classical indian music

• Guide to Classical Indian/Jazz Fusion – Guide includes the introduction and a list of artists.
• Indian Classical Music by Jan Haag – Articles on particular instruments and the use of the voice in Indian classical music.
• Indian Classical Music Portal – Comprehensive collection of Indian classical music links.
• Indian Rhythmic Cycles – North and South Indian rhythm exercises, including MIDI files.
• Makar Records – Information on Indian classical music from a record company.
• Pandit Ram Sahai Sangit Vidyalaya – UK teaching institution for Indian music, source of information and weblinks.
• Ragascape – Musical pilgrimage of Steven Landsberg throughout India. Featuring MP3 and real audio files.
• Sawf Archive of Articles on Classical Indian Music – Articles and Real Audio clips, including many unpublished and rare recordings of past and contemporary masters.
• SAWF: Globalization and Indian Classical Music: The North American Scene – Seminar presentation by Balwant N. Dixit in 2002.
• Sound of India – Detailed reference material and original articles on raagas, taalas, movie songs. Tips, how-to’s, and free online classes for Indian Classical music.

• Dagar Family and Dhrupad Music – On the present Dagar family and the Dhrupad music that they practise; information on the Gurukul in Panavel Maharashtra, and the traditions of the style.
• Manjiree’s Musical Lahari – A holistic approach to music, includes indian music dictionary.
• Simla House – Official website of Simla House recordings.

• Aadesh Shrivastav – A music composer and a stage performer. Includes profile and is a faculty in New England Conservatory.
• Abhijit Banerjee – Tabla player. Includes profile, tracks, image gallery, publications and links.
• Aditya Verma – Sarod player based in Canada and India. A disciple of legendary sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and renowned sarod master Ustad Aashish Khan.
• Ali Akbar Khan – Official home page.A sarod player and AMMP founder. Includes information on biography, tour, music catalog and the ali akbar college of music.
• Allyn Miner – A lecturer and a concert performer on the north Indian sitar. Features recordings, courses, publications and various concert links.
• Amelia Cuni – A khyal singer and tabla player. Includes her curriculum vitae, musical partners, compositions, discography and critical acclaims.
• Anindo Chatterjee – Plays tabla and teaches various tabla gharanas and their styles.
• Anupama Bhagwat – Personal site of a young sitarist of the Imdadkhani gharana.
• Anuradha Pal – Classical tabla player. Contains a photo gallery, downloadable mp3s, tour dates and reviews.
• Bahauddin Dagar – Master of Dhrupad – Acclaimed dhrupad singer, accepted by the western public as well as by Indian classical music connoisseurs. Offers biodata, concerts and music extracts.
• Baluji Shrivastav – A classical sitar player. Has recorded many indian classical cds, uniquely on sitar, surbahar, dilruba and vocal.
• Casey, Era – The biography and photographs of the young tabla player of the Punjab Gharana from Alberta, Canada. Requires Flash.
• David Philipson – A performing artist and teacher of bansuri. Includes information on bansuri, the lineage of Pt. Pannalal Ghosh and other north indian music styles.

• Pandit Ramarao Naik – Disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan and an exponent of Agra gharana. Includes family details.
• Pandit V.M.Nagaraj – Hindustani classical musician. Includes profile and history.
• Purbayan Chatterjee – A sitarist. Contains profile information, including tours and commercial releases.
• Rujul Pathak – Website of a young vocalist in the Hindustani tradition from Gujarat.
• Santanu Badhyopadyay – Official site. Information about his career, guru, gharana, records, and awards.
• Seemaa – A budding Indian classical musicanist. Features profile.

The origins of Indian classical music (marga), the classical music of India, can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length.

The two main streams of Indian classical music are Hindustani music, from North India, and Carnatic music (Karnataka Sangeeth), from South India.

The prime themes of Hindustani music are Rasleela (Hindu devotionals) of Krishna and Nature in all its splendour. Bhimsen Joshi, Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Satyasheel Deshpande are the arts’ most popular living performers. Carnatic music is similar to Hindustani music in that it is mostly improvised, but it is much more influenced by theory and has stricter rules. It is also less influenced by Persian music. It emphasizes the expertise of the voice rather than of the instruments. Primary themes include Devi worship, Rama worship, descriptions of temples and patriotic songs. Among the most popular living performers are Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, T V Sankaranarayanan, Madurai T N Seshagopalan.M.S. Subbulakshmi one of the greatest carnatic vocalists ever, passed away about an year ago. M L Vasanthakumari, G N Balasubramaniam, Dr.S Ramanathan are famous musical legends who lived in the last century.

Indian classical music is monophonic and based around a single melody line. The performance of a composition, based melodically on one particular raga and rhythmically on one tala, begins with the performers coming out in a ritualized order: drone instruments, then the soloist, then accompanists and percussionists. The musicians begin by tuning their instruments; this process often blends imperceptibly into the beginning of the music.

Indian musical instruments used in classical music include veena, mridangam, tabla, kanjira, tambura, flute, sitar, gottuvadyam, violin, and sarangi.

Players of the tabla, a type of drum, begin by tapping the edges with a hammer to make sure it is in tune with the soloist. Another common instrument is the stringed tambura (sometimes also called tanpura), which is played at a steady tone (a drone) throughout the raga. This task traditionally falls to a student of the soloist, a task which might seem monotonous but is, in fact, an honour and a rare opportunity for the student who gets it.

The raga begins with the melody being developed gradually, and proper rendering of any raga will take more than half an hour. The beginning of the raga is called an alap in Hindustani music and an alapana in Carnatic music. Many aficionados consider the alap their favourite part, but the alap is often inaccessible to others.

In Hindustani music, once the raga is established, the ornamentation around the mode begins to become rhythmical, gradually speeding up. This section is called the jor. After the jor climaxes, everything stops and the audiences applaud. Finally, the percussionist begins to play, interacting with the soloist, eventually reaching the spontaneous and competitive jhala section.

Carnatic raga elaborations are generally much faster in tempo and shorter. The opening piece is called a varnam, and is a warm-up for the musicians. A devotion and a request for a blessing follows, then a series of interchanges between ragams (unmetered melody) and thaalams (the ornamentation, equivalent to the jor). This is intermixed with hymns called krithis. This is followed by the pallavi or theme from the raga.

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