The Music of India
Basics of Melody, Scale, Meter and
Rhythm
• Melodies
• Scales
• Meters
• Rhythms
www.musictheory.net
Some Terms to Know
• Khyal is the major vocal style of Hindustani music
• Laya(a) is the tempo of the performance
• Alap(anam) raga improvisation in free rhythm
• Raga(a)(m) is a scale and its associated musical
characteristics
• Tal(a)(m) is the meter
• Sawal-Jawab is the call-and-response rhythmic
challenges between soloist and accompanist in
Hindustani music
Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
• The raga, or scale, is built
on the notes C-d-e-F#-g-a-b
• The rhythm, or tala, is
built on patterns of
4+4+4+4
• The instruments used are
the sitar and the tabla
Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
Sitar
Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
Tabla
Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
• The sitar begins by brushing across the open strings
• With one hand the player maintains a drone (P5)
• The other hand plays the melody
Medium and Fast Gats in Raga Yaman
• Alap begins
• Explores the scale of the
raga
• Gat-Tora
• A mixture of pre-composed
tala rhythms and
improvisation
• Jhala
• Increasingly elaborate
melodic explorations
• Jhala starts with rapid
strokes on the drone
strings inserted between
melody tones
• Tempo increases
• Dramatic conclusion
Early Music Theory
• The Vedas
• Rig-Veda is a collection of poems that tell the stories of
creation and of the Indian gods
• The preservation and transmission of the Rig-Veda
became the responsibility of the Brahmins, the top
ranking member of society
• Three types of accents in the poetry
• Pitches based on relative length of syllables rather than on
a pattern of accents
• These stories were eventually preserved in sung chants, not
written down until recently
Early Music Theory
• When these texts and chants were re-arranged as
hymns they were set to a special collection of tunes
called the Samagana.
• These in turn became the basis for secular musical
compositions
• The oldest treatise on the arts, the Natyasastra,
links music as an adjunct to drama
• The purpose of music (or artistic experience in
general) is arouse the emotions in specific ways
• Consequently, each raga and tala are designed to
illicit specific moods and emotions
Music Theory
• Ornamentation is integral to Indian melody and
not incidental
• The sruti are the twenty-two divisions of the scale
• (The Western scale has twelve at most)
North and South: The Hindustani and
Karnatak Systems
• Hindustan: the
northern region of
India with a distinct
musical tradition
• Karnatak/Carnatic:
referring to South
Indian music
North and South: Common Raga Traits
• Both systems
represents ragas as
more than just pitches
in a scale
• Certain pitches are
emphasized
• Some pitches are
forbidden going up or
down
• Some ragas must
double back on itself
before continuing in
the same direction
North and South: Differences
• The differences
are primarily in
performance
styles
• North Indian
music tends to be
smoother, more
sensuous in
quality
• South Indian
music tends to be
more formal and
structured
Hindu/Muslim Attitudes
• To become the shagird (pupil) of
an ustad (master) is to become
an apprentice in a closed guild
• The musical traditions are
jealously guarded by gharanas,
ancient families, who teach it
only to talented sons or
especially dedicated and loyal
men from outside the family
• Many in India still believe this
is the only proper way to learn
music
• Others believe it has hampered
the development of Hindustani
music
Hindu/Muslim Attitudes
• Hindus view music as part
of religious rituals and the
musician is highly
regarded
• Muslims historically have
feared music because they
felt it could draw out our
baser instincts; musicians
are consequently lower-
class citizens
• To battle this northern
musicians make a clear
distinction between “art
music,” and lower, popular
music
Hindu/Muslim Attitudes
• Hindus view music as part
of religious rituals and the
musician is highly
regarded
• Muslims historically have
feared music because they
felt it could draw out our
baser instincts; musicians
are consequently lower-
class citizens
• To battle this northern
musicians make a clear
distinction between “art
music,” and lower, popular
