The music of India can be divided into three main elements - the soloist, drums, and drone. It focuses on melody, with instruments like the violin commonly accompanying in Southern India. There are two major divisions - melodic improvisation called ragas in North India and gitams in South India, and rhythmic cycles of beats called talas. Most forms rely on preexisting texts that follow the structure of the raga and tala, while some improvised forms use scat syllables. Accompaniment typically includes the bin, tampura, and tabla in North India and violin, tambura, and mrdangam in South India.
2. SOUND OF INDIA
g Classical Ensembles
f Small number of players
g Three main elements
f Soloist
f Drums
f Drone
g Focus is on melody.
g Violin is commonly used in accompaniment in the music
of South India.
4. THE MELODY OF INDIA
g Melodic Improvisation
g Raga
f Bandish (North India)
f Gitam (South India)
g Many performances include more than one melody
instrument.
6. THE VOICE OF INDIA
g Most forms rely on preexisting text
f Follow the form of the raga and tala
g Improvised forms without text use scat
syllable
g Accompaniment
f North India: Bin, Tampura & Tabla
f South India: Violin, Tambura & Mrdangam
Separated from the rest of Asia by the Himalayan Mountains. Because it is so big and cut off from the rest of the continent, it is called a subcontinent It has deserts, jungles, mountains, forests, and farms.
Hymns- Cyclic philosophy of the tala and melodic concepts of the raga, ornamentation practices, and the idea that music for any purpose is fundamentally spiritual in nature. Drone creates a tonal foundation for the raga. Usually a string instrument such as a tambura. Tonic and a fifth above. Modern musicians use an electronic version. Sympathetic strings are tuned to the pitches of the scale so the raga is always present.
Classical performances always feature improvisation by a single soloist. Vocal or Instrumental. Improvisation (contoversial) is limited by the raga. Raga includes aspects of tuning, scales, functions of pitches, melodic motives, and ornamentation. Bandish and Gitam are pre-composed compositions. The scale system may be different in ascending and descending forms. Includes: a tonic, Melodic motives, Ornamental practices (according to the instrument). Never modulate, usually 7 notes (sometimes 5 or 9). Use syllables like solfege - SA RE GA MA PA DHA NI. SA is do. Pitch bending is important. Raga on Page 137. Schools of painting and poetry arose to symbolically represent the moods various ragas. Alap- melodic section that begins the classical piece and reveals characteristics of the raga.
Classical performance uses palms or fingers to play elaborate patterns. Gat- metered section. Tala- are cycles of beat groups. In the same way melody is governed by the raga, rhythm is governed by tala. Rhythm improvisations is limited. Bols are syllables for different drum strokes-dha, dhin, ta, and tin. Dah and din together, ta and tin on small drum.
When using text, the raga and tala are usually simple to maintain focus on the text. Syllables may be neutral- ah
