FEATURES OF INDIAN MUSIC – HINDUSTANI AND KARNATAKA (CARNATIC)

FEATURES OF INDIAN MUSIC – HINDUSTANI AND KARNATAKA (CARNATIC)

Originally, in India there was only one system of music, but during the medieval period the North India came under the impact of the diverse musical influences of the Islamic world-particular Persian, which led to the division of the Indian Music into two distinct schools the Hindustani (North Indian) and Karnataka (South Indian). But the basic features in both schools of music were common. The Indian music is of two types namely marga – sangit (mystical) and Desi sangit (secular). The cause of music is pleasant soun termed in India “Nada”. Indian music is divided into “ragas” or melody – types. There are ten major “Ragas” or parent scales of which the most important are yaman, Bilawal Khamal, Bhairava, Purvis marwa, Kafi,Aswari, Bhairavi and Trodi. The major Ragas or parent sales are further sub –divided intoRagas and Raginis so that we have about 200 types of melodies. Each Raga must have five nots. One principal one (called Vadi), one second important note (called samvadi) and the rest assistant notes (called anuvadi), Ragas are sung in various speeds and some move in a certain pitch. Music has also its rhythmic ebats whih are divided into ‘tala’, ‘laya’ and ‘matra’. ‘tala’ is a complete ccle of a metrical phrase composed of a fixed number of ebeats. ‘laya’ is tempo –alow, medium, feet ‘matra’ is the smallest unit of the ‘tala’.

Thus the gamut of several notes woven into a composition may be called a ‘Raga’. The ragas can be sung without any instrumental accompaniment but generally take ‘talba’ (drim) for the purpose besides any stringed instrument. They are sung at particular seasons and time of the day or night.

Schools of Indian music.

 Beginning in the 13^th century, with the establishment of Delhi Sultanate, Islamic hegemony in the North is commonly believed to be associated with the evolution of two distinct styles of musical practice in India. The Hindustani of the north and the Karnataka of the south. Although the Hindustani system is considered different from the Karnataka by virtue of the presence of Persian and Turkish features in the former – Musicians from Persia and central Asia were associated with courts in the North at least Unit the late seventeenth century.

Today the two main classical styles in India correspond geographically to the linguistic areas of indo-Aryan based languages in the north and Dravidian based languages in the south. Although analytically both can be considered two variants of one underlying system, the two systems are considered in India to be distinct constituting separate theory systems, histories, compositions and performers.

Common to both systems are the fundamental concepts of pitch (svara), melody type (raga known as rag in the north and ragam in the south) and meter (tela, tal in the north and talam in the south). Both also use similar types of performance ensembles with a vocalist or instrumentalist as soloist, a drummer as rhythmic accompanist and a drone provided by a tanpura. In the case of a vocal soloist, a melodic accompanist on an instrument is also present.

Hindustani music

Hindustani music is usually traced back by its practitioners to the Delhi sultanate period with Amir Khusrau (1253 – 1325 A.D ) as one of the earliest historical personalities. Although traditionally considered the inventor of the sitar on the table, and as well as several ragas and other musical genres, the actual evidence for these assumptions is not clear.,

The zenith of Hindustani music is associate with the great tansen, one of the jewels of the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar (ram, 1556 – 1605). A vocalist an and instrumentalist, most Hindustani musicians today trace their musical descent from Hansen.

Hindustani musical performance is based on a composition which is set to a meter and from which extemporized variations are generated. The composition is usually a relatively short tune which is said to embody the essence of the rag (mode or melody type) in which it is composed.

A performance begins with an alap, for dhrupad (four part composition) and in instrumental genres, the alap is elaborate and characterized by the absence of any metered accompaniment. Following the alap, pulsed sections, instrumental genres and are called for (instrumental) or nom-tom (dhrupad). Star and scrod performance practice also includes a jhala, which is an it self later in the performance. In the vovalkhyal the alp is typically non-existent or short and sometimes extended in for the metered section.

Once the alap is ended the composition proper is performed the composition is set to a recurring rhythmic cycle (tala).

Hindustani vocal music is performed in three major and several minor styles. The oldest and most austere is a four part composition known as dhrupad. The main classical coal form today is the two part composition known as khayal (pers, imagination), usually followed at the end of a concert by a light classical form known as thumri.

Texts of most compositions are devotional, although these can take on a remarkably wide range of manifestations ranging from abstractly spiritual to the highly erotic.

Most instrumental compositions in the north (referred to as gat), although sometimes based on vocal models are largely separate repertoire in the north and the performed mainly on either the sitar or the sarod. They include compositions which are inherited through family lineages along with more recent compositions. In this century several other instruments including the flute, sarong and shahnai have also developed solo performance traditions.