music
Kriti by Tyanganraja, Banturiti
• The raga is built on the
notes c-e-f#-g-b
• The tala, is built on
patterns of 4+2+2
• The instruments used are
the mridangam, the violin
and a vocalist
Kriti by Tyanganraja, Banturiti
Mridangam
Kriti by Tyanganraja, Banturiti
Violin
Kriti by Tyanganraja, Banturiti
• A brief alapanam
• Singer begins the kriti
• Common talam, adi
• Eight beats
• Indicated by a clap on the
samam (first beat)
• Two other claps on beat 5
&7
• The three beats following
are indiciated by tapping
the fingers of the right
hand
Kriti by Tyanganraja, Banturiti
• Eduppu
• The performer must
return to the eduppu
whenever finishing a
passage of niraval or
svarakalpana
• Occurs in this example
between beats 2 and 3
• (Hint: listen for the return
of the first word
“Banturiti,” in the pallavi
and every 5 seconds
afterwards
Kriti by Tyanganraja, Banturiti
• Alapanam (Introduction)
• An improvisation
performed before the kriti
that demonstrates the
musician’s abilities to
interpret the raga
• Kriti
• Pallavi
• Anupallavi
• Carnam
Ghazal, Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
• The ghazal is a poetic form
consisting of a chain of
related couplets
• Each contains a self-
contained idea
• Often culminates in a kind
of “punchline” couplet that
brings exclamations of
appreciation from the
audience
• An interesting and
successful blend of Indian
and Western traditions,
with roots in Islamic
culture and romantic Urdu
poetry
Ghazal, Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
• The music alternates two
sections, as do many types
of Indian melodies
• The first provides music for
a refrain and the first verse
of each stanza in a lower
range
• The second, in a higher
range, provides music for a
second verse
Ghazal, Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
• The scale is raga Pahari
• The tala is based on 4+4
• The instruments include a
vocalist, a tabla, a tambura
and a harmonium
Ghazal, Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
Tambura
Ghazal, Bat Karane Mujhe Mushkil
• Brief intro by tambura
• Free rhythm rendition of
refrain opening
• Repeat of refrain opening
with tala (rhythm) and
tabla (drums)
• Alternating couplets
(Harmonium)
South India: Sarasiruha
Saraswati
The goddess of Music
and Learning
South India: Sarasiruha
• A concert is made up of a
series of as many as 12-14
performance segments
each in a different raga
and based upon a different
composition
• “Sarasiruha” is a song by
the 19th Century composer
Puliyur Doraisamy Ayyar
• Performer is Ramachandra
Iyer playing a veena
South India: Sarasiruha
• Veena: a seven-stringed,
plucked lute with ornate
body, inlaid deer horn or
ivory, carved from
jackwood
• Natural or papier-
mache gourd is attached
to the upper neck as a
resonator
• Brass frets are set
chromatically
South India: Sarasiruha
• One of the marvels of
this tradition is that
instruments and
musicians can be
added to each
functional layer
• Melody
• Drone
• Rhythm
South India: Sarasiruha
• The drone, or sruti, marks
the tonal center—the
center of gravity—for the
melody and its raga
• In karnataka music the
notes used for the drone
are the tonal center and
the perfect fifth above it
• The dissonant tones tend to
“pull” toward tones that
blend with the drone
South India: Sarasiruha
• The veena begins alone
(without the drum) in a
free-flowing melodic
improv called atapana
• No sense of beat or time
cycles
• Pauses filled in with
drones
• Slides, pulls and tremolos
• Intervals, scales, and
colours very different from
the Western tradition
South India: Sarasiruha
• At 5:42 the kriti begins
(composition)
• New element added: tala
• Heard by the striking of
the drone
• The tala in this case is the
Adi
4+2+2
• Once entered, will continue
until the end
South India: Sarasiruha
• Musical Structure:
Improvisation
• Kalpita sangeeta:
precomposed music
• Manodharma sangeeta:
improvised music
• Four major types of improv
in karnataka
• Alpana
• Tanam
• Niraval
• Svara kalpana
South India: Sarasiruha
The Kriti
• All compositions in
karnatka music are songs,
melodies with words
• Three main sections
• Pallavi (“the sprouting,”
“blossoming”
• Anupallavi (“after the
sprouting, blossoming”
• Charanam (“verse” or
“foot”)
• Chitta svaram or Svara
sahityam (Optional)