Indian music – influence of geography

• India is north of the equator in the south of Asia. It is the the 7th largest country in the world measuring 3214km north to south and 2993km east to west. It has a land frontier of 15200km and a coastline of 7517 km.

• The south-west coast is bordered by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal is to the south-east and the Indian Ocean is to the south.

• Northern India is dominated by the Himalayas, the tallest mountain range in the world.

• The Thar Desert stretches west of the country to the border with Pakistan.

• India is home to many different religions including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

• Because of its size, geographic variety and different religions, it has many varied musical styles.

Indian society

• The ethnic and linguistic diversity of India is more like that of Europe than just a single nation.

• With a population of 1.22 billion, India consists of many regional, social and economic groups each with different cultures.

• There is a big north-south divide, with lower population growth in the more agricultural south leading to a shortage of unskilled labour.

• India has many religions with a Hindu majority and a large Muslim minority. There are also Buddists, Christians, Jains, Jews, Parsis, Sikhs and tribal religions.

• There is a big gap between rich and poor although they live side by side in cities and villages.

• India is a largely rural country with 74% of the population living in villages.

• There are pronounced differences between the behaviour expected of men and women.

• The people of India belong to thousands of different castes – social classes into which people are born. Caste members are expected to marry within the group and follow caste rules.

• With such a varied culture it’s no wonder Indian music is rich and diverse.

Musical styles

• Music is a very important part of Indian culture.

• There are four instrument types in Indian music culture – these are strings, membranes, cymbals and air.

• The oldest samples of Indian music date back to 1000bc. These were songs sung for ‘Verdi Strauta’ sacrifices and are the earliest account of Indian musical hymns.

• Current musical styles include religious, classical, folk and pop.

• Filmy and indi-pop are the newest musical styles in India. Filmy is music for Indian cinema – typically Bollywood films – while indi-pop is a mixture of Indian music and western music.

• As in the west, music is used in religious ceremonies, weddings, films and television. It can be heard blasting out on crowded buses in the cities or being played by villagers after a hard day’s work in the fields. India can be a hard country to live in and music is a way of making life more bearable.

Main features of Indian music

• Indian music is often based around the pentatonic scale, a musical scale with five notes per octave.

• The raga scale, a series of five or more notes upon which a melody is constructed, is commonly used in classical music.

• Indian rythms are typically polyrythmic –  the simultaneous use of two or more conflicting rhythms – and use complex time signatures and syncopation.

• Indian music often has a meditative or spiritual meaning.

Types of instruments

• The sitar is a guitar-like instrument with 12 strings only some of which are plucked. This instrument is very popular in Indian music and was made famous in the west by Ravi Shankar.

• The tabla is another poplular instrument in Indian music. A small drum played with the tips of the fingers, it has a mellow sound and often accompanies the sitar.

• The shehnai belongs to the woodwind family. It has double reeds to produce a vibrating sound which has a pitch very similar to the human voice. It looks a lot like the oboe, has a pitch range of two octaves and plays an important part in Indian weddings.

• The mridangam is part of the percussion family and has been around for over 2000 years. It is a wooden shell, 27 inches long, covered with stretched skins on each side. It is used in a lot of dance performances and creates a unique buzzing sound.

• The harmonium belongs to the wind family. It is a wooden box in which air is trapped and has two or three chambers where metal reeds are fixed. The sound is produced when the air is forced out of the reeds.

• Popular in meditation centres for its beautiful and relaxing sound, the tanpura is much like the sitar but only has four strings.

Vocal techniques

• Hindustani singing is a north Indian style which varies greatly to singing in western classical music.

• In hindustani singing performers use ‘taan’, a rapid dip in pitch, voluntarily while classical singers use vibrato to vary pitch involuntarily.

• Classical singers enhance frequency by lowering their larynx and widening the vocal tract.

• Hindustani singers do not do this, meaning they sing more quietly and their singing voice is similar to their speaking voice.

• Hindustani singing requires precise pronunciation of lyrics while notes provide pronunciation in classical music.

Influence on western music

• Indian music burst into mainstream western culture in the 1960s, when The Beatles guitarist George Harrison studied under Ravi Shankar.

• Norwegian Wood by The Beatles is said to be the first western pop song to feature the sitar. Harrison was quickly followed by Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, who used a range of Indian instruments on the band’s 1966 single, Paint It Black.

• More recently Indian music has influenced bands such as Monsoon (Ever So Lonely, 1982), Cornershop (Brimful of Asha, 1997) and Pussycat Dolls, whose track Jai Ho featured in the 2009 oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, set in Mumbai.

Bibliography

• Lonely Planet Guide to India

• wikipedia.org

• hindustantimes.com

• adventurecompany.co.uk

• asiancorrespondent.com

• sciencedaily.com

• youtube.com

• wiki.answers.com

• twnside.org

• indianchild.com