Indian Music

Question 0

Ravi Shankar

Answer 0

Dude’s a musician

Question 1

What are the two main traditions of Indian Classical Music?

Answer 1

• Karnatak of the south
• Hindustani of the north

Hindustani tradition: more well known globally due to popularity of Ravi Shankar and general Indian “immigration patterns”(<-bolded)

Differences between the two traditions are due to political histories….

Question 2

What is Nada Brahma?

Answer 2

“The sound of god”. Singing is the highest form of musical expression since it is thought to be closest to Nada Brahma which equals the divine source of all music

Question 3

What are standard instruments of both traditions?

Answer 3

Includes instrumental trios, which feature a single-line melody, drone and rhythmic accompaniment.

Karantak instruments: vina(melodic), tambura(drone), and mrdangam(rhythmic).

Question 5

The hindustani raga of Northern India. Who is Ravi Shankar?

Answer 5

Most well known representative of the *Hindustani raga tradition internationally. He influenced many collaborative musical productions. Shankar’s direct and indirect influences on raga-inspired intercultural music making.

Question 6

Who was Ravi Shankar a musical disciple of?

Answer 6

Allaudin Khan(AKA Baba)

Question 7

What was Shankar a master of?

Answer 7

He was a great sitar master. His interactions with George Harrison of the Beatles fave him global superstar celebrity. He inspired change in rock and world musics becoming an icon in the 1960s

Question 8

Ravi Shankar is now famous for his two daughters. Who are they?

Answer 8

Anoushka Shankar who continues his Maihar legacy as a satarist.

Norah Jones-who might be seen as extening her father’s ‘ther’ legacy as a force of influence in the worlds of Westsern pop music and jazz.

Question 9

What is the caste system?

Answer 9

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Question 10

What is the gharana?

Answer 10

the social institution through which the knowledge of raga is passed through generations.. It is reanslated as ‘musical family but doesn’t require blood or marriage to pass on

Question 11

Anoushka Shankar

Answer 11

exclusively trained by Ravi Shankar..

She carries on her father’s legacy of playing the sitar. Her albums are a mix of indian and western music

Question 12

What is a tambura

Answer 12

a drone instrument

Question 13

Define alap

Answer 13

free improvisation

Question 14

What is it called when a theme is based on a rhythmic framework ?

Answer 14

tala. There are many talas. Such as the tintal(a rhythmic cycle of sixteen beats)

Question 15

what is raga?

Answer 15

It It is deeper than a mode, it is not merely a scale….

It is a precise melody forms. It is a style of indian music.

Question 16

Microtones…

Answer 16

stress on important notes and are used within the ornamentations.

Question 17

Sitar-Tambura-Tabla Trio

Answer 17

One type of ensemble in Hindustani music. It is known on a international scale because of Ravi Shankar’s influence

Question 18

What is the Sitar

Answer 18

A long-necked, plucked chordophone with a wood-covered half-gourd body. The neck is scalloped allowing notes to be ornamented by’bending the strings’.

It has 6-7 main string for melody and drone tones, plus 13 sympathetic resonance strings

Question 19

Tambura

Answer 19

An instrument specifically used for droning. It is held vertically in the player’s lap and plucked continuoisly to produce a wavelike timbral effect.

Question 20

Tabla

Answer 20

a pair of single-headed drums playe by one person

Dahina(or tabla) the higher drum played by the right hand

Bayan-lower, left handed drum usually made of metal.

Question 21

hindustani melodic music-sarod

Answer 21

a plucked chordophone

most famous player: Ali Akbar Khan(Ravi Sharkar’s mentor’s son). He was also important in introducing indian music to the west.

(Sympathetic strings resonate the sound)

Question 22

hindustani melodic music-Bansuri

Answer 22

a bamboo flute(prized for its voice-like timbre)

Question 23

Shahnai

Answer 23

oboe-like instrument

Question 24

sarangi

Answer 24

bowed chordophone

Question 25

hindustani melodic music also use violin

Answer 25

FYI

Question 26

Define Raga

Answer 26

Defined by Ravi Shankar as “precise melody forms”.

Each raga is complete and self-contained melodic system that serves a s a basis for all melodic materials in any composition or performance created in –that–raga

Question 27

What identifies a piece of music as raga?

Answer 27

Identifying set of pitches

unique repertoire of melodic ornaments and melodic motives

a system of rules and procedures

a repertoire of set(precomposed) compositions

a host of extramusical associations.

Question 28

What is the tala?

Answer 28

metric cycle in indian music

Question 29

You missed last last class

Answer 29

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