Indian Music (Sangeet) and Indian Musical Instruments

Sangeet, as Music is commonly called in India, has a religious, mythological, cultural and ancient history. The seven tones like the seven wonders create the most melodious and magnificent combinations called Raga in Indian music. Explore more!!

The mystic India has an age-old history of music. Music here is not limited only to the songs or sweet tunes heard today. It traces its origin to the very first sound created on the heart of earth. That sound which is known as Naad or Brahma Naad was the first indivisible sound created and heard. At the heart of music is the eternal silence. It is so said because the first sound, Naad, was created or heard only when the silence was pierced. It is significant that to produce Naad, there must be ‘aaghat’ which means to strike or to wound. So only when the silence is wounded, the Naad is born. It is a willing surrender of the silence to the pain of wounding that creates the sound of music. This definition of the origin of music has no date defined. It simply co-insides with the creation of the Universe.

The Chants of Veda followed this foremost creation of sound. Using only three notes, these Vedic chants were performed. These were the first musical sound to reach the human ears. It is said that in the period when the four Vedas were written, the integrity of a human being was so potent that he could hear the voice of the Almighty. And Vedas were first heard, registered then reproduced in a written form. Therefore the Vedic chants accompanied by the humming of the nature and enveloped by their own echoes were the first music on this land.
The earliest written reference of Indian music is found in the great scholar and sage Bharat’s illustrious book Natya Shastra. There he has discussed, defined and elaborated on the different types of performing art. Regarded as the fifth Veda, Natya Shastra is a landmark in the written history of fine arts including music. As sage Bharat writes in his opening chapter that it was Brahma who ordered him to write this book. Collecting all references regarding music, dance and drama from the four Vedas, Brahma asked him to write a play that would inspire the gods to fight against the demons. In different chapters he describes minutely the techniques of dance and drama accompanied by songs, solo or played on different instruments. In one of the chapters he describes Raga as the colour that fills the heart and mind of man. He also defines the basic structure of Ragas.

Swar: The first component of any music is the ‘Swar’. Origination from the word ‘Ra’ meaning light, Swar means the one, which is self-effulgent. It is the different Swaras that constitute the basic and the complex forms of music. A Swar should not be taken as the equivalent of note. A note is a fixed pitch, one which not possible to change. Whereas Swar is comparable to tone which is more fluid and elusive. Swaras are therefore the tonal registers that create any vocal or instrumental composition known as raga, based on some basic rules.
There are seven Swars in the Indian classical music. They are,

1. Shadaj (Sa)
2. Rishabh (Re)
3. Gandhar (Ga)
4. Madhyam (Ma)
5. Pancham (Pa)
6. Dhaiwat (Dha)
7. Nishaad (Ni)

Each of these Swars is believed to be taken from different birds and animals. Shadaj is the peacocks voice at the highest point of rapture, Rishabh is the sound produced by the cow to call her calf, Gandhar is the bleat of the goat, Madhyam is the cry of the heron, Pancham is the Swar of Koyal, the Indian nightingale, Dhaiwat is the neigh of the horse and Nishaad the trumpeting of the elephant. These seven Swars are in ascending pitch. Between these seven Swars there are 22 microtones called shruti. These Shrutis have hair breath distinction and cannot be differentiated by an untrained ear. These seven Swar are the main Swar and are called the Shudh Swar (Pure Tones). Between two successive Swars there is a musical interval in which a slight variation of these two Swars can be placed. These fill-in tones can be Komal (flattened) or Teevra (sharpened). These in-between Swars are called the Vikrit (distorted) Swars. There are all together 5 Vikrit Swars and they are:-

Sa/ Komal Re-Re/ Komal Ga- Ga/ Ma- Teevra Ma/ Pa/ Komal Dha- Dha/ Komal Ni- Ni

These basic, flattened and sharpened notes together form innumerable compositions called Raga with various combinations based on a set of rules practiced for centuries.

Raga, Tala, Laya: Raga, literally meaning ‘that which charms’ is melodious a composition based on a basic set of rules. A Raga comprises of Aaroh, Avaroh, Pakad, Bandish and Jhala.

Aaroh: Aaroh is the ascending of the Swar in any Raga. It comprises of minimum five Swar.
Avaroh: Avaroh is descending order of the Swars. This also has at least five Swars.
Pakad: Pakad is the tune that highlights the Vadi (the Most important Swar of the Raga) and the Sanvadi (the second most important Swar of the raga) Swars.
Aalaap: Aalaap is the slow presentation of the swars highlighting the main characteristics of a particular raga.
Gat: Gat is main gait of any raga that follows the Aalap.
Bandish: Bandish is the various couplet like combinations that is sung or played after the Pakad.
Jhala: This part of a Raga is the fastest. It is to mark the end of any performance.
Tala: Tala literally meaning the palm is the term for the beat in Indian Music. The first and foremost tool to define a Tala was the human palm and therefore the name automatically originated from there.
Laya: Laya literally means the flow. And here it denotes the speed of the tala. From slow to fast, there are basically three Laya, Vilambit (prolonged or slow), Madhya (medium), and Drut (fast).

