Indian classical music
Indian classical music is a deeply spiritual art form with roots in long-standing customs. There are two main systems within it: the Carnatic (South Indian) and Hindustani (North Indian). ragas (melodic frameworks) and talas (rhythmic cycles), which direct improvisation and composition, are essential to its structure.
The music focuses on complex rhythms, subtle tones, and expressive emotion in order to evoke particular rasas moods. A slow, reflective Alap usually opens a performance, which is followed by intricate improvisations and composed pieces. Vocal forms combined with instruments such as the mridangam, table, veena, and sitar create a rich, meditative experience.
Rhythm
The rhythmic set of melodies is called rhythm. It has rhythmic rotations that range from three to 108 rhythms, according to the concept of rhythm, the time of Indian classical music is divided into simple and complex verses.
This principle of the measure of time is not the same in Hindustani and Carnatic Indian classical music. The unique thing about the concept of rhythm is that it is independent of the Indian classical music that accompaniments and has its own division.
There are more than 100 talas but only 30 talas are known at present and out of them only 10 to 12 beats are actually used. The different types of recognized and used rhythms are Dadra, Kaharwa, Rupak, Ektal, Jhapatal, Teen-Taal and Chautala. In these, musicians usually use a three-rhythm of 16 rhythm. Unlike Indian classical music, Carnatic Indian classical music has a much more rigid structure.
35 is the basic tala, and each tala can be divided into 5 valleys. Hence, 175 beats are in Carnatic Indian classical music The most prominent tala in Carnatic Indian classical music is Adital. At present, 10 classifications of Indian classical music have been adopted.
According to V. N. Bhatkhande, one of the most important musicologists in the field of North Indian classical music, each raga is based on 10 basic thaat or musical scales or formats. Thought can only be sung in ascending because the vowels are organized in ascending order.
Indian There should be seven notes out of 12 (seven pure notes and five distorted notes) In the thaat and they should necessarily be placed in ascending order. The 10 thaats are- Vilawal, Khamaj, Kaifi, Asawari, Bhairav, Kaalyn, Marva, Purvi and Tandi.
Each raga has a specific time to sing. These vowels are expected to be more effective at particular times. The 24 hours of the day can be divided into two parts, from 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight. The ragas sung in this time period are called pre-ragas.
The time frame from 12:00 am to 12:00 pm is called the Uttara bhag and the ragas sung in this time range are called Uttara ragas in addition, there is also a change according to octave to the duration of the day. For example, in the former period, the octave sa to m ( sa re ga ma).
The form of musical composition in Hindustani culture can be divided into two parts. The first part of the Mukhda composition is used maximum. The second part of the composition is Antara. The basic heavens in fast motion are called tune. The small tone within the 3rd and 4th notes of the body of the tone is called “Murki”.
These are sung at a very fast pace and for this the singer should have enough skill Finally, during the composition of the section of Indian classical music, embellishment in the form of ‘Alankar’ is required. It is a specific, melodic presentation in a sequential form in which a pattern is followed. For example, the combination of swaras ‘Sa Re Ga’, ‘Ga ma pa’, ‘Ma pa dh’ etc.
Classification of Indian classical music
There are many types of Indian classical music prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, it falls under different categories, 30 are towards Indian classical music and some are also used with global Indian classical music.
The trend towards fusion on classical heritage with new forms of music like the Pop is attracting attention.
Based mostly on Vedic chants, Hindustani music has developed over ages under the influence of Persian, Afghan, and Mughal civilizations. It is performed mostly in North India. It is based on talas (rhythmic cycles) and ragas (melodic frameworks) and is distinguished by its improvisational quality.
Raga: A raga is an Indian classical music structure that describes a certain emotion or mood. There are certain guidelines for each raga that govern how the notes should be employed, handled, and enhanced. There are ragas for every season and time of day, illustrating the close relationship that Indian culture has between music and the natural world.
The rhythmic element of Hindustani music is called tala. It describes a recurring rhythm pattern that gives an improvisation or composition its temporal structure.
Two distinct styles of Indian classical music have developed Hindustani music: It is practiced in the northern parts of Indian classical music: It is practiced in the southern parts of India.
Indian classical music: Although the historical roots of both types of music are found in Bharat’s Natyashastra they separated in the 14th century. In the Hindustani branch, the scale of Shuddha vowels Saptak or ‘Octave of natural notes’ was adopted.
The major of these styles of Indian classical music
Dhrupad
It is one of the oldest and grandest forms of Hindustani classical music, it is also described in the Natya Shastra. It derives from ‘Par Pada’, which represents both the Chand form of poetry and the style of singing it.
