Indian Music Music is the soul of the cosmos. It is found everywhere from the rustling of the trees, to the playful streams to the pitter-patter of the raindrops. Indian music in particular is one of the oldest and finest forms of human expression. The Vedas, representing the most ancient literature known to the world, are set to a distinctive melody that is absolutely soothing. Folk and classical music developed side by side. The varied human passions like, agony, ecstasy, sorrow, hope, desire etc found expression in the subtle notes of music. In India, music has been categorized by the scriptures into two major streams known as the margi and the desi, roughly translated as classical and folk. The basic tenets of classical music have been laid down by numerous ancient texts.
Hindustani and Carnatic are the two major systems of classical music. Though they have similar origins and source, according to ancient scripts, they seem distinct. There are references about the Dhruvaprabhada (later transformed into the Dhrupad) in the ancient texts such as Natya Shastra of Bharata and Sangeetha Magaradham, Raga Sarangini etc. Dhrupad developed as a part of worship in temples and various rituals such as yajnas. Dhrupad has four distinct gharanas or schools namely, Gudiya Govarhar, Khandar, Dagar and Nauhar.
A new form of Hindustani classical emerged during the 13th and 14th centuries. This was known as Khayal, meaning imagination. The style gave an entirely new meaning to Hindustani classical music. Amir Khusrau is considered to be the proponent of this style.
Raga (melody) is India's contribution to the world of music. It is fundamental to Indian classical music, both Hindustani and Carnatic. A highly scientific and practical scheme of raga classification introduced by Venkatamahi became the foundation for Indian classical music. Ragas are made of different combinations of sapta swara or seven notes. These are Sa Sadjam, Ri Rishabam, Ga Gaandhaaram, Ma Madhyamam, Pa Pancham, Dha Dhaivadam, Ni Nishadam.
In western classical Piano one octave consists of 12 notes, whereas in Indian classical music the same consists of 22 notes or shrutis. Swara is generally defined as a note whereas a shruti is the microtonal intervals between two swaras.
Indian Instrumental Music
The immense diversity of Indian traditions has given birth to an extraordinary variety of musical instruments. Some can be played as solo instruments and others are used as accompaniments to vocalists or dancers. There are instruments that are used for devotional and ritualistic purposes too, like the conch. The antiquity of musical instruments is evident from the prehistoric cave paintings and sculptures of ancient temples. Indian musical instruments can be broadly classified into four types: tantu or stringed, susir or wind, avanada or percussion and ghana comprising of bells, cymbals and gongs. There are variations according to complexities in these too.The stringed instruments vary according to their complications. The simplest of these being, the single stringed ektara. The veena, sitar, sarangi and sarod too are popular stringed instruments. These instruments commonly have round resonators at one end and are made out of dried hollow gourd. The veena is said to have been used by Bharata in his musical studies. The sitar is said to have been invented by Amir Khusrau. The sarod is smaller of the lot and has 10 main strings and 15 sympathetic strings. The sarangi in the other hand is played with a bow. The other stringed instruments include the dilruba, esraj, tanpura, ektara and the mayuri.
Among the wind instruments the most popular is the Shahnai, a double-reeded flute. The bansuri has many variation producing different pitches and sounds. Other wind instruments include the bansuri, nadaswaram, ninkirns and pongi.
There are many types of drums in India. The double-faced ones can be hit on both sides, like the dholak or the pakhawaj. Similarly, the mridangam of the south, used to accompany Carnatic music, is placed on the lap of a person and struck with the hands on both sides. The tabla on the other hand is a set of two single faced drums is played using both hands. It is the traditional accompaniment for Hindustani music. Religious festivals in Kerala are incomplete without the large drums called chenda, which are beaten with sticks. The ghatam is perhaps the most interesting as it a big round clay pot. It is placed on the musician's lap and who taps it with his fingers and knuckles to produce the most exciting sounds.
The last category, ghana, has a wide variety of instruments that are percussion-based like bells, clappers, cymbals, and gongs. They usually fulfill rhythmic functions that produce a variety of notes like the other instruments. The jal-tarang is a set of china bowls of varying sizes filled with different quantities of water, which produce different notes when tapped with a stick.