Introduction To Theory of Music

Introduction

Getting started with a single topic is difficult. Lets first talk about music in my first topic. The tradition of Indian music practiced and developed is nearly three thousand years old. Indigenous musical styles and schools evolved and developed in different regions of the country by blending purely ritualistic music and folk music. The basic elements remain the same. The semantic divide between the two styles started from the time of the 'Sangeetaratnakara' of Sharangadeva (1210-1247 AD). This was later enhanced by the Muslim influence and this musical bifurcation was described for the first time as Hindustani and Carnatic music by Haripaladeva in his text the 'Sangeetsudhakara' (1309-1312 AD).

What is music?

Music can be defined as organised sound, with ragam and thaalam. A ragam is melody and the thaalam is the beats. The most general definition of music is any set of organised sounds which has been planned so that the sound produced is largely consistent. Every music comprises of seven basic notes called SapthaSwaram. Sapthaswaram comprises of sa,re,ga,ma,pa,dha and ni.

Ragam

Each Ragam has its own scale consisting of minimum five and maximum seven notes (swaram). A raga has specific ascending (Aarohanam) and descending (Avarohanam) movements, specific dominating notes and specific notes complementing the Vadi notes. The characteristic phrases of a raga establish its identity and mood. In ragam there are 72 melakartha ragams.

Indian classical music has two distinct styles-Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music. Hindustani music is prevalent all over India except in the Southern States, where Carnatic music is practiced.

Similarities and differences between Hindustani and Classical Music
In both the music the styles are monophonic, follow a melodic line and employ a drone with the help of one or two notes against the melody. Both the styles use definite scales to define a raga but the Carnatic Style employs Shrutis or semitones to create a Ragam and thus have many more Ragams than the Hindustani style. Carnatic ragams differ from Hindustani ragams. The names of ragas are also different. However, there are some ragas which have the same scale as Hindustani ragas but have different names; such as Hindolam and Malkauns, Shankarabharanam and Bilawal. There is a third category of ragas like Hamsadhwani, Charukeshi, Kalavati etc. which are essentially Carnatic Ragas. They share the same name, the same scale (same set of notes) but can be rendered in the two distinctively different Carnatic and Hindustani styles. Unlike Hindustani music, Carnatic music does not adhere to Time concepts. Carnatic music follows the Melakarta concept

called the Sam and ending with a release point called the Khali. It is this (sam & khali) that brings life to a Talam.

Performances

Vocal music forms the basis of South Indian music. Although there is a rich instrumental tradition that revolve around instrumental renditions of vocal forms.

There are a number of sections to the Carnatic performance. Varanam is a form used to begin many south Indian performances. The word varanam literal means a description and this section is used to unfold the various important features of the ragam. The kritis are a fixed compositions in the ragam. They have well identified composers and do not allow much scope for variation. However such compositions are often preceded by alapana. The alapana offers a way to unfold the ragam to the audience, and at the same time, allow the artist considerable scope for improvisation. The niruval and the kalpana swara also provide opportunities to improvise. Another common structure is the ragam, thanam, and, pallavi.

South Indian performances are based upon three major sections. These are the pallavi anupallavi and charanam. These roughly correspond to the sthai, antara and the abhog in Hindustani Music.

Conclusion

The high performance and the theoretically knowledge put it on par with anything that world has seen, whether it’s a carnatic music or western music.



Here is the link for hearing Yesudas’s lovely voice
http://www.mediafire.com/?mobjyene3wy