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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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