Art & Culture
Music
Music in the Indian subcontinent reflects the various elements - racial, linguistic, and cultural. It is essential to the religious, social, and cultural lives of the country's diverse population.
The vedic music was the first to have a grammar. Of course, the Rig-Veda is said to be the oldest, dating back approximately 5000 years. The Rig-Veda psalms were known as richas. The Yajur Veda was a sacred chant as well. Another significant milestone in the history of Indian music is the Natya Shastra of Bharata. It is thought to have been composed between the second century B.C. and the second century A.D. Some historians are even questioning if it is the product of a single author, and the work could very well have been a compilation — at least the one we have. The Natya Shastra is a comprehensive text that focuses on dramaturgy. However, a few chapters in this book are about music. Scales, melodic forms, tala, and musical instruments are all covered.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
The classical music tradition, which includes Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a millennia-long history and has evolved across numerous ages. It is still important in Indians' lives today as a source of spiritual inspiration, cultural expression, and plain amusement.
There are two classical music systems today: Hindustani and Carnatic. Carnatic music is restricted to the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. The rest of the country's classical music is known as Hindustani Classical Music. Of course, the Hindustani Classical system is practiced in various places of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka has produced some extremely notable Hindustani artists in recent years.
The formation of two different streams is commonly linked to the fact that northern India absorbed the cultural effect of Muslim rule while southern India did not. The Muslim rulers of northern India, particularly the Mughal and Awadhi (Lucknow) kingdoms, were avid supporters of Hindustani classical music.
Classical music in India has been elevated to the level of science, as evidenced by its designation as Shastriya Sangeet, or'scientific music.' The guru-shishya parampara, meaning the teacher-pupil tradition, is central to India's classical music legacy. If they are Hindu, the gurus are known as Pandit, and if they are Muslim, they are known as Ustaad.
While the fundamentals of Hindustani and Carnatic music are the same, there are variances in style and flourish that identify one gharana from another; gharana literally means "home." Kirana, Gwalior, Agra, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Patiala are the prominent gharanas. While the guru-shishya paramapara is ubiquitous in classical music training throughout the country, the gharana tradition is peculiar to the north Indian type of Hindustani classical music.
PILLARS OF INDIAN MUSICAL SYSTEMS- • Swara – Swara, in general, means pitch or tone. There are seven basic notes of scale in total:
Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni are all abbreviations for the letters Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, D
These seven swaras are known collectively as SARGAM:
• Raga - It is the foundation of melody. Raga is a blend of tones or swaras that, with lovely illuminating graces, pleases the masses.
• Tala – It focuses on the fundamentals of rhythm. It is a unit of time. It is a beat arrangement in a cyclical pattern. Taal has a beat range of 3 to 108 beats. According to Natyashastra, there are 32 types of taal, however musicians have created more than 100 taals. Teen Taal is the most popular taal (16 beats)
• Hindustani Sangeet is typically seen as a synthesis of traditional Hindu musical principles with Persian performance practice.
• The raga system underpins Hindustani music.
• A raga is a musical scale made up of the basic seven notes: sa, re, ga, ma pa, dha, and ni.
• Formal works (songs or instrumental compositions in a fixed meter) alternate with improvised sections.
• Within the Hindustani genre, there are two major forms of compositions: Khyal and Dhrupad.
• There are numerous musical instruments linked with Hindustani sangeet. The tabla and sitar are the most well-known. Other lesser-known instruments include the sarangi, santur, and sarod. • North Indian Music includes a variety of musical styles such as Dhrupad, Khayal (classical North Indian music), Thumri (emotional music), Qawwali (songs from Pakistani sufi's), and Ghazal (Panjabi romantic music).
Hindustani Music Gharanas
A gharânâ is a form of social organization in Hindustani music that connects musicians or dancers by ancestry or apprenticeship, as well as commitment to a specific musical style. A gharana also denotes a broad musicological worldview. This ideology varies significantly from one gharana to the next.
Carnatic Music • Carnatic sangeet (karnatik sangit) is a South Indian classical music system with a long history and a sophisticated theory framework.
• Carnatic Sangeet is practiced in the southern Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Purandardas is known as the "Father of Carnatic Music."
• Carnatic music took on its current form in the 18th century, when the "trinity" of Carnatic musicians, Thyagaraja, Shamashastri, and Muthuswami Dikshitar, composed their well-known songs.
• It is also based on a ragam (rag) and thalam system (tal).
• South Indian classical music employs a variety of musical instruments. The veena (vina), violin, mridangam, nadaswaram, and tavil are the most prevalent.
• The 'Kriti,' a three-part composition, is the primary element of Karnatic music.
Instruments of Music
Musical instruments are classified into four major groups in the Natya Shastra, which was composed by Bharat Muni between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. based on how sound is produced.
Percussion instruments known as Avanaddha Vadya or Membranophones.
Ghana Vadya or Idiophones- Solid instruments that do not need to be tuned.
Sushira Vadya, also known as Aerophones, are wind instruments.
Stringed instruments known as Tata Vadya or Chordophones.