However there are limited Tala and Laya, the number of ragas in Indian Music is very high. To classify these Ragas, there are basically three systems. The easiest is to classify them by the number of Swar in the Aaroh and Avaroh. A five Swar Aaroh or Avaroh is called Audav, the one with six Swar is Shadav and those with all seven are Samporna (complete). There can be different numbers of Swar in Aaroh and Avaroh. They are named accordingly. For example if there are five Swars in Aaroh and six in Avaroh, then the Raga is Audav- Shadav.
The second type of classification is based on the theory of a 19th Century Musician Madannul Mausiqi. He made a set of Six major ragas and called them the janak Raga or the Parent Raga. These six Ragas are, Bhairav, Malkaus, Hindol, Sri, Deepak, and Megh. These six Ragas also represent six seasons. All these six ragas have their consort Ragas called Ragini. Married to each other, they produce 8 Son Ragas. These Son ragas have their own Ragini and the chain goes on, giving birth to innumerable Ragas.

The third and the most widely accepted system of classifying a raga is the one set by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. He developed a theory according to which all Ragas were generated from a set of ten ‘thaat’. This was basically like the Parent Rag system; only the Ragini did not exist. And that alone could give birth to hundreds of Ragas.

Instruments

Music is created either by playing on an instrument or by human voice. Although there have been a number of musical instruments of mythological, historical, devotional and regional values, yet the human voice surpasses them all. The most perfect form of music is created when a trained vocalist performs. It is the supreme creation. This supremacy of human voice over the thousands of charming and melodious musical instruments is because the control on human voice is the maximum. It can go up and down on various pitches completing the musical journey in the most fluid manner. The gap that is heard between two Swars in an instrument is not found in the human voice. That gap here is bridged by a wave that joins one Swar with another. It is believed that each and every instrument tries to approximate the ideal perfection of a human voice. A good and trained voice needs no accompaniment, it creates music alone. However, down the ages a number of musical instruments are refined, remodeled and experimented to give a huge range of sound. Based on the method of playing, there are four types of musical instruments.

Tantu Vadya:
Tantu Vadya or string instruments are those in which music is produced by plucking, rowing or striking the strings. Popularized in the world over by the maestro Pandit Ravi Shanker, sitar is one of the most common Indian string instruments. Veena, Sarangi, Santoor, Sarod and Esraj are other common and melodious string instrument. Sarangi is the string instrument that is bowed, and produces no gaps between two Swars. Therefore it matches the human voice most closely. To play these string instruments, one must sit on the ground and hold it in traditional slanted way. The strings, one or all are then plucked to produce vibration and in turn music. Right from the posture to playing the correct notes, playing a string instrument is a complex yet an enjoyable practice.

Susir Vadya
Susir Vadya or wind instruments have an age-old tradition and history in Indian culture. The first excavation of the Harrapan civilization gives us remains of a flute like instrument.

Flutes

Over the ages, the flute, the main wind instrument of India carries an unchanged look. Made of bamboo, it captures the whistling sound of the soft breeze when it travels in woods.

Pungi

Shehnai

Apart from the flute, shehnai, been and nadaswaram are other popular Indian wind instruments. Mastering the art of playing these wind instruments does not come easily, but once learnt, people experiment with its sounds and notes to produce yet unheard melodies.

Avanada Vadya
Avanada Vadya or percussion instruments have many different shapes and rhythms in India. From the rustic tribes to the cultured and educated folks, the drums are used as the main musical instrument. The ‘nagadas’ of the tribes were initially and perhaps even today for relaying messages and dancing. In the urban society a more presentable form of drum called tabla is used. A tabla is a set of two drums and is played with fingers of both the hands.

Drum of Shiva

Dholak

Dholak, pakhawaj and mridangam are the other well-known percussion instruments of India. Any music, folk, tribal or classical sounds incomplete without the beats of these instruments.

Ghana Vadya
Ghana Vadya or strike instruments like gongs, cymbals and bells are the temple instruments of India. They are plates or discs of metal, mainly brass, which are struck together to produce matching beats to the singing and drums. In religious singing cymbals are essentially used. The famous Ghana Vadya of India are Kartal, manjeera and Jhanj.

Hand Kartal, Kartal and Manjira

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