India 3

India 3 - Transcript

The Music of India





Basics of Melody Scale Meter and Rhythm
Melodies Scales Meters Rhythms
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Some Terms to Know
Khyal is the major vocal style of Hindustani music Laya a is the tempo of the performance Alap anam raga improvisation in free rhythm Raga a m is a scale and its associated musical characteristics Tal a m is the meter Sawal Jawab is the call and response rhythmic challenges between soloist and accompanist in Hindustani music





Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
The raga or scale is built on the notes C d e F g a b The rhythm or tala is built on patterns of 4 4 4 4 The instruments used are the sitar and the tabla





Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman Sitar





Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman Tabla





Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
The sitar begins by brushing across the open strings With one hand the player maintains a drone P5 The other hand plays the melody





Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
Alap begins


Gat Tora


Explores the scale of the raga A mixture of pre composed tala rhythms and improvisation Increasingly elaborate melodic explorations Jhala starts with rapid strokes on the drone strings inserted between melody tones Tempo increases Dramatic conclusion

Jhala








Early Music Theory
The Vedas


Rig Veda is a collection of poems that tell the stories of creation and of the Indian gods The preservation and transmission of the Rig Veda became the responsibility of the Brahmins the top ranking member of society

Three types of accents in the poetry Pitches based on relative length of syllables rather than on a pattern of accents These stories were eventually preserved in sung chants not written down until recently





Early Music Theory
When these texts and chants were re arranged as hymns they were set to a special collection of tunes called the Samagana These in turn became the basis for secular musical compositions The oldest treatise on the arts the Natyasastra links music as an adjunct to drama The purpose of music or artistic experience in general is arouse the emotions in specific ways Consequently each raga and tala are designed to illicit specific moods and emotions

Music Theory
Ornamentation is integral to Indian melody and not incidental The sruti are the twenty two divisions of the scale The Western scale has twelve at most





North and South The Hindustani and Karnatak Systems
Hindustan the northern region of India with a distinct musical tradition Karnatak Carnatic referring to South Indian music





North and South Common Raga Traits
Both systems represents ragas as more than just pitches in a scale Certain pitches are emphasized Some pitches are forbidden going up or down Some ragas must double back on itself before continuing in the same direction





North and South Differences
The differences are primarily in performance styles North Indian music tends to be smoother more sensuous in quality South Indian music tends to be more formal and structured





Hindu Muslim Attitudes
To become the shagird pupil of an ustad master is to become an apprentice in a closed guild The musical traditions are jealously guarded by gharanas ancient families who teach it only to talented sons or especially dedicated and loyal men from outside the family Many in India still believe this is the only proper way to learn music Others believe it has hampered the development of Hindustani music





Hindu Muslim Attitudes
Hindus view music as part of religious rituals and the musician is highly regarded Muslims historically have feared music because they felt it could draw out our baser instincts musicians are consequently lower class citizens To battle this northern musicians make a clear distinction between art music and lower popular music





Hindu Muslim Attitudes
Hindus view music as part of religious rituals and the musician is highly regarded Muslims historically have feared music because they felt it could draw out our baser instincts musicians are consequently lower class citizens To battle this northern musicians make a clear distinction between art music and lower popular music





Kriti by Tyanganraja Banturiti
The raga is built on the notes c e f g b The tala is built on patterns of 4 2 2 The instruments used are the mridangam the violin and a vocalist





Kriti by Tyanganraja Banturiti
Mridangam





Kriti by Tyanganraja Banturiti
Violin





Kriti by Tyanganraja Banturiti
A brief alapanam Singer begins the kriti Common talam adi


Eight beats Indicated by a clap on the samam first beat Two other claps on beat 5 7 The three beats following are indiciated by tapping the fingers of the right hand





Kriti by Tyanganraja Banturiti
Eduppu




The performer must return to the eduppu whenever finishing a passage of niraval or svarakalpana Occurs in this example between beats 2 and 3 Hint listen for the return of the first word Banturiti in the pallavi and every 5 seconds afterwards





Kriti by Tyanganraja Banturiti
Alapanam Introduction


Kriti


An improvisation performed before the kriti that demonstrates the musician s abilities to interpret the raga Pallavi Anupallavi Carnam





Ghazal Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of a chain of related couplets Each contains a self contained idea Often culminates in a kind of punchline couplet that brings exclamations of appreciation from the audience An interesting and successful blend of Indian and Western traditions with roots in Islamic culture and romantic Urdu poetry





Ghazal Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
The music alternates two sections as do many types of Indian melodies The first provides music for a refrain and the first verse of each stanza in a lower range The second in a higher range provides music for a second verse





Ghazal Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
The scale is raga Pahari The tala is based on 4 4 The instruments include a vocalist a tabla a tambura and a harmonium





Ghazal Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil

Tambura





Ghazal Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
Brief intro by tambura Free rhythm rendition of refrain opening Repeat of refrain opening with tala rhythm and tabla drums Alternating couplets

Harmonium

South India Sarasiruha

Saraswati
The goddess of Music and Learning





South India Sarasiruha
A concert is made up of a series of as many as 12 14 performance segments each in a different raga and based upon a different composition Sarasiruha is a song by the 19th Century composer Puliyur Doraisamy Ayyar Performer is Ramachandra Iyer playing a veena





South India Sarasiruha
Veena a seven stringed plucked lute with ornate body inlaid deer horn or ivory carved from jackwood Natural or papier mache gourd is attached to the upper neck as a resonator Brass frets are set chromatically





South India Sarasiruha
One of the marvels of this tradition is that instruments and musicians can be added to each functional layer


Melody Drone Rhythm





South India Sarasiruha
The drone or sruti marks the tonal center the center of gravity for the melody and its raga In karnataka music the notes used for the drone are the tonal center and the perfect fifth above it The dissonant tones tend to pull toward tones that blend with the drone





South India Sarasiruha
The veena begins alone without the drum in a free flowing melodic improv called atapana No sense of beat or time cycles Pauses filled in with drones Slides pulls and tremolos Intervals scales and colours very different from the Western tradition





South India Sarasiruha
At 5 42 the kriti begins composition New element added tala Heard by the striking of the drone The tala in this case is the Adi Once entered will continue until the end
4 2 2





South India Sarasiruha
Musical Structure Improvisation Kalpita sangeeta precomposed music Manodharma sangeeta improvised music Four major types of improv in karnataka


Alpana Tanam Niraval Svara kalpana





South India Sarasiruha
The Kriti All compositions in karnatka music are songs melodies with words Three main sections


Pallavi the sprouting blossoming Anupallavi after the sprouting blossoming Charanam verse or foot Chitta svaram or Svara sahityam Optional