Chapter 8
Ravi Shankar (1920-2012)
 Focal figure of this chapter
 Master of the sitar, master performer of Hindustani raga
 Passed away shortly after the textbook was published
 Chapter centers on his “global gharana” – lens through which to
explore “Indian music” both locally and globally.
Lineage of Ravi Shankar
 “Baba” Allaudin Khan
 Founder of Maihar Gharana
 Shankar’s guru
 Alla Rakha
 Tabla (drum) accompanist
 Father of tabla master Zakir
Hussain
 Yehudi Menuhin
 Great Western classical
violinist
 John Coltrane
 Legendary jazz saxophonist
 George Harrison
 Sitar protégé of Shankar
 Beatles lead guitarist
 John McLaughlin
 Virtuoso jazz guitarist; leader
of Shakti (w. Zakir Hussain)
 A. R. Rahman
 Leading film music
composer in Bollywood
 Anoushka Shankar, Norah
Jones (his musician
daughters)
Indian Music in Context
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Geography
200 languages, 1600 dialects
Civilization 5000+ years
North India (Hindustani) vs. South India (Karnatak) – ca. 1500 BCE
Religion
 Hinduism
 Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva)
 Bhajan (CD 2-19)
 Islam
 North India (Hindustani) but minimal in South (Karnatak)
 Sufism, Sufi music
 Qawwali – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLxMLA8oJb0 (cue to 5:15)
 Sufi song (qawwali-ish) CD 2-20 (Shafqat Ali Khan)
 Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity, etc.
Musical Diversity
 Thousands of folk, religious, devotional, popular, and
film music genres.
 Bollywood = Bombay (now Mumbai) + Hollywood
 Bhangra – popular musical style from Punjab
originally; often featured in Bollywood films, music
videos
 (CD 1-22 Jasbir Jassi “Kudi Kudi”)
 Jasbir Jassi “"Ek Geda Gidhe Vich Hor Jassi"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rY6n78UFw8
 A. R .Rahman – composer; Shah Rukh Khan -- actor
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-v6Qdj5XEs
Two Great Classical Traditions
Karnatak (Carnatic)
Hindustani
 S0uth India
 North India
 Raga and tala (but distinct
 Raga and tala
 Sangita (music, dance, drama)
 Singing tops by far
 Hindu-based; little Islamic
influence
 Less known internationally
 Vina (veena), [tambura,]
mrdangam (CD 1-24)
 https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=aIV4mzHf8WQ
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names and types)
Sangita (music, dance, drama)
Singing tops (though not quite
as much)
Hindu-based, but with
considerable Islamic influence
Better known internationally
(Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan
[sarod])
Sitar, tambura, tabla
Hindustani Music / Ravi Shankar
 Ravi Shankar born 1920 (Brahmin caste – p. 125)
 Child prodigy – toured Europe as dancer with brother Uday
 Paris 1930s – Allaudin Khan (guru “Baba”), Yehudi
Menuhin
 Trained with Baba in Maihar (Maihar gharana)
 1950s – concerts and recordings in West with Menuhin
popularized Indian music internationally
 1960s – John Coltrane, George Harrison/Beatles, Monterey
Pop (1967), Woodstock (1969) w. Alla Rakha, tabla
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEXVVq0h7Ak&spfreloa
d=1 (Shankar/Rakha at Woodstock)
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Note: Shankar/Rakha = Hindu/Muslim collaboration (discuss)
Musical Guided Tour: “An Introduction
to Indian Music” (Ravi Shankar)
 CD 2-21 (Source recording: The Sounds of India - 1957)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLB_mRyA4bY&list=PL4BZ9a
NaMmDjy8-Gx4qblk569BhQAtxwv
 Follow text transcript on pp. 127-28
 Terms: Raga, tala, alap, tintal, theka, sam (we’ll return to these)
 Sitar (Shankar), tambura (drone), tabla (drums)
 Figures 8.2, 8.3 (sitar, tabla) and tambura photo (pp. 128-29)
Other Hindustani Instruments
 Sarod (Ali Akbar Khan)
 Shahnai (Bismillah Khan)
 Sarangi (Ram Narayan)
 Violin (N. Rajam)
 Bansuri (Hariprasad Chaurasia)
“Raga Sindhi-Bhairavi” (CD 2-23)
 Ravi Shankar (sitar), Chatur Lal (tabla), plus tambura
 Also from RS album The Sounds of India
Features of a raga (p. 132)
 Identifying set of pitches
 Unique repertoire of melodic ornaments and motives
 Rules and procedures re: melodic development
 Repertoire of set (precomposed compositions)
 Extramusical associations
 Overall process of barhat (lit., growth) defines the way
a rage unfolds and develops in the context of
performance, which combines elements of
improvisation and fixed composition.
