Hindustani music

Hindustani music, also known as Hindustani classical music, is one of the two major types of traditional music of the Indian subcontinent. Hindustani music refers to the traditional music primarily found in the northern Indian subcontinent, including Lahore, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Prior to the thirteenth century, the traditional music of India fell into one category. When Islamic influences entered the northern territories, India's traditional music was split into Hindustani music in the north and Carnatic music in the south. Hindustani music focused on instrumentation, while Carnatic music emphasized vocal talent. Hindustani music features a variety of instruments and stresses improvisation in its composition.

Background

The Indian subcontinent's musical traditions date back centuries to the arrival of Hinduism. Music played an important role in the Hindu religion, and as the religion took hold of ancient India throughout the Maurya and Gupta Empires, music's cultural significance flourished. India's classical music later made its way into Southeast Asia. The traditions of Indian musical styles were carried throughout generations, with Hindu prayers sung by the priestly caste passed down orally for thousands of years.

By the twelfth century, Islam had made its way into northern India, bringing its cultural habits to the region. Northern India was under the control of Muslim leaders by this time, and their influence only extended to the northern area of the subcontinent. Islam's presence in the north influenced the area's culture, particularly its music. Persian music and its musical instruments began to be incorporated into the classical music of the north. By the thirteenth century, the north's music had essentially evolved into its own category. A split occurred between northern and southern classical Indian music, resulting in the emergence of Hindustani music in the north and Carnatic music in the south.

Persian influence over Indian music primarily infiltrated the wealthy class, and only the upper classes were privy to the Hindustani transformation for many years after the divergence. Many native Indians rejected the emergence of Hindustani, preferring the classical traditions of their ancestors. Hindustani music continued to develop over the next few centuries into the British colonization of India in the nineteenth century. The Hindustani tradition began to reach wider audiences following the liberation of India and Pakistan from British control in the mid-twentieth century. Radio stations played Hindustani music in honor of the budding nation's heritage. Its dialect, an overlap of the languages of Hindi and Urdu, gave it a cross-cultural quality that played a role in its continued inclusion in radio programs.

Overview

Hindustani music has a number of technical similarities to Western classical music. It features sargam, which are notes similar in scale to the West's musical scale. Sargam notes sometimes match up with the West's standard set of musical scales (Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do). Sargams are sung in different pitches or svaras. Hindustani music differs from Western technique in its rhythm, or tala. The musical concept of tala dates back to ancient India and the Vedic texts of Hinduism. In Hindustani, the tala sets the pace for the music. The musical meter of the tala is derived from the patterns of rhythm found in poetry. This practice is deliberately spiritual in nature. Tala is arranged into three basic units of time division: laghu, guru, and pluta.

Hindustani places greater importance on instrumental skill over vocal skill, with the opposite being true for Carnatic music. Common instruments found among Hindustani orchestras include the sitar (a long-necked instrument with two sets of strings that is played by plucking), the shehnai (a wooden double-reed instrument similar to a flute), the sarod (a shorter version of a sitar), the tambura (a long, four-stringed instrument), the tabla (a two-drummed instrument played by one musician), and the sarangi (a stringed instrument without frets that is played with a bow).

Hindustani ensembles do not usually have a large number of instrumentalists, and instruments are mostly played sitting on the floor. A Hindustani ensemble consists of three core elements: the soloist, the percussion, and the drone. The soloist gives the piece its melody and provides the work's musical improvisation. This part can be sung or played on an instrument. Soloist instruments usually include the sitar, sarod, or sarangi.

The percussion section gives the music its rhythm and is usually played on a tabla, which consists of a pair of small drums made of wood and goat skin. The smaller drum is called the dayan, which is higher in pitch and tuned to a specific note. This drum is played with the fingertips of the right hand. The larger drum is called the bayan, which has a deeper pitch and is played with the heel of the left hand.

The drone provides the musical piece with a continuous low-pitched tone over which the melody is played. Drone instruments usually include the tambura or the harmonium, a pump organ that generates sound by pumping air past vibrating thin pieces of metal known as reeds.

Hindustani uses a framework of melodies called ragas, which are organized into musical modes known as thāts. Hindustani ragas do not just frame the patterns of the music; they are also meant to represent themes such as seasons, moods, or special occasions. Hindustani music shares the use of ragas and tala with Carnatic music. Both traditions encourage rhythmic and melodic improvisation.

The tempo of a Hindustani piece starts out slow and speeds up as the concert continues. The slow opening of a concert is called the alap, a free rhythm section unaccompanied apart from the drone. The alap gradually increases in speed until the musicians begin the gat, a fixed composition that often includes improvisation by a soloist. A musician signals the end of an improvisation by playing a tihai, a short section of music played three times in a row. In Hindustani tradition, the length of a musical piece is not predetermined and relies on the improvisation of the soloist. Some concerts carry on for hours, and all-night concerts are not uncommon.

Bibliography

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