The musical arts of India date back over three thousand years and are among the oldest traditions in the world. During the twelfth to sixteenth centuries, Indian classical music developed along two distinct lines: Carnatic music from south India and Hindustani music from Northern India and Pakistan. Carnatic music was mainly found in temples, whereas Hindustani music thrived in royal courts. For our snapshot of traditional Indian music, we'll focus on the Hindustani genre.
Woman Playing Tambura (c. 1735) | Tambura is used to provide a background drone in classical Indian music | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Hindustani Beginnings
The Hindustani style emerged in the twelfth century, diverging from Carnatic classical music. It was profoundly influenced by Persian music, as northern courts were governed by Persian nobility. After India came under British rule in the nineteenth century, Hindustani classical music continued to flourish in the nearly six hundred royal courts.
India | India is adjacent to China on the northeast and Pakistan and Iran on the northwest. | Wikimedia Commons
Post-Colonial Era
When India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947, most royal courts were abolished, leaving thousands of classical Indian musicians unemployed. Instead of succumbing to obscurity, these musicians proactively marketed their art to the general public and eventually to a global audience. This strategic move led to the widespread popularity of a once-elitist musical style. Today, classical Indian music has seamlessly integrated into popular Western music, film scores, and concert halls across the globe.
Jonah and the Whale | Folio from Jami al-Tavarikh, c. 1400 | Northern Indian art and music were influenced by Persian culture. | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Elements of Style
Hindustani and Carnatic styles are based on a melodic structure for improvisation called raga and performed within rhythmic cycles known as tala. The theories behind raga and tala structures are ancient and were initially codified in Indian musical treatises during the second and third centuries CE.
Indian Woman Playing Sitar (c. 1800) | The sitar is a plucked chordophone belonging to the lute family. | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Raga
The word raga is derived from a term meaning color or atmosphere. Raga is a melodic structure or pattern of notes defined by the number of notes, called swaras, and the intervals between these notes.
Like a scale, each raga has an ascending and descending form but, unlike a scale, has characteristic melodic motives and ornamentation known as alankar. Individual ragas are associated with a particular mood or feeling such as love, tranquility, seasons, times of day, etc.
Finally, the melodic material of the raga is micro-tonal, i.e., uses pitches in between Western notes. Like the Chinese, Indian musicians divide the octave into twenty-two tones called shrutis, roughly equal to a quarter tone in Western music (the Western octave is divided into only twelve tones). The smallest Western interval is the half step, double the size of a quarter tone.
Raga Maru Bihag | An example of a seventeen swaras (note) evening raga.
Tala
Tala refers to the rhythmic structure of classical Indian music, typically a repeated cycle of beats somewhat similar to meter, albeit more complex.
Tala vary in length from three to one hundred beats, with six to ten-beat tala as the norm. There are hundreds of tala: each one has a unique name and organization of beats into groups. For example, the ten-beat tala known as shultal has 4-2-4 beat groups, while another ten-beat tala, jhaptal, is organized as 2-3-2-3 (used in the raga Maru Bihag video below). Like the downbeat in Western meter, the first beat of the tala is the most important, although there are secondary accents as well. While my description is simplistic, the rhythmic structure of classical Indian music is complex compared to most Western music.
Similar to flamenco musicians clapping out a rhythmic cycle or compás, tala participants may mark
the components of the tala with a series of claps and waves of the hands known as kriyas.
In the video below, Ravi Shankar, renowned Indian sitar player and composer, discusses and plays the raga and tala of Raga Maru Bihag. Hindustani performances often begin with a meditative introduction—no tala or pulse—and build towards a rhythmic, rapid, and impassioned finish. When the tabla (drums) enter (2:24), the focus on rhythmic development and use of tala begins.
Raga Maru Bihag | Ravi Shankar, 1920-2012 (11:45)
Ravi Shankar | Life and Music (4:03)
Instruments
In Hindustani classical music, the tabla, sitar, and tambura are the most important instruments.
Sitar and Tambura
Sitar and tambura are both plucked chordophones belonging to the lute family: the tambura provides drone accompaniment while the sitar solos. The sitar evolved from the Indian veena, modified to appeal to the tastes of India's Mughal rulers.
Early versions of the sitar flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but developed into its present form during the eighteenth century. The sitar's distinctive sound comes from sympathetic strings, high frets, and an extended resonance chamber consisting of a long hollow neck and gourd-shaped chambers. Save for the frets, the sitar's appearance is similar to that of the tambura.
The tabla, a South Asian membranophone similar in size to bongos, is played as a set of two drums. It has been an integral part of traditional, classical, popular, and folk music of South Asia since the eighteenth century. The pitch of the drums is varied by pressing the heel of the hand against them.
Tabla | Nineteenth century tabla from Northern India. Players normally perform with a set of two tabla. | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Improvisation
Like jazz, improvisation is an integral aspect of the style. However, it is not a free-for-all: improvisation occurs within the framework of the raga and tala. Improvisation is interactive: performers respond musically to one another by tossing phrases back and forth between instruments. Listen to Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar, as she and her ensemble improvise and trade licks like a jazz combo.
Voice of the Moon| Anoushka Shankar, sitar, mixes traditional Indian instruments with Western instruments (13:59)
Cross-Cultural Fusion
Since the 1960s, there has been substantial cross-cultural collaboration between Indian and Western musicians, spanning various genres such as Broadway, pop, jazz, and metal. Notably, the Beatles and Ravi Shankar are among the most renowned early collaborators in this field. While the specifics of these cross-cultural fusions can differ significantly, they typically involve an intermingling of Eastern and Western musicians, musical styles, and instruments.
Jiya Jale (Dil Se) | A. R. Rahman | Integration of classical Indian and Western popular music. | Berkley Indian Ensemble
Finally, here's an East-West collaboration between Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar:
Anoushka Shankar - Traces Of You ft. Norah Jones | Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones are half sisters, both daughters of Ravi Shankar (3:46)
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India
Instruments
Sitar and Tambura
Tabla
Cross-Cultural Fusion
