Indian Music has a very rich history and the earliest evidence of Music can be traced back to the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages as showcased by paintings of this period at Bhimbetka caves. Music instruments like seven-holed flute and Ravanahatha, have been discovered in Indus Valley Civilization. Music in India has many important functions and certain ceremonies are incomplete without music.
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History of Music in India
As I mentioned earlier that musical instrument like flute discovered from sites of Indus Valley civilization and dancing peoples were drawn in the paintings of Bhimbetka which is indication of presence of Music at that period because it is impossible to do dance without music. The Sangma, which involved chanting of verses that usually set to musical pattern, was prevalent during the later Vedic period.
Natyashastra of Bharata, was first work on the subject of musicology. Sangeet Ratnakar was another classical text wrote on music in 13th century by musicologist Sarangadeva. This work defined about 264 ragas including Dravidian repertories and some form North India. Matanga wrote Brihaddeshi in 9th century which focused on the word ‘raga’. Ramamatya wrote Swaramela-Kalanidhi in 16th century which also primarily deals with the word ‘raga’.
Nanda composed Sangeeta Makaranda in 11th century also focused in ragas. Venkatamakhin composed Chaturdandi-prakasika in 17th century which provides important information on musicology. The first evidence of existence of Gurukulas (Guru-Shishya tradition which focused on teacher and student relationships) founded in early medieval period. It was the period of Medieval India when several music schools and styles developed.
Anatomy of Indian Music
To understand the music of any country, it is very important to understand the anatomy of music of that country. And hence, to understand Indian music, we first need to understand the anatomy of Indian music and there are three main pillars of Indian music; Raga, tala and swara. The word ‘Raga’ comes from ‘Ranj’, a Sanskrit word that means to delight or to make and satisfy any person. Raga formed the basis of the melody and each melody is according to subject and mood of sound.
There are different types of ragas; Shuddha Raag, Chhayalag Raag, Sankeerna Raag etc. and each one of them have separate notes and compositions. Swara generally associated with the recitation of Vedas and this term used to define ‘note’ or ‘scale degree’. There is also Shruti which is quite different from Swara as shruti is the smallest gradation of pitch representing the quality of frequency.
Tala is the rhythmic groupings of beats and this rhythmical cycle range from 3 to 108. Laya word used when tempo of tala keeps uniformity with time span. There are several talas known but in actual only 10 to 12 talas used. The ragas are created to evoke emotional responses in the performer and audience and these emotions evoked by singing are known as ‘Rasa’ or ‘aesthetic delight’.
There is also a system of Thaat which is basically a system for the classification of ragas in different groups. Apart from these elements time also plays a significant role in musicology. Thus, Indian music is based on many pillars like raga, swara, tala, rasa etc. and that helped in development of different schools and styles of music in India.
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