What is Indian Classical Music?

Discover the splendid world of Indian Classical Music

This post is going to be a basic introduction to classical music for those of you that are clueless about it. I'll be more than happy if the information finally reduces your insecurities about not knowing much about classical music. So without more pointless explanations, let's dive into the beautiful world of acoustics and bliss.

What is classical music? Well, it is a form of art and a branch of music, which is based on a long history of rules and principles. The love for tradition and respect to composers long gone is what sets this genre of music apart. These have existed for ages before we came into existence, unlike contemporary music styles such as metal, rock, jazz and pop. And there are various branches inside classical as well. The most poplar one is of course, the European Classical Music, consisting of composers like Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. And then there are Classical Music belonging to other countries. These are much different from European Classical and even have exclusive instruments. One of these is the Indian classical music.

What is Indian Classical Music?

Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent, a complex sub genre of classical music in general. It has two major traditions: The North Indian Classical Music tradition is called Hindustani, while the South Indian Classical Music tradition is called Carnatic. These traditions were not distinct until about the 16th century. During the period of Mughal rule (16th century to mid-18th century) of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. Hindustani Music uses improvisation and on-spot exploration of all aspects of a raga (a melody), while Carnatic performances tend to be mostly composition-based and at a virtuoso level, improvisation on the melody in a particular raga. Both these systems developed from Natyashatra, the Sanskrit text dealing with the performing arts, written by the ancient musicologist Bharata Muni. A lot of the compositions are based on hymns in the Sama Veda and Rig Veda set to melody.

Some of the common terms of Indian Classical Music are tala (rhythm), raga (melody), laya (tempo), saptak (set of the 7 basic notes that is, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni) and swar/sur (note). Now these new terms may confuse you a lot but not for long. It gets easier when you corelate between Western (European) and Indian Classical. The two systems actually have more common points than you expect. Western Classical Music’s magic lies to a great extent in polyphonic composition, where multiple harmonies and the textures created using multiple voices is critical. It is based off of Egyptian influences around 2695 BC similar to Hindustani Music, which had strong Persian and Arab influences. Similar to Indian Music, Western too has some fundamental concepts. These are time signatures (rhythm, like the tala), keys and scales (melody, like the raga), tempo (like the laya), a set of 7 notes (like the saptak) and individual notes (sur or swara). They both have the concept of microtones, sharp notes and flat notes. There are also similar playing techniques with various terms for each and little differences between them. More about Classical Music in future posts!

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