycle, divided into equal beats which are collected into subgroups. So, for example, Rupak (Roo’-puck) tala consists of seven beats, a group of three beats followed by two groups of two beats (sometimes represented 3+2+2). In many ways, this is similar to the more complex rhythmic forms in Western music, such as 7/8 time, which is divided into a group of three notes and a group of four notes.
The tala is usually represented by a series of strokes on the tabla (tub’-la), reflecting the subgroupings within the tala. The tabla player will vary the strokes that he plays, but will do so in a manner consistent with the basic rhythm of the tala. In particular, he will be careful to differentiate between the khali (off-beats) (kaa’-lee) and tali (on-beats) (taa’-lee), which are defined for each tala.
The most important beat of the tala is the first one, called sam (sum). In performance, the soloist may go off on a long improvised phrase that may last for many cycles of the tala, but will always return to the composition on the sam.
Although concerts in the Hindustani tradition all share certain commonalities, there are definite differences between vocal and instrumental concerts, so the two are described separately.
All Indian
music ultimately aspires to imitate the nuances of vocal performance, so it
makes sense to talk about vocal performance first. The two main styles of vocal
performance are Dhrupad (Droo’-pud)
and Khayal (Khy’-aal)
A
Brief History of Dhrupad and Khayal
Dhrupad derives from the word dhruv
(droov), which literally means
fixed, and pada (pud) literally verse/text. Dhrupad refers to both a type of
composition as well as a genre in North Indian classical music. The discussion
here focuses on the genre.
Dhrupad probably evolved from
a family of musical styles that flourished during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. The bhakti (devotional) movement of the followers of Vishnu and Shiva
also substantially contributed to the format and composition styles of dhrupad
performed in the courts of Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior and other courts in
Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Gujarat in the fifteenth century. The popularity
of dhrupad arose when it entered the court of Emperor Akbar's court in the
sixteenth century. Tansen (Tawn’-sane), a legendary musician in Akbar's court, is considered
to be the father of the current form of classical dhrupad and most classical
performers trace their tradition to him. Dhrupad itself has evolved considerably
since Tansen's time. Since North Indian classical tradition is transmitted
orally, the music heard today is probably different from what listeners
experienced five centuries ago.
Khayal is a more recent style
of music that evolved from dhrupad and crystallized in the seventeenth century.
Khayal, (meaning imagination) combines facets of dhrupad styles, techniques, and
structure. A wider variety of ornamentation is used in khayal, and the
improvisation takes place within the confines of a tala. The structure of a
performance is less restricted and the artist has a wider latitude in
structuring and improvising the performance. Due to its open nature, khayal has
become far more popular than dhrupad ever was.
When the singer takes the stage, they will usually be joined by an accompanist (playing either harmonium or sarangi), a tabla player, and one or two tanpura players. Sometimes there will be a second singer as well. After tuning the instruments, the tanpuras will start to provide the drone, and the singer will begin the first raga.
In the khayal style, the most common type of classical vocal performance these days, the singer begins with a short alaap in which the characteristics of the raga are developed. During the alaap, the singer sings without words, concentrating on the notes of the raga and improvising within its structure. Each phrase that is sung is repeated by the accompanist. When the raga has been properly introduced, the first composition will begin. The text will be appropriate to the mood of the raga. The tabla enters in a very slow tempo - one cycle of the tala may take a minute or more. Although the singer is presenting a composition, most of the music is still improvised, with the composition acting as a refrain for the improvised material. Once the possibilities of the slow tala have been explored, the singer will start a second composition, still within the same raga, but faster and usually in a different tala. The focus of the performance will now shift somewhat to technical flourishes - taans (runs) and complex gamaks (ornaments) (guh’-muck). Depending on the raga and the mood of the singer, a third composition may follow.
Once the first raga is finished, the singer may present another raga in khayal style, or may present some lighter classical material. Light classical music includes bhajans (hymns), dhuns (folk tunes), ghazals (romantic poetry) and other types of music. These are usually rendered in a medium or fast tempo, and will not have a lengthy alaap. In light classical, the emphasis is on presentation of the text, rather than presentation of the raga. The typical vocal performance runs around two and a half hours, with the musicians taking only one short break.
A typical instrumental performance
When the musician takes the stage, they will almost always
be joined by a tabla player. The only exception is Dhrupad-inspired instruments
such as the Bin
and Surbahar
(soor-ba-haar), which may play either unaccompanied, or accompanied
by pakhawaj (puck’-uh-vaaj).
Most instrumentalists will use a tanpura as well, but some sitar and sarod
(sa-rode’) players rely on the open
strings of their instruments to provide a drone.
After tuning (which for some instruments may take a while) the artist begins the
first raga. Again, development starts with the alaap, in which the raga is built
up note by note. Instrumental alaap tends to be more drawn out than vocal alaap,
reaching further into the nuances of the raga, and often exploring the lower
octaves as well. When the first part of the alaap is finished, the musician will
begin the jor, introducing a pulse into his improvisations. As the pace
increases, some instrumentalists (especially sarod and sitar players) will
insert rhythms on the drone strings of the instrument, in what is known as jhala
(jaa’-la)
Once the alaap is complete, the tabla will start playing a tala and the first composition will begin. As with vocal music, the first composition will be slow, although rarely as slow as a slow khayal composition. As usual, the composition serves mostly as a jumping-off point for improvisations within the raga. As with vocal music, a faster composition will follow and may build into a second jhala, completing the performance of the raga.
Many instrumentalists will also incorporate lighter classical pieces into their concerts, most commonly folk tunes from various parts of India. Occasionally, the instrumentalist will sing parts of these songs as well.
A Beginner’s Guide to North Indian Classical Music
http://fn2.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~buhrger/guide/
About North Indian Classical Music
http://www.buckinghammusic.com/tall.html
Introduction to the
Music of India, Published by the Centre of Indian Arts, London during the
Sanskritik 7th Festival of Arts of India under the artistic direction of
Birendra Shankar