|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Traditional/Classical Music: Indian Music: Instruments |
||||
| Indian music
encompasses some of the richest, most remarkable musical traditions of the world. India's
musical history begins in the second millennium BC with the advent of the Vedic period.
The Samaveda, one of the sacred four Vedas ("four books of knowledge"),
comprises the world's oldest notated melodies. These hymns have been passed down through
oral tradition since that early period. Beginning with the second century AD, complicated
theoretical systems developed, and the important "raga" principle was
established. In the 11th and 12th centuries AD, Islamic influences were felt in India as
the result of the invasions from the northwest. This intrusion undoubtedly brought about
the division, about 1200, of Indian music into northern and southern systems, a separation
that has continued to the present day. Numerous differences exist between the music of the north and the south, but the regions have in common the two fundamental characteristics of Indian art music, the raga and the tala. In general, raga concerns melody and tala rhythm. The Raga A raga is identified by specific tonal material consisting of a particular combination of musical phrases that gives it its distinctive melodic character. The number of tones it possesses is fixed; these pitches--some more important than others--can often be presented in the form of ascending and descending scales. Many ragas are associated with certain standard musical phrases. It is this trait that most closely ties the raga concept to the ancient Samaveda. Many of these standard phrases are so well known that the informed listener is able to tell immediately which raga is being performed. Regardless of whether the raga performance is vocal or instrumental, a drone (a sustained tone of fixed pitch) is invariably heard in the background. The drone instrument is usually the tambura, which has a long neck and four strings tuned to the basic tones of the raga. Magical powers are attributed to some ragas, especially when they are performed faultlessly. Moreover, many ragas should be performed only at certain times of the day or night or during specific periods of the year. A number of ragas express certain moods or emotions, and some are believed to personify gods, ascetics, or devotees. The Tala The other basic element of Indian art music, the tala, is a rhythmic cycle containing a fixed number of beats. Talas give the rhythmic foundation of the melodic structure and are performed on drums. The sequence of beats serves as a framework on which the drummer plays rhythmic patterns associated with a particular tala. Once the drummer starts performing, he plays one cycle after another, often repeating the sequence of beats more than a hundred times in a single performance. The tala is divided into subsections, which can be equal or unequal in length. As a rule, the first beat of a section receives an accent. The most important accent occurs on the very first beat of the tala cycle; at this point the soloist sings or plays an important tone of the raga, and the drummer accents this with an appropriate drum stroke. The North The raga and tala are realized within distinctive musical forms. Although a number of these are prevalent in both north and south India, the major types of each region have certain traits in common. The northern classical music (Hindustani music) usually opens with a prelude, the alap. Here only the soloist and the drone instrument are heard; the drum is silent, and the rhythm is free (there is no tala). The purpose of the alap is to explore the essential features of the raga--the important tones and the characteristic phrases--and to establish the appropriate mood. After the alap a short song is sung or played, and here the drum enters for the first time with the tala. The rest of the performance varies, depending on which formal type is being employed. But usually a great deal of improvisation is interspersed with recurring material from the song. The speed gradually increases, often leading to a rousing, extremely quick conclusion. In the north the chief melody instruments are the sitar, a stringed instrument with a body usually made of a gourd split approximately in half, a fingerboard about 1 m (3 ft) long, and seven main strings; the sarod, a stringed instrument about 1 m (3 ft) long, made of wood, with a metal fingerboard and six main strings; the shahnai, a double-reed wind instrument about 0.6 m (2 ft) long with seven finger holes; and the sarangi, a bowed stringed instrument used both for solo playing and for accompanying vocal music. The most common drum in the north is the tabla, which is actually two small drums, each having a single head (membrane). The South The music of southern India (called Carnatic music, after a region in the south) is also based on the concepts of raga and tala, but the style of singing and playing and the musical forms are different from those of the north. South Indian music is often dancelike in character. Southern ragas are not equivalent to those of the north, and the manner of performing them is characterized by much ornamentation. The talas also are different, and they are performed on a different kind of drum--the mridanga, a cylindrical barrel drum about 0.6 m (2 ft) long with two heads. The principal southern forms begin with a rhythmically free introduction called alapana, which is followed by three main sections: pallavi, anupallavi, and carana. The pallavi melody serves as a refrain throughout, intermingled with a great deal of melodic and rhythmic elaboration and improvisation. The major melody instruments of the south are the vina, a stringed instrument similar in shape to the sitar of the north; the venu, a wooden transverse flute; the nagasvaram, an outdoor double-reed wind instrument with a conical bore, flared bell, and seven finger holes; and the Western violin. |
music is LIFE!
|
|---|