Raga Sindhi-Bhairavi
 Belongs to Bhairavi family of ragas
 Morning raga (though often played through past midnight)
 Associated with the female form of Bhairavi, who holds “cymbals in
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her hands, and her eyes sparkle with a yellowish glint.”
“light classical” raga – penance, forgiveness, calm, appeasement
(but Shankar’s performance more “aggressive”)
Aroha: Bb C Eb F G Eb F Ab Bb C
Avroha: C Bb A Bb Ab G F Eb G F Eb D Eb Db C
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni = C Db Eb F G Ab Bb
Form
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Alap – non-metric improvised opening of soloist
Jor – transition (“link”) to the gat – more rhythmic
Gat – main composition; tala estab w. entry of tabla
Jhala – faster, builds to exciting climax, tihai ending
Tala
 Rhythmic framework of a raga performance, especially as defined by its
metric cycle.
 Tala of RS’s recording of Raga Sindhi-Bhairavi is the most common one
of all: tintal.
 Each tala has a specific number of beats (matra) and pattern of
relatively stronger and weaker beats:
 Tintal – 16; jhaptal – 10; rupak tal - 7
 Theka—skeletal rhythmic pattern of a tala
 “Keeping tal” involves marking out theka with claps (tali), waves
(khali), and finger counts
 Tintal (16 beats):
X...x...o...x...
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X = strong clap, x = clap, o = silent wave, . = finger count (pp. 136-38)
 Tihai—Rhythmic cadence (ending pattern)
 Syncopated and repeated three times, ending on sam (“downbeat” of
the cycle)
Listening: “Raga Sindhi-Bhairavi”
 Read GLE discussion, pp. 138-41 and follow along with GLQS, pp.
141-42
 Alap (0:27-4:52) – improvised exploration of the notes contours,
and other characteristics of Raga S-B
 Jor (4:53-5:51) – rhythmic strumming of jhala strings, active
rhythmic motion
 Gat (5:52-12:35) – announced by entry of tabla; tala (tintal
established), alt. of chalan (main melodic motive) and toda
(improv passages); antara (new melodic material) and drut gat
(“fast gat”) sections conclude the gat, transitioning to…
 Jhala (12:36-end) – sudden jump in tempo, rhythmic playing on
jhala strings, growing intensity and tempo to end, marked by a
climactic tihai.
Intercultural Crossings and
Transformations
 Shankar-Menuhin collaborations starting 1950s
 Iconic recording: West Meets East (1967)
 Shankar projects with, influences on jazz musicians
 Improvisations (1961), w. flautist Bud Shank
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqO_DxrqX4c
 Coltrane – “modal jazz” style (1960s), “India” (CD 3-1)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIgP6-HqKhs
 Briefly studied with Shankar 1964-65
 John McLaughlin
 Shakti (w. Zakir Hussain, L. Shankar, plus two S. Indian
percussionists)
 “Joy,” from Shakti, with John McLaughlin (CD 3-2; GLE 147-48)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGW4nrsZJ3o (live rec. at
Montreux Jazz Festival, 1976)
Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, and
the Beatles
 Harrison – sitar on set of film Help!
 “Norwegian Wood” (1965) – sitar solo
 1966—Harrison studies sitar with RS
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxf9CT_P264 (GH lesson with RS in
California – from film Raga: Ravi Shankar)
 same year Revolver released, with heavily Indianized Harrison composition
“Love You To”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8tkCT9gQHs
 1967—Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with “Within You, Without
You” (Harrison)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljnv3KGtcyI
 Due to Beatles influence, “great sitar explosion” (Byrds, Yardbirds, Rolling
Stones, etc.) and “sitar rock”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BcJaUYE5Jw (Rolling Stones, “Paint It
Black”)
 Drug use, etc. distressed Shankar
Bollywood: A. R. Rahman
 Leading Bollywood composer, music director, and singer
 One of world’s top-selling musical artists of all time – 300 million-plus
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recordings sold
Classically trained in Hindustani and Karnatak music, also studied
qawwali w. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Has performed, recorded, and toured with Zakir Hussain, many other
Indian music luminaries
Oscar-winning composer for score/song (“Jai Ho”) of 2008
international hit film Slumdog Millionaire
Time magazine listed him in 2009 “Time 100” list of world’s most
influential people, called him “the Mozart of Madras”
A. R. Rahman “Barso Re”
 CD 3-3, GLE pp. 150-152, GLQS 152-54
 From the Bollywood film Guru, starring Aishwarya Rai in
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role of Sujata
In “Barso Re,” she celebrates coming of the rainy season in
most dramatic fashion.
Rai appears to be singing the song, but it is voiced by
Shreya Ghoshal, a leading Bollywood playback singer.
Though not a raga performance by any measure, barhatlike process of growth defines the performance overall.
Film performance on YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0otYr7H6xo&list=RDK
0otYr7H6xo