MUSIC

Music of India

>> It reflects different aspects of asian culture through its timbre, rhythm, melody, texture, form & style

It was adopted on July 22, 1947.

The wheel is called Ashoka Chakra
because it appears on a number of
edicts of Ashoka, the most
prominent which is the lion capital of Ashoka.
Each spoke on the chakra symbolizes one
principle of life and also the twenty-four hour
hours in the day, which is why it is also called
‘Wheel of time’

Twenty-four principles are : love, courage,

patience, peacefulness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, selflessness, self-
sacrifice, truthfulness, righteousness, justice, mercy, graciousness, humility, empathy, sympathy, spiritual
knowledge, supreme wisdom, supreme morality, altruism and hope.

Capital : New Delhi, Largest City : Mumbai, Official language : Hindi, Demonym : Indian, Currency : Indian
Rupee(INR), Religion : Hinduism(79.18%) India is the largest country in South Asia

Vocal music

>> It includes Carnatic and Hindustani music and several types of folk and popular music. It uses
melismatic singing with nasal vocal quality

Samagana

>> singing based on a set of pitches popular during the vedic times. Also known as Sam, is a composition
of words in Rigvedic hymns from notes. A sanckrit term saman which means melody and veda which
means knowledge. It refers to the third of the four vedas in the ancient core of Hindu scriptures.

Sama Veda

>> a sacred text. Were sung as samagana and not chanted, it is the third og the four vedas of Hinduism
but ranks next to rig veda(Rigveda) in in terms of sanctity and liturgical importance.

Rig Veda

>> also sung in the samagana traditional singing style, is counted as first among the four canonical sacred
texts Hinduism known as vedas. An ancient sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns.

Vedas

>> a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India, composed in vedic Sanskrit, the text
constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Hindus consider
the vedas to be apauruseya, which means ‘not of a man, superhuman’ and ‘impersonal, authorless’
Carnatic Music

>> refers to music from south india, directed to a hindu god, which is why it is called ‘temple music’.
Music pieces are mainly set for the voice for the voiceand with lyrics, compositions called krti are
devotional songs. It is unified where schools are based on the: same ragas, same solo instruments
(veena, flute, violin) same rhythm instruments (mridangam and ghatam)

Hindustani Music

>> It goes back to vedic period times around 1000 BC and further developed in the 13 th and 14th
centuries AD with Persian influences and from existing religious and folk music, predominantly found in
the northern and central regions. It is influenced by ancient hindu musical traditions, historical vedic
religion / vedic philosophy, native Indian sounds and enriched by the Persian performance practices of
the Mughal area, nasal singing is observed in their vocal music. In north India, the most common style of
singing is called khyal, a word which means ‘imagination’

Instrumental music of India

!! Hindustani Sangeet – instruments used in north Indian music

!! Carnatic Sangeet – instruments used in south Indian music

Tala

>> means ‘clap’ variously transliterated as “tal”, “taal, “taala”, it is a regular, repeating rhythmic phrase,
particularly as rendered on a percussive instrument with an ebb and flow of various intonations
represented as a “theka”. It is the common Indian system of rhythm.

Different talas

a. Dadratala ( 6 beats) d. Chautala ( 12 beats )

b. keherwatala ( 8 beats ) e. jhumratala ( 14 beats )

c. ektala ( 12 beats ) f. tintala ( 16 beats )

 Theka

>> a sequence of drum-

syllables or “bol”, in
Indian classical music,
both Hindustanic
classical music and
Carnatic music use
complex rules to create
elaborate patterns of
Rhythm.

Tabla

>> most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Hindustani music

Mridangam

>> most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Carnatic music – Also known as “mridang”

Classification of Indian Musical instruments

1. Ghan

>> described as a non membranous percussive instrument but with solid resonators, it is one of the
oldest classes of instruments in India, may also be a melodic instrument to keep tal

*Ghatam

it is a percussion instrument used in Karnatic music of South India. A variant played in

Punjab and known as gharga a is a part of Punjabi folk traditions. it is the one of the
most ancient percussion instruments in South India.