Although dhrupad consolidated its position as classical music in the 13th century, it is that Emperor Akbar reached its zenith in classical music court. Akbar gave reservation to music masters like Baba Gopaldas, Swami Haridas and Tansen. Tansen was considered one of the Navratnas of the Mughal court. Baiju Bawra used to sing in Akbar’s court.
We get evidence of singers proficient in dhrupad in the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar in Gwalior. Dhrupad is a poetic form, in which the raga is presented in an exact and elaborate style. Dhrupad begins with alaap, which is eaten without words. The rhythm is gradually increased, and it is the dominant eye of the presentation.
Just after some time, the dhrupad starts and the pakhawaj is played. Tansen was a 16th-century musician and one of the Navratnas in Akbar’s court, Akbar gave him the title of Miyan which means now a learned man.Tansen a master of dhrupad music, composed many ragas. Tansen’s works are mainly related to Hindu gods and goddesses and their patrons like emperor Akbar. Tansen’s tomb is present in his birthplace Gwalior. Dhrupad uses Sanskrit letters and originates from temples.
Normally, two male singers perform the dhrupad style and the pakhawaj is the usual. Based on the speech, dhrupad singing can be further divided into four more forms. Dagari Gharana: Dagar family sings in Dagar Vani. Alaap is very emphasized in this style.
For many generations, people in his family have trained and performed in couples. Dagars are Muslims but generally Hindus sing the recitations of gods and goddesses. One of the prominent pairs of the Dagar clan in this generation is the Gundecha brothers.
He has improved this by incorporating a variety of rhythmic Bettiah Gharana: This gharana showcases nohar and ruined speech styles with some unique techniques known only to those trained within the family. This system has been formulated by the famous Egypt family.
Additionally, the form of dhrupad operating in Bettiah and Darbhanga styles is known as Haveli style. Talwandi gharana: This ruined speech is sung. These are based in Pakistan, so it has become hard to place it within the Indian music system. The word gharana comes from the Urdu Hindi word ghar which means family or home, denotes the principle from which that musical ideology originated.
Gharanas point to the broad musical classical ideology and differentiate from one genre to another, this directly affects music thinking, teaching, performance and appreciation. There are some of the various gharanas for the singing of Hindustani classical music: Agra, Gwalior, Indore, Jaipur Kirana and Patiala.
The word khayal is derived from Persian and means ‘idea or imagination’. The rise of this genre is credited to Amir Khusrau. This form is quite popular among artists because it provides more and more opportunities for immediacy. Khayal is based on the color of short songs consisting of two to eight lines
. The general khayal composition is also known as bandish. In the 15th century Husain was the greatest patron of Shah (ruler of the Janakpur Sultanate of Sharki). This is the reason that Aalap is given less place in khayal music than dhruvapada.
Generally, two songs are used in thought.
- Big idea: one who sings in slow motion
- Chota Khayal: Sung in fast motion
Most of the performances are about love, even if it is about divine beings, it can be praise to God or a particular king. Extraordinary thoughts are composed in praise of Lord Krishna. The major gharanas under khayal sangeet are the Gwalior gharana, it is one of the oldest and most elaborate khayal gharanas, it follows very strict rules as the same emphasis is laid on raga, melody and rhythm.
Its singing is very complex, yet it easily gives priority to the performance of the raga. The most popular renditions of this gharana are Krishnarao Shankar Pandit and Vishnu Paluskar. Kirana Gharana: This gharana is named after Karnah village in Uttar Pradesh. It was founded by Nayak Gopal but the real credit for popularising it in the early 20th century goes to Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan.Kirana Gharana is famous for their concern towards precise tuning and expression of notes.Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
He was a prominent Khayal exponent of the Kirana gharana and got Bharat Ratan in 2008
Some of the major ragas used by Mr. Joshi includes Sudha Kalyan, Miya Ki Tayodi, Multani, Bhimpalasi etc. He became widely recognized in India with his performance in the 1988 video ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’.
The Kirana gharana is well known for its mastery over the slow-paced Raghava, emphasizing the melody of the composition and the clarity of pronunciation of the text in the song, preferring the use of traditional ragas.
There is a long line of great singers in this genre, but the famous among them are Bhimsen Joshi and Gangabhai Hagan, musicians from the border areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka also belong to the Kirana gharana. Agra gharana historians argue that Khuda Baksh founded this gharana in the 19th century, but the music video argues that its founder was Hanji Sujan Khan.
