About the Music of India
The origins of Indian music go back far beyond history. Nada Brahma, which means “the language of God,” is the philosophical premise that sound is a manifestation of the divine. When singing or playing, an Indian musician sets out to experience the infinite and to share his striving with the listener.
For two thousand years, the tradition of Raga Sangeet, on which India’s present musical system is based, has been transmitted via oral tradition, without notation, usually from father to son in lineage known as gharanas. Hindustani (North Indian classical) music as we know it is outgrowth of the fusion of Persian, Central Asian, and Indic elements that took place during the gradual conquest of northern India by the Moghuls between the 12th and 18th centuries. During this intercultural encounter, the music was transformed from a temple art to one of courtly performance. The classical music of South India, Karnatak (or Carnatic), on the other hand, remained relatively untouched by the Moghuls.
Raga, tala and drone, loosely akin to melody, rhythm, and a constant harmonizing background, are the basic elements of Indian classical music, both Hindustani and Karnatak. Here we discuss Hindustani music.
Raga, literally “that which colors the mind,” is a melodic idea which uses at least five notes of the octave, around which the musician, while obeying strict rules, has the freedom to improvise. The rules include limitations on the ascent and descent of the scale, the use of characteristic phrases, prescribed resting places, particular notes to be emphasized, and various compositions. Most ragas are meant to be played only at certain times of the day or seasons of the year, and each raga has its own principle mood or rasa. Nine rasas are theorized:
- shringara – divine or human love
- hasya – humor
- karuna – sadness or compassion
- raudra – anger or fury
- veera – heroism or majesty
- bhayanaka – fear
- vibhasta – disgust
- adbhuta – wonder or surprise
- shanta – peace and tranquillity
Within these strict guidelines, and depending on the creativity, imagination, and mastery of the artist, a raga is improvised. It is said a great musician can improvise even a single phrase of a particular raga or tala indefinitely.
Tala or tal, literally, “clap,” refers to the rhythmic structure that underlines all Indian music. Most often it is played on the drum, in North Indian Classical music usually the tabla. However, much of the rhythmic structure can also be carried by a stringed instrument or the human voice or shown by a series of hand gestures, usually claps and waves, known as kriya. The tal may range from three to over a hundred beats per measure. Many of these traditional combinations of measures and beats are collectively known as thekas. Within the framework of the fixed beats and measures of a tal, the tabla player can improvise to the same extent as the instrumental musician or vocalist.
The tanpura’s strings are plucked slowly and arhythmically, so that its harmonics or overtones remain as a constant presence. Although these overtones are essential to the music, there is no use of harmony in the Western sense in Indian music. The tanpura, usually tuned to the tonic and fifth, also serves the function of being the constant against which other instruments can be tuned.
Rag or Raga is also used as the collective term to include the concepts of rag, tal and drone. A traditional rag performance begins with an alap (the free-rhythmic, unmetered exploration of the raga’s melodic parameters), and may include jor and jhala (pulsed unfolding that increases in speed, both of which are considered part of the alap) and concludes with one or more bandish-s in vocal music or gat-s (compositions in a particular raga set to particular tala). (Notes by Pranesh Khan and Amie Maciszewski)