1. Hindustani Music of India By: Ashley Underlee

2. Geography of India Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north Terrain/Land Use: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north –arable land: 48.83% permanent crops: 2.8% other: 48.37%

3. People of India Population: 1,147,995,904 (as of 2008) Life Expectancy: total population: 69.25 years male: 66.87 years female: 71.9 years (2008 est.) Religion: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census) Language: Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9% *Since their independence from the UK on August 15, 1947, English has played a major role in international communication and legal affairs. Indian law is also based primarily on English common law with separate personal law codes for Hindus, Muslims, and Christians.

4. History of Traditional Music of India The Vedic Period –H–Hindustani music evolved in the Vedic Period (commonly recognized as being from 2,000 BCE to 600 AD) in which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being composed. –T–This period also contained India’s Golden Age, which brought about the evolution of classical Sandskrit literature and many mighty Indian Empires

5. History of Indian Music Cont. Hindustani Music –Created in the Vedic Period and perfected in the 13 th and 14 th centuries AD –As it evolved over centuries, this style of music developed a strong, distinct tradition which spread from India into Pakistan and Bangladesh –Marked one of the first times sacred hymns were sung and not chanted, utilizing a style called Samagana –Influenced not only by native Indian sounds, but by the Persian performance techniques of the Mughals.

6. Hindustani Scale The Hindustani scale is contains a form similar to western scales. However, it lacks any explicitly equal intervals between consecutive notes, bending and shaping intervals to fit a specific Raga. The Indian scale is as follows: Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti The svaras representing the black keys on a piano are respectively named: Komal Re~Komal Ga~Tivra Ma~Komal Dha~Komal Ni

7. Hindustani Music Theory The Raag An intricate system of scales and melodic patterns A set of 5 to 8 notes compiled into any given Indian composition. Predominant cyclic quality. Varies in tonality (“light” or “rich”), tempo, duration, and character (devotional, tragic, bold and valorous, etc.) depending on occasion Each Raga has a name and a specific time to be played. These times can be based on precise intervals throughout a day or any time throughout a season. This practice is called Time-theory. Over 200 are in existence, compared to the 7 Western modes of music

8. Hindustani Music Theory Cont. The Taal –O–Organizes the rhythm of composition –T–There are hundreds of commonly used taals –M–Made up of a number of Matras, or beats –E–Each taal is defined by a specific set of bols, or patterns –T–The most commonly utilized taal is the “Teentaal” or 16 beat.

9. Tradition of Performance Aalaap –P–Presented in a free rhythmic style, invoking the subtleties of the raag in a slow meditative manner Jhod –A–A more rhythmic piece and contains many variations Jhala –A–A rapid variation of the rhythmic Jhod. The artist’s creativity and improvisational skills are highlighted in these first three parts. Gat –T–The first introduction of percussion into the music. The rhythm progresses from vilambit, to madhyam, to drut. The melody is created at this time, and is countered by the taal created by the tabla.

10. Vocal Tradition Dhrupad –T–The purest form of Hindustani vocals, without any embellishment Khayaal –R–Romantic in content and elaborate ornamentation Dadra, Thumri, Ghazal, Qawwali –L–Light classical, less abstract

11. Traditional Instrumentation The Sitar –A plucked string instrument which utilizes Sympathetic, or resonance, strings that are not directly played by the musician. It is accompanied by a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber to create a rich sound and complex harmonic resonance

12. Traditional Instrumentation Cont. Tanpura: a long- necked instrument containing 4-5 strings and utilizes drone function by creating harmonic resonance on the basic note.

13. Traditional Instrumentation Cont. Sarod: A stringed instrument similar to the sitar, but with a deeper tonality which resembles the pitch of a guitar at low notes, while becoming less rich in the upper registers

14. Traditional Instrumentation Cont. Bansuri: Similar to an alto flute, the bansuri is made of a single piece of bamboo, 17” in length, with seven finger holes. This instrument is very closely knitted to Hindu love story between Krishna and Radha.

15. Traditional Instrumentation Cont. Shehnai: A quadruple-reed wind instrument containing 6-9 holes and widens at the end. Usually thought to bring good luck and thus used in wedding processions

16. Traditional Instrumentation Cont. Sarangi: a short, bowed, string instrument that most closely mimics the human voice. Can Literally means “hundred color” referring to the wide range of sounds it can produce. Capable of gamakas (shakes) and meend (sliding), common vocal techniques.

17. Traditional Instrumentation Cont. Tabla: A pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes used in most genres of traditional Indian music.

19. West Meets East Albert Roussel April 5, 1869 — August 23, 1937

20. Works Cited “India.” India—Britannica Online Encyclopedia Britannica. 12 Nov 2008 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India “Introduction to Indian Music.” Indian Music. 12 Nov 2008 http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/ http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/ “The Evolution of Indian Music.” History of Indian Music. 12 Nov 2008 http://www.itcsra.org/sra_hcm/sra_hcm_index.asp> http://www.itcsra.org/sra_hcm/sra_hcm_index.asp “The Sounds of India.” Sounds of Indian Musical Instruments. 12 Nov 2008 http://www.superbrass.com/users/goodvibes/indiasounds.htm http://www.superbrass.com/users/goodvibes/indiasounds.htm

21. Works Cited Cont. “Musical Instruments.” Indobase Music of India. 12 Nov 2008 http://music.indobase.com/musical- instruments.htmlhttp://music.indobase.com/musical- instruments.html “Hindustani Classical Music.” Wikipedia. 12 Nov 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hindustani_classical_music. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hindustani_classical_music Harrison Frederick W. “West Meets East.” West Meets East. 2001. 12 Nov 2008 http://www.icce.rug.ni/~soundscapes/VOLUME04/west_ meets_east.shtml. http://www.icce.rug.ni/~soundscapes/VOLUME04/west_ meets_east.shtml “India.” CIA- The World Factbook—India. CIA. 12 Nov 2008 http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/geos/in.html.http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/geos/in.html

22. Works Cited Cont. http://www.ensemble- modern.com/english/kritiken/archiv/s_indian.htmhttp://www.ensemble- modern.com/english/kritiken/archiv/s_indian.htm http://www.opus1.com/~ehoornaert/roussel/18_p adma.htmhttp://www.opus1.com/~ehoornaert/roussel/18_p adma.htm http://www.rhapsody.com/dawn-upshaw/the-girl- with-orange-lipshttp://www.rhapsody.com/dawn-upshaw/the-girl- with-orange-lips http://theory.tifr.res.in/~mukhi/Music/music.html www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Bhajan Don Ellis