Music of India

Indian music is a vast and diverse collection of genres. It includes classical, folk, rock, and pop styles. This musical tradition has a history spanning several millennia. It developed across many different locations within the Indian subcontinent. For much of its history, music has been an essential part of socio-religious life.

Early evidence of music appears in ancient cave paintings. At the Bhimbetka rock shelters, 30,000-year-old paintings show types of dance. Other Mesolithic art illustrates instruments like gongs, the bowed lyre, and the daf. Even earlier, polished stone celts found in Odisha may have served as musical instruments.

Ancient civilizations left behind many clues about musical life. The Indus Valley Civilization produced the Dancing Girl sculpture around 2500 BCE. Pottery from this era shows a man with a dhol, a type of drum, hanging from his neck. Other pottery depicts a woman holding a drum under her arm. In the Vedic era, between 1500 and 800 BCE, music was tied to religious rituals. The Samaveda, an ancient text, contains methods for singing Vedic hymns. These hymns used a concept called tala, or taal, which refers to rhythmic patterns.

Ancient literature like the Ramayana also mentions music and dance. It describes singers and players using instruments like the vina and various wind instruments. These included the shankha and the venu, which was likely a mouth organ made of flutes.

Classical Indian music is divided into two main traditions. These are Carnatic music and Hindustani music. Carnatic music is practiced mainly in the southern peninsular regions. It originated during the 14th and 15th centuries under the Vijayanagar Empire. This style is melodic and uses many improvised variations. However, it tends to rely more on fixed compositions.

In contrast, Hindustani music is found in the north, east, and central regions. It diverged from Carnatic music around the 13th or 14th century. This change happened largely due to Islamic influences. Hindustani music was enriched by Persian performance practices from the Mughals. It includes genres such as dhrupad, khyal, and tarana.

Both traditions rely on a complex system of seven notes. These notes are called sapta svara or sapta sur. The names for these notes are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni. These are short forms of Shadja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama, Panchama, Dhaivata, and Nishada. These notes are equivalent to the Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti used in Western music. Musicians use these notes to build a raga, which is a melody improvised from specific grammars. The tonal system is very detailed. It divides the octave into 22 segments called shrutis. These microtones are not all equal, but each is roughly a quarter of a Western whole tone.

Understanding the movement of these notes is vital for performers. The seven svaras are the foundation of every raga. Some notes are called achal svaras because they are steady. Sa and Pa do not move from their original positions. Other notes are called chal svaras because they move. These include Re, Ga, Ma, Dha, and Ni. When these notes are played without variation, they are called shuddha svaras. Variations in these notes create different musical colors.

Musicians also use alankar, which are ornamentations, to decorate their melodies.

History records many influential composers and texts. In the 13th century, Śārṅgadeva wrote the Sangita-Ratnakara. This is one of the most important Sanskrit musicological texts. It is considered a definitive source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions. In the south, Purandara Dasa is known as the father of Carnatic music. Annamayya was the first known composer in this tradition. He is often called the Godfather of Telugu song-writing. The city of Chennai hosts the Madras Music Season every December. This eight-week event is the largest cultural event in the world.

Indian music has also connected with global styles. In the 1960s, jazz musicians like John Coltrane collaborated with Indian instrumentalists. They began using instruments like the sitar in their songs. Later, rock and roll fusions became popular in Europe and North America. In the late 1980s, the Asian Underground movement fused Indian and Western traditions. Today, American hip-hop frequently features Indian sounds. Artists often sample Bollywood movies or collaborate with Indian performers.

This shows how Indian musical ideas continue to reach new audiences worldwide.