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Lesson 2: Elements of Indian Music

The document summarizes key elements of Indian music, including its musical system based on 7 basic notes replacing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do, and the two pillars of Tala and Raga. Tala refers to the rhythmic time cycle composed of long and short accented and unaccented beats, while Raga is an aesthetic melodic form with ascending and descending movements and specific mood expressions. A drone provides a tonal anchor throughout compositions in Indian music.

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12 views13 pages

Lesson 2: Elements of Indian Music

The document summarizes key elements of Indian music, including its musical system based on 7 basic notes replacing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do, and the two pillars of Tala and Raga. Tala refers to the rhythmic time cycle composed of long and short accented and unaccented beats, while Raga is an aesthetic melodic form with ascending and descending movements and specific mood expressions. A drone provides a tonal anchor throughout compositions in Indian music.

Uploaded by

PRINTDESK by Dan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 2

Elements of Indian Music

Musical System of India


7 basic notes are: Sa ,Re, Ga, Ma Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa, in order, replacing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do.

Two Pillars of Indian Music


Tala Raga

TALA
Known to be the rhythmic time cycle of Indian music Composed of long and short beats that are accented and unaccented. Characterized by the sam, the first beat of the tala. khali empty beat tali accented beat

Different Degrees of Beat


1. Hand claps

2. Hand waves

3. Movement of the fingers

Tala is divided into smaller rhythmic patterns called angas.

Specific Number of Beats


1. Dadra which has only 6 beats - may be played in variety of tempo Ex. Clapping/Waving Arrangement clap, 2, 3, wave, 2, 3

2. Tintal which has 16 beats One of the most famous talas of Hindustani music.

Structure of Tintal
Clap,2,3,4 clap,2,3,4, wave,2,3,4, clap,2,3,4

Raga
An aesthetic melodic form with a peculiar ascending and descending movement. Vadi most important tone Samvadi 2nd most important tone Anuvadi neither emphasized nor deemphasized. Durbal de-emphasized Vivadi excluded

Another distinct characteristic of the Indian melody is the use of twenty-two microtones called shrutis.
The shruti (Sanskrit "thing heard", "sound"; also written as ruti) is the smallest interval of the tuning system in Indian classical music.

Different Mood Expressions of Raga


1. Happiness 2. Sorrow

3. Tranquility

4. Heroism

Drone
Low monotonous sound that is continuously played throughout the composition Provides the tonal anchor to the melody Drone is a repetitive sound that is continuously sung or played

Tambura is a stringed instrument used to play the drone.

Tambura

Summary
One of the reasons why Indian music is difficult to explain to Western listeners is because it is based on a different tonal organization called raga Raga is an aesthetic melodic mode with a peculiar ascending and descending movement which is based on a scale of five to seven tones.

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