Nisheeth Ranjan

Indian Music-6

Calenders and Clocks :The time rules of our music

Time plays a big role in our classical music . So ,just as there are many rules on how a raga should be performed ,so there are rules on where we should enjoy them. The founding fathers of our music recognised that both we and the world around us are different at different times .So they defined our music to fit with this fact.

Thus a Raga can also be linked to a season rather than a mood. For example here are a few seasons and Ragas associated with them.

Month Raga

March –April Hindol

May-June Deepak

July- August Megh

September-October Bhairav

November- December Shree

January- February Malkhauns

When a Raga is in season,it can be sung or played at any time in the day-But only during thats perticular season! Tradition says this helps us to appreciate that season more , and also prevents the Raga from becoming stale from constant playing.

In fact ,Ragas are defined not just by time of years ,but also the time of the day.The whole day and night is defined into a number of time slots . Each of these times slots has one or more Ragas assigned to it. These are linked to what we as a humans might be doing at that time. So the mood and feel of an early morning Raga would be vastly different from one to be played of sung very late at night.

On the other hand there are also many ragas which have no fixed time slot or season ,and can be played at any time. Like so many other things Indian, our music too is a unique mixture or rules and flexibility – the defining principle of our great culture .

Nisheeth Ranjan

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Indian Music-5

Tala :The Philosophy of Time

Raga and Tala are the two pillers on which our classical music is built. Tala comes from the Sanskrit word Tal, which means to strike with the palms. This was the first and most basic way in which a man created beats.

There is a great deal of philosophy behind the art of Tala. Our ancient musical masters took time itself,and classified it in two ways:

Clock time or Real Time : For everyday life ,time has to be measured.A clock for example divides time into hours,minutes and seconds.This helps us to understand time, and run our daily lives.

Psychological time: When we are happy , times seems to move very fast . When we are sad or bored time seems to drag on.

So depending on person’s mental state ,time takes on different meaning. The critical thing is that we can not control these two forms of time. A clock will keep on ticking , and we can not control our happyness or boredom. Tala is the great device through which a human being can control time . A musician or a singer can take a period of time ,and divide it up in many ways. How he does it is his choice . He can decide when to begin and when to end.He is in control. The weapon he used to control time is the mantra or stoke .The gap between two mantras is a the tempo .By varying this , he creates different patterns and so different Talas. According to legends , there are 108 possible Talas - equal to the number of dances created by lord Shiva. Modern day classical music use about 15.

Rythm artists spend endless years mastering the art of Tala and its intricacies . So next time you see one , look at him with respect. He has conquered the world of time.

Nisheeth Ranjan

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Indian Music-4

Music of the Vedas

India has one of the most ancient tradition in the world .At a time when Western civilisation was barbaric and crude , thousands of years before the rise of the Greeks and the Romans ,we already had a complex and sophisticated musical tradition.

Our music began in the ages of the vedas.Before that we have a statue of a dancing girl from Mehenjo Daro, and a stringed instruments from the ruins of Lothal, but no other information of knowledge of thier musical traditions.

The vedic period saw the beginning of what is today knows as a SAMA music. Sama Music was very simple ,starting with one note ,then two ,then three ,up to seven.In each round of chanting,
one note was added . The notes started high,and went low gradually.

Our vedic ancestors used four kinds of instruments:
Tata: Stringed instruments like the Veena

Avanaddha:Hollow things to beat,like drums

Ghana :Solid things to beats ,like gongs

Sushira:Things to blow on,like flutes.

Narad munis works gave the gatra veena,which has clear instructions on how to use fingers, hands and heads with different notes and words. The words were were taken from Rigveda, but there were 75 hymns which were non-vedic , belonging to the earlier dravidian culture.

Very early on, Aryan music built in popular non-Aryan words and tunes. So mixing of cultures started early in India, through the simple medium of music.

Everything was not religious in nature at that time.Sama music was for rituals,but early music scholars also mention narashamshi gathas-songs of the common man. So we have been a democratic nation for a pretty long time too-at least when it comes to music..

Nisheeth Ranjan

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Indian Music-3

Beginning Of Indian Music

It was a gift from our Gods. Accordin to ancient Natyashastra :

“Once , a long time ago,it so happened that people took to uncivilized ways,were ruled by lust and greed, behave in angry and jealous ways with each other and not only gods but demons, evil spirits, Yakshas and such like others swarmed over the earth. Seeing this plight, Indra and other gods approached the god Brahma and Requested him to give the people a toy(Kridaniyaka), but one which could not only be seen but heard and this should turn out to be a diversion(so that people gave up their bad days)

Till then Sangeet had been something only the gods enjoyed. A suitable human had to be found who was capable of receiving this gift-a truly great man. A Gandharva or a man of superior spiritual ability was required to convey this knowledge of the gods to the world of man. That man was the Great sage Narada. It is Thanks to Narada that today we have classical music.

Nisheeth Ranjan

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Indian Music-2

Raga and Associated Places

As with time and season ,so too with place. Geography has a lot to do with Raga ,and how they are played.Many Ragas take their names from places.For Examples:

Raga            Region
Sinhavi        Marwar
Maru            Marwar
Tilang            Telengana
Sorath            Saurashtra
Jaunpuri        Jaunpur
Kanada        Karnataka

Not just the Raga,but how it is played can also depend on geography. This is where the concept of Gharana comes in .Different Gharana can be different in interesting and basic ways.Take vocal Gharanas :-

Gwalior Gharana singers concentrate on aam or well known ragas.They also do not like to sing the low or deep notes.

Agra Gharana singers insist on being grammatically perfect and sing very low.Most of them are men.

The Jaipur Gharana takes great pride in doing rare and unusual ragas.Since the ragas are difficult,they keep the tala simple.

Some Tabla Gharanas:
Delhi Gharana tabalchis use only two fingers.
Ajrada Gharana players use the thumb on the left drum constantly .
Lucknow Gharana players use the open palm a lot.

Indian Music-1

What is RAGA

Till about 3000 years ago our major musical tradition was Sama or Vedic Chants.Gradually ,as artists explored more ,the more complex structure called RAGA emerged.A Raga can be defined by the set of rules that have to be followed ;

· A Raga cannot have less than five notes

· It must be given a unique name

· It must have a defined set of notes,both ascending(goin higher) and descending (goin lower and deeper)

· A Raga must be defined as either odava( 5 notes), shadava(having 6 notes) or Sampoorna(7 notes) -or a combination of these goin up and down.

· In a Raga,the notes are divided into leaders and followers.Vadi is the main note. Samvadi is 4 or 5 notes away.The followers of the notes are Anuvadi.Those which do not belong in the Raga are Vivadi.

· A Raga will have a main tempo,to be chosen between vilambit, madhya or druta.

· The pitch must also be defined, as either mandra(low), madhya( middle) or Tar (high).

· Every Raga is connected to a mood . The Rasa theory of the Natyashastra gives us nine basic sentiments to choose for one. Examples

Raga Rasa Mood

Jogiya Karuna Sorrow

Bahar Shrinagara Joy

Darbari KanadaKaruna Gravity

Adana Veera Valour

Nisheeth Ranjan

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