Faiyaz Khan revived this song by giving a new and lyrical touch, since then it has to be named Rangeela Ghar Aana the music of Agra gharana is a mixture of khayal and dhrupad singing. Patiala Gharana: The song was launched by Bade Fateh Ali Khan and Ali Baksh Khan in the 19th century. It received the initial sponsorship of the Maharaja of Patiala in Punjab.
He paid special attention to the rendering of intricate Tano The most famous musician of this gharana was Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb. He was well known for the singing of Raag Darbari. This is Gharana uses A II Tan Gamak and Gayaki of the Tarana style.
The Bhendi Bazaar gharana was founded in the 19th century by Chajju Khan, Nazir Khan and Khadim Hussain. Gaining popularity as singers educated on controlling their breath for periods and using the famous 10 technique, these performers can sing long intervals in a single breath.
Tarana Style of Indian classical music
This rhythm style plays a very important role, its structure is made up of short and repeated ragas, it uses high-pitched vis-mar fire which is started once before returning to the main raga. The Tarana style was also used by the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh in his compositions.
At present, the world’s fastest Tarana singer is Pandit Ratna Mohan Sharma of Mewati Gharana, who was given the title of Raja of Tarana by the audience at the Pandit Motiram Music Festival in Hyderabad.
Semi-classical style of Indian classical music
The semi-style of music is also based on the savar, the singers deviate slightly from the standard structure (style) of the raga, and the simpler forms of the raga – the raga Bhupali or Malkos are sung. In these, simple form of taal is used, medium and dharta rhythm is used, that is, there is intensity in their rhythm.
They emphasize emotion and song rather than chanting. Some of the major semi-classical genres such as thumri, tappa and ghazal are discussed below:
Thumri
It is based on mixed ragas and is generally considered to be semi-classical Indian music and is either romantic or devotional in nature
. The Bhakti movement had such an impact on it that its lyrics often revolved around a young woman’s love for Krishna. The language of the compositions is Hindi or Brij Bhasha. The compositions are often sung in a woman’s voice.
This allows the singer to do something new on his part and hence uses raga in the use of thumri as a common name for some other lighter formats as well, such as Dadra Ho Rahi Kajri, Sawan Jhoola and Chaiti.
The headman gharana of thumri is located in Varanasi and Lucknow and one of the most timeless of thumri singing belongs to the famous Begum Akhtar who is a household name for her limitless range of singing and heavy voice. A very famous proponent of thumri was Girija Devi of the Banaras gharana.
Tappa
Rhythm plays a very important role in this style as the compositions are based on sharp, subtle and complex asylum choice. It began as the folk songs of the Camel riders of the northwest India, gained recognition as an economist special singing style after it was brought to the Mughal court of Emperor Muhammad Shah.
The phrases are repeated rapidly, Tappa was the Favorite style of both the rich elite and those with minimal income. In the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the ‘Baithaki’ style developed under the direct patronage of the elite landlord class in their living rooms and jalsaghar (literally, entertainment rooms).
Today this style is becoming extinct and very few musicians are joining it, one of the few distinctive exponents of this style is Laxman Rao Pandit and Sano Khurana of Gwalior gharana.
Ghazal
It is a poetic form consisting of tukant couplets and each line of which corresponds to the same place. The ghazal is known as the poetic expression of both pain or virha and the beauty of love despite the pain. It was born in Iran in the 10th century.
It spread to South Asia due to the influence of the Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic Sultanate, it reached its peak during the Mughal period, Amir Khusrau was already a ghazal writer. Many prominent historical ghazal poets were either Sufis (like Rumi and Hafiz) or proponents of Sufi thought beliefs. Not only is the form of the ghazal distinctive, but its theme is also only love, i.e.
especially conditional and great (supernatural) love. The object of love (symptom or purpose) is written in such a way that it can be interpreted in any way, i.e. it can be both divine and human, depending on the listener what he considers it to be.
The gods are also often given human form. Over time, the words and phrases of the ghazal were simplified to reach a wider audience worldwide, most ghazals are now sung in the style they are sung in which they are no longer confined to khayal thumri and other Indian classical music and accessible classical styles. Some of the famous personalities associated with Ghazal are Mohammad Iqbal, Mirza Ghalib, Rumi (thirteenth century) Hafiz (14th century), Qazi Nazrul Islam etc.
Conclusion
Indian classical music is embodied in the rich and age-old tradition of Indian classical music. Hindustani (North Indian) and Carnatic (South Indian) are the two primary styles. Indian classical music is distinguished by its deep emotional expression, improvisation, and complex rhythms, which are rooted in intricate ragas and talas.
This kind of art facilitates spiritual connection and meditation in addition to providing a rich auditory experience. Indian classical music has inspired and influenced musicians all over the world, maintaining its tradition while adjusting to modern settings.