In todays blog we will be talking about classical indian music and also the four main elements of indian music. I will be talking about the four main elements of indian music; Drone, Rhythm, Melody and improvising. I will also be talking about the history of indian music and how it has developed over time. I will talk about why people play indian music and where it has come from. So sIt back relax and enjoy me, rambling on about music for the next 1,500+ words.
The four elements:
Drone,
The drone is the most important element of indian music and here’s why. In western music you have chord changes and sifting harmony but in indian music you don’t, you have a static harmony and this is provided by one note that plays throughout the piece and usually has no rhythm. The drone is this note. What the drone does is create constant harmony as this note will be played with any note that is played by the melody instrument. A common indian instrument that plays the drone is a tampura, The drone is important because in indian music you have things called ‘Raga’s” and these are a combination of a rising and falling scale (up and down), A mood/Feeling and a time. With these raga’s you will have certain notes that are most important and these are called the vadi and samvadi, These notes will have a certain effect on the drone to create the right mood. for example if you used the bhairav you have a b2 which when played against the drone which is always the root note of the raga, with this b2 and root note clash you will create some very interesting harmony. This is why the drone is so important.
Rhythm,
How is rhythm a main element? In indian music you will have ragas and also things called rhythm cycles which is similar to a raga but has more freedom, rhythm cycles are similar to western music as well, as they have pattern time signatures in western music but instead of thinking about rhythm as time signatures they would use clusters of rhythmical numbers for example in a bar of 4/4 they would have the clusters 3,3,2(8th notes), with rhythm cycles you would also have accents and rests in the rhythm cycle and they would have to be stuck too but musicians can play with freedom along as they stick too those accents and rests. A common indian instrument that plays rhythm would be the tabla.
Melody,
The reason why melody is one of the four main elements of indian music is because in indian music you will have song structures that are similar to western jazz. In indian music you will have things called gat’s and what these are in western terms is a jazz head, this melody would of be been learnt before the performance and would be treated as a jazz had would be. Also you can have gat’s that mean different things in the song, you can have a gat that cues a solo or a gat that tells people to speed up. Another thing that is common in indian music and is a Allap, this is a solo played by the main melody instrument at the beginning of the piece and is usually the solo that introduces the rhythm cycle and starts the main gat. Melody is a main element because of the lack of chord changes and being restricted by the raga, the melody is getting all the focus and is the m.d of the song as you can change everything by playing a Gat. A common melody instrument in indian music would be the sitar.
Improvising,
Why is improvising one of the four elements? well this is directly linked to the history of indian music. In western music we have always wrote music down in sheet music form and have used that method to pass down music through generations but with indian music they did not have the western music notation method so they would pass down music by musicians learning and teaching the music to their students, When you pass down music using that method you will make changes without you knowing, similar to the whisper game you would play in first school. so when you have a piece isn’t set in stone you will always have improvising within the melody itself. Improvising is also a important part indian music as they would have pieces that last for hours and with these piece’s you will have solo’s and this is where improvising comes in. The way indian music improvises is very different to western music as with western music you have complete freedom in improvising(by this I mean we can play any notes in any order with any rhythm) but with indian music you will stick within the raga and also some raga’s can restrict you into playing certain rhythms too.
Ornamention,
This is what makes indian music sound indian as you could play the scales and everything the same but if you don’t apply the ornamentation you won’t sound indian. Ornamentation is called Alan Kaar in indian music but is basically how you play a note. Very much like western music they would slide and bend notes to add texture too the notes. Ornamentation can be applied to any instrument in indian music but some are easier to do then others on drums. Here is video demonstrating Ornamentation –Video
Mughals,
The Mughals invaded india in 1526 and controlled india until 1857, in that time they influenced indian music a lot. When the Mughals invaded they brought with them a rich culture, the new musical style and culture meant that a whole new approach too music. With the Mughals came along a group of people called the sufi’s. These people were known as poets and musicians and they really pushed music in india as music was a huge part of religion, Just like in western culture, music was used mainly in religion and when the Mughals came too india they pushed music even more as they would play music for many of the emperors events. As India was split into two sections for music, the north and south. but after the Mughals invaded the north started to become more south. The difference between north and south was the terminology and the schooling in indian music.
