Indian classical music Flashcards
Name 3 features of Indian classical music ?
- Performers play entirely by ear or memory
- sit cross-legged on the floor
- performances can last several hours
Is Indian music improvised or organised before?
Improvised
What are the 3 main musical parts or Indian classical music
Raga
Drone
Tala
What is the Raga?
- Forms the melody
- It’s a set of pitches, like a scale
- there are hundreds of ragas
- Contain short musical phrases
What is the raga traditionally played on?
Sitar
What does the improvisation use in the raga?
Pitch bends, playing fast scales, glissandos, ornamentation
What is the drone?
- repeated notes
- forms the harmony
- static
- played on the tanpura/shruti box
What is the tala?
- complex cycle of beats that repeats
- first beat of the tala is called the ‘sam
- played on the tabla
What is the sitar?
- 20 strings
- only 7 of these strings are ever plucked
- 4 are used to play the improvised melody
- 3 are played as open strings (for drone)
What is the sarod?
Fretless string instrument
Creates long glissandos
What is the tabla?
Played with hands and fingers
Play improvised rhythms
What is the structure of Indian classical music ?
Allap ( opening section)
Gat (tabla enters)
Jhala ( fast, exiting final section)
What is the allap?
Slow improvised introduction
In free time
Only includes melody instrument + tanpura
What is the gat?
Clear pulse
Some fixed phrases
What is the jhala?
Music builds in excitement and intensity
More complex playing, more virtuosic