*Manjira (taal, jalra)

A pair of clash cymbals, which make high-pitched percussion

sounds. It consists of a pair of small hand cymbals. The word “taal”
comes from Sanskrit word Tala, which means litarally a “clap”.

*Nout

Is a small pot used in Kashmir as a

percussion instrument, it may be
thought of as a north Indian ghatam.
*Kartal

Is a percussion instrument of India. used in ancient instrument mainly in

devotional/folksongs, derived its name from Sanskrit words “kara” meaning
hand and “tala” meaning clapping

2. Avanaddh

>> described as a membranous percussive instrument, typically comprise the drums

*Daf

Is a large Persioan and Arabic frame drum used in popular and classical
music. The frame is usually made of hardwood with many metal ringlets
attached, and the membrane is usually fish skin but other skin types such
as cow,goat, and horse.

*Tabla

Is a membranophone percussion instrument originating from the Indian

subcontinent, consisting of a pair of drums, used in traditional, classical,
popular and folk music.

*Dhol

it refers to any one of number of similar types of double-headed drum

widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent.

3. Sushir

>> also known as blown air, is characterized by the use of air to excite thev
arious resonators

*Shehnai

It is a musical instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent.

It is made out of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal
or wooden flared bell at the other end.

*Bansuri

Is a side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an

aerophone produced from bamboo in Hindustanic classical music.

*Shanka

Is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the
shell of a large predatory sea snail, Turbinella pyrum, found in the Indian Ocean. Is a
sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver God VISHNU In Hindu mythology.
*Surpeti

Is an instrument originating from indian subcontinent, similar to a

harmonium used to provide a drone in practice session or concert
of Indian classical music.

4. Tat

>> referred to as vina during the old civilization, instruments in this class are plucked (stringed
instruments

*Sitar

A plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian

subcontinent used in Hindustani classical music, the instrument
flourished under the Mughals, and it is named after a Persian
instrument called the setar.

*Ektar

A one-stringed musical instrument used in traditional music of Bangladesh, India, Egypt

and Pakistan. In origin, the ektar was a regular string instrument of wandering bands and
minstrels of India and is plucked with one finger.

*Rabab

Rubab, Robab or Rabab is a lute-like musical instrument. The rubab, one of the
national musical instruments of Afghanistan, is also commonly played in Pakistan and
India by Pashtuns, Balochis, Sindhis, Kashmiris and Punjabis.

*Gottuvadhyam

The chitravina is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute-style veena in Carnatic music. Around the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, it started to be known by another name, Gotuvadyam, which
was bestowed upon it by Sakha Rama Rao from Tiruvidaimarudur, who was
responsible for bringing it back to the concert scene.

*Gopichand

This is familiar to Ektar instrument ( a single string), is a very popular Hindu folk
instrument of Bengal. It consists of a section of bamboo that opens and is attached to a
resonator that can be cocnut, squash or a a metal container where the bass has a
leather, like a drum, but from the middle of this patch comes a rope that is stretched at
the other end by a peg on top of bamboo, Ther is a peculiar bending of the bamboo
between its two arms where they are tightened together by the left hand while the
right hand touches the rope.
5. Vitat

>> described as bowed stringed instrument, is of the oldest classifications of instruments and yet did not
occupy a place in classical Indian music until the last few centuries.

*Banam

Is an ancient fiddle like instrument played by the Santals. Of the 14 different

instruments they play, the banam, is the most revered. The santals play this
genereally one-stringed instrument as an accompaniment to their songs and
dances like thee Dasae, Sohrae, Don, Lagre and Karam.

*Chikara

A bowed stringed musical instrument from Bengal, India, it is a simple spike fiddle
that is played analogously to the sarangi or saringda, by sliding fingernails on the
strings of the instrument instead of pressing them to touch the fingerboard

*Sarangi

A short-necked string instrument of North India, played with a bow. It is thought to have
evolved from the traditional string and bowed instrument of Rajasthani folk music with
subsequent modifications during the priod of Muslim rule in North India.

Pakistan

Five pillars of Islam

!! SHAHADAH- sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith.

!! SALAT- performing ritual prayers in the proper way five times each day.

!! ZAKAT- paying an alms (or charity) tax or benifit the poor and the needy.

