Hindustani Music
of India
By: Ashley Underlee
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%
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.
History of Traditional Music of India
• The Vedic Period
– 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.
– This period also contained India’s Golden
Age, which brought about the evolution of
classical Sandskrit literature and many
mighty Indian Empires
History of Indian Music Cont.
• Hindustani Music
– Created in the Vedic Period and perfected in the 13th
and 14th 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.
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
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 compos
• 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
Hindustani Music Theory Cont.
• The Taal
– Organizes the rhythm of composition
– There are hundreds of commonly used
taals
– Made up of a number of Matras, or beats
– Each taal is defined by a specific set of
bols, or patterns
– The most commonly utilized taal is the
“Teentaal” or 16 beat.
Tradition of Performance
• Aalaap
– Presented in a free rhythmic style, invoking the subtleties
of the raag in a slow meditative manner
• Jhod
– A more rhythmic piece and contains many variations
• Jhala
– A rapid variation of the rhythmic Jhod. The artist’s
creativity and improvisational skills are highlighted in
these first three parts.
• Gat
– 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.
Vocal Tradition
• Dhrupad
– The purest form of Hindustani vocals,
without any embellishment
• Khayaal
– Romantic in content and elaborate
ornamentation
• Dadra, Thumri, Ghazal, Qawwali
– Light classical, less abstract
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
Traditional Instrumentation Cont.
• Tanpura: a longnecked instrument
containing 4-5 strings
and utilizes drone
function by creating
harmonic resonance
on the basic note.
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
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.
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
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.
Traditional Instrumentation Cont.
• Tabla: A pair of hand
drums of contrasting
sizes used in most
genres of traditional
Indian music.
West Meets East
• Albert Roussel
April 5, 1869 — August 23, 1937
Works Cited
• “India.” India—Britannica Online Encyclopedia
Britannica. 12 Nov 2008
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India
• “Introduction to Indian Music.” Indian Music. 12 Nov
2008
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>
• “The Sounds of India.” Sounds of Indian Musical
Instruments. 12 Nov 2008
http://www.superbrass.com/users/goodvibes/indiasounds
.htm
Works Cited Cont.
• “Musical Instruments.” Indobase Music of India. 12 Nov
2008 http://music.indobase.com/musicalinstruments.html
• “Hindustani Classical Music.” Wikipedia. 12 Nov 2008
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.
• “India.” CIA- The World Factbook—India. CIA. 12 Nov
2008 http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/in.html.
Works Cited Cont.
• http://www.ensemblemodern.com/english/kritiken/archiv/s_indian.htm
• http://www.opus1.com/~ehoornaert/roussel/18_p
adma.htm
• http://www.rhapsody.com/dawn-upshaw/the-girlwith-orange-lips
• http://theory.tifr.res.in/~mukhi/Music/music.html
• www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Bhajan
• Don Ellis