Raga Basics

 There is a wealth of info about Indian Classical music (ICM) basics online so I will just share a bit for beginners like myself. 

The music of North India is referred to as Hindustani and Carnatic in the South.

Vocal music dominates both but some instruments tend to be in one or the other.

The drone instrument, tambura is in both. It provides the ground for the music to dance!

some Hindustani Instruments-

Tabla, sitar, sarod, rudra veena

Some Carnatic-

Saraswati veena, mridangam , ghatam , violin

The "Raga or "Ragam" is a melodic frame work used for improvisation and composition in both the North and the South. Unlike scales and modes in the music of the West the raga has rules (which are sometimes broken) pertaining to the way it is sung or played. There is a certain order the notes(swaras) are to be followed. If this is not done correctly then the mood or "Rasa" of the Raga is lost. 

Ragas differ from the North and South. Some exist in only one or the other while some exist in both but with different names. Lets examine this!

The Raga "Yaman" in Hindustani music is equivalent to the notes of the Lydian mode.

In Carnatic it is called Kalyani.

Here are both. North using sitar and South using veena.

Very different sounding but using the same notes.(The sitar is in D and the veena Eb so even more tricky to compare)

Marwa

 The raag Marwa is from the Hindustani tradition. It is a raag for sunset. Here is a beautiful rendition by Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar. The Dagar tradition(Gharana or Bani) of Dhrupad(an very old form of Indian music) goes back 20 generations.

M.J.Srinivasa Iyengar

 

M.J.Srinivasa Iyengar

M J S (as he was known) is a recent discovery of mine. I cannot find alot of information in English on him but do know he was a very respected vainika who , after a long life, passed in 2013. 

The more I listen to veena, just like sitar, I recognize the wonderful nuances in the approach of certain schools (bani) as well as individual style. This mans playing is heavenly to my ears.

In the next post I will discuss some basic info on Carnatic music and the veena in particular.

Bless.

A Sitar Giant

 About a year and a half ago I began what would end up being a radical immersion into Indian music. I had never spent much time with sitar music. To me it seemed such an obvious choice for guitarists looking to expand their listening tastes, or something haha. Also, I was never attracted to the sound of sitar early on. I was more drawn to instruments like the tanbour(Iran), guqin( China) and Oud (Arabic and Turkish).

Well, this changed after a sample of Ustad Vilayat Khan. An incredible musician and master sitarist.

I highly recommend some close attentive listening to him. Here he is playing the beautiful morning raag Bhairavi. Exquisite.