Amir Khusrow,
Amir Khusrow was a indian sufi musician Born in 1253 and had a huge influence on indian music. A sufi is a spiritual person who writes poetry and involved in art, they were very important people and strongly encouraged music. Amir was a huge impact on indian music as he was the creator of the Tabla instrument which is one of the most common rhythm instruments in indian music. The word Tabla comes from the arabic word “Tabl” which means drum and is played with the fingertips instead of the palm which was how other indian rhythm instruments were played. This instrument allowed a new complex vocal style called Zikr(Dhikr). Amir created this instrument so that he complement his sitar melodies with a rhythmic instrument. Amir Khusrow was a huge impact on indian classical music from the invention of the Tabla and his sitar playing to his poetry.
-Tabla
Britain,
The British had a big influence on indian music and this is why. One thing that people always get wrong about indian culture is that the violin is a traditional indian instrument, but in actual fact the violin was introduced by the British when they were trading heavily with india.This brings me onto another thing people get wrong about indians culture and that was that Britain controlled india and in actual fact it was only that they were trading heavily. Britain also introduced western music too indian culture during the this time and this effected indian music dramatically. Indian music changed a lot due to western music, Indian music started to introduce western musically elements into their music especially in indian pop music and the Bollywood scene.
How western music has effected indian music ,
Western pop music brought a lot of influence to indian music and now we see a lot of western musically elements in their pop music. Indian music now uses western elements like their structures for example verse,chorus or the A A B A structure. Jazz has effected indian music in a lot of ways as they both share a lot of improvising but as I have talked about in the essay, indian music tends to stick too Raga’s and now with the influence of jazz you get more indian music being adventures with their solo’s and music. A good example of this would be the band “Chingari”. Western music has strongly effected the Bollywood scene and I will talk about that later.
How indian music has effected Western music,
Indian music effected western music a lot in the jazz culture and also in popular music. A way indian music has effected western pop music was with George harris the guitarist from the Beatles and he started playing the sitar, a traditional indian instrument. George was taught by Ravi Shanker-Video. Also Indian music has effected the western Jazz scene as Indian music has a lot of improvising and thats what is in Jazz music, so the connection was their for them to cross over and they have with bands like shakti, which is a band formed by John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra) and shakti is a perfect example of how indian music has effected western musician. Another great example would be John Coltrane the super famous jazz musician and he started writing more indian influenced music near the end of his career.
How technology has effected indian music,
Indian music was effected a lot by the development music technology just like everywhere else but what was really important was the recording technology as in indian music they did not use western music notation as mention earlier in the essay so when the technology to record came about it meant that the famous pieces that would vary in which area you go could be standardised. Another big development in indian music due to technology was the introduction of applications on electronic devices and websites like youtube. Apps like ITanpura and youtube videos of indian rhythm cycles meant that indian musicians could practice alone and also could use samples to write music. Along with electronic versions of the common indian instruments Technology has effected the way indian music is played and sounds.
Bollywood music,
Bollywood music is commonly found in indian films and at its western equivalent would be a musical. The word Bollywood is a combination of the words Hollywood and Bombay and this tells you straight away it has western influence. Bollywood music focuses on the vocals and the lyrical content. The Bollywood music scene has effected the western world with films like “Slumdog Millionaire”. Bollywood music also has big influences from western music with elements like structure and drum rhythm. Bollywood also uses sampling in the music, as I have said they focus on the lyrical content. You can really hear in todays Bollywood music the influence of western club music, with the drum beats and samples.
In conclusion Indian music has been through a lot. After technology and the combinations of different cultures has created a new way in indian music, which has a rich texture. I hope this essay has helped you learn a bit more about indian music and it has quenched your thirst for knowledge.
HND MUSIC BLOG William Allman 