!! SAWM- fasting during the month of Ramadan.

!! HAJJ- pilgrimage to Mecca.

Capital : Islamad, Largest City : Karachi, Official language : Urdu, Demonym : Pakistani, Currency :
Pakistani Rupee ( PKR), Religion : Islam (96.4)
Its western part is considered as an extension for central Asia, Pakistan is known for its unique vocals.

Influences of distinctive Pakistani sound

a. various parts of south Asia c. Persia e. Arab world

b. Central Asia d. Turkey

Pakistani vocal styles

1. Ghazal

>> traditional expressions of love, separation and loneliness, tells about the pain of the loss of the lover
and the beauty of love spite of the pain, its structural requirements are more strict than those of most
poetic forms traditionally written in english. It is considered by many to be one of the principal poetic
forms in the persian civilization, can be sung by both men and women.

2. Qawwali

>> The devotional music of the Chishti order, a vibrant musical tradition that stretches back more than
700 years. Originally performed mainky at Sufi shrines throughout the subcontinent and gained
mainstream popularity

Instrumental music of Pakistan

*Punjabi music

Strengthens the importance of musical instruments in Pakistan

*Punjab

Is a region in South Asia which is divided into West Punjab, Pakistan and East Punjab, India

*Bhangra

One of the most recognized forms of punjab, is based on the drum rhythm of dhol

*Tabla

a pair of twin hand drums from the Indian subcontinent , that are somewhat similar in shape to the
bongos. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical
music , where it may be played solo, as accompaniment with other instruments and vocals, and as a part
of larger ensembles.
*Dholak

The dholak is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in
length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in qawwali, kirtan, lavani and bhangra. The drum has two
different sized drumheads. The smaller drumhead is made of goat skin for sharp notes while the bigger
drumhead is made of buffalo skin for low pitch.

In Pakistan, the harmonium is very popular as an

accompaniment to solo singing and Qawwali singing. This
ancient instrument consists of one (ik) wire (tar). It was
originally a droning accompaniment to a sung melody,
particularly religious songs.

Israel

Vocal Music of Israel

>> Israel singers have a distinctive vocal style, they sing with guttural and throaty enunciation

Two division of Jewish music

1. Devotional

>> almost entirely vocal, featured during Sabbath and other holy days. The art of Hazan (leader of prayer
in synagogue) has always been evident in the culture. Shofar is a special call to prayer and repentance ; it
is sounded on the high holidays
2. Secular

>> instruments and voice are used, played during life passage events, context lies outside the religious
domain, very rhythmic and have popular and romantic texts.

Instrumental music of Israel

1. Hora – a dance that often has strong off beats and asymmetric meters ; uses accompaniment

Accompaniments

*Lute (Similar to Philippine banduria) *Laud (similar to Indian sitar) * Darbuk (goblet drum)

>> Kinnor (Jewish Lyre) Kinnor is one of the ancient

musical instruments of Israeli music that is holy for
the Jewish culture and used in sacred music. Also known
as the Jewish Lyre, Kinnor is commonly mistranslated as a
harp. Although they have similarities, lyres and harps
differ in shape, size, sound, and playability.

>> A shofar is an instrument made from the horn of a ram

or other kosher animal. It was used in ancient Israel to
announce the New Moon ( Rosh Chodesh ) and call people together.

>> Psaltery, (from Greek psaltērion: “harp”), musical instrument having plucked strings of gut, horsehair,
or metal stretched across a flat soundboard, often trapezoidal but also rectangular, triangular, or wing-
shaped. The strings are open, none being stopped to produce different notes.

>> The goblet drum is a single-head membranophone with a

goblet- shaped body. It is most commonly used in the
traditional music of Egypt, where it is considered the National
symbol of Egyptian Shaabi Music.

>> Toft (Bendir) o The term Bendir means in Turkish

language a big hand frame drum, which is known as Duff in
Arabic language.

>> The oud ( pronounced ;) is a short-neck lute-type,

pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a
chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification
of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six
courses, but some models have five or seven courses,
with 10 or 13 strings respectively

>> goblet-shaped small drum that is widely played in

Islamic classical and folk music throughout North
Africa, Central Asia