Wednesday, January 18, 2006
How do I discover concerts?
In India, newspapers are probably the best source of information about concerts. For Mumbai, I have found an online source which lists the concerts for the month. Click here to access the link.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Indian Classical and Western Classical
I have heard some Western Classical music too. It is also made of complex notes and passages, ensembles which could put you in a trance. Rachmaninov's prelude in G# minor and G minor are two of my favorites. Just the piano, but the complex notes grow on you, with sounds you might never know could come out from the piano.
The big difference between Indian and Western Classical for me is that Western classical is scripted, and hence predictable. Take the above example, for example. Rachmaninov's preludes are a defined set of notes, hence the difference in renditions is only due to tempo and touch of the artist and to some extent mood. The notes always remain the same. But if you are listening to some Raag, you never see the artists referring to any notes, coz Indian classical is not scripted, which makes it more unpredictable and hence all the more exciting. It is mainly based on improvisations, with the Raag only defning the basic notes/melody/scale. Thats where the "gharanas" come into play, I guess. The rendition of the same Raag on the same instrument could be miles apart by two artists trained in different gharanas. This variance makes Indian classical music much vaster, and since rules are only guidelines, the music is almost always fresh every time it is rendered.
The big difference between Indian and Western Classical for me is that Western classical is scripted, and hence predictable. Take the above example, for example. Rachmaninov's preludes are a defined set of notes, hence the difference in renditions is only due to tempo and touch of the artist and to some extent mood. The notes always remain the same. But if you are listening to some Raag, you never see the artists referring to any notes, coz Indian classical is not scripted, which makes it more unpredictable and hence all the more exciting. It is mainly based on improvisations, with the Raag only defning the basic notes/melody/scale. Thats where the "gharanas" come into play, I guess. The rendition of the same Raag on the same instrument could be miles apart by two artists trained in different gharanas. This variance makes Indian classical music much vaster, and since rules are only guidelines, the music is almost always fresh every time it is rendered.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Top instrumentalists/vocalists of India
If you want to know (and see) the top instrumentalists and vocalists of India, I have a link for you. And what better way to see them than to see them singing/playing the national anthem.
Here is the video.
Here is the video.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
The Sarode
I was just listening to Raag Yaman rendered to perfection by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. The instrument is called the Sarode. He, along with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan form the top two sarodists of our times. Pt. Amjad Ali Khan's sons (Amaan and Ayaan) are well known for their mastery of the Sarode, and appeear often with celebrities. Whats little known is that Pt Ali Akbar Khan's son Alam Khan is a really promising and upcoming artist. These three artists assure me that we will get to hear this beautiful instrument for the next 50 years.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Pt Shivkumar sharma rocks
Santoor is my favourite "discrete sound" instrument and there is no dispute that Pt. Shivkumar Sharma has mastered it best. Each of his renditions are par excellence.
Examples:
Raag Kirwani from Sawai Gandharva festival
Raag Rasika Priya played at a concert in San Jose
Raag Hansadhwani from the album Virasat
Examples:
Raag Kirwani from Sawai Gandharva festival
Raag Rasika Priya played at a concert in San Jose
Raag Hansadhwani from the album Virasat
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Getting you started with Indian Classical Music
Most ppl have the pre-conceived notion that Indian classical music in general is boring. This is the opinion of too many young ppl for me to not write about it!! Most people who have this opinion have it because of one of the following reasons:
1. They never wanted to know what its all about (coz it aint cool)
2. Many ppl have heard a bit of it, but never an entire piece (it seems so long!). In these cases they hear the intial part of the piece which is the slow alaap without accompaniment (tabla or pakhawaj or something alike), which they cant make head or tail out of and thats the last time you wanted to hear anything remotely classical.
3. There are some who have heard an entire piece and tried a few times, but just cant understand wats going on and things sound either cacophonous or sleep-inducing/boring.
If you belong to the first two, then you should definitely give this a chance. If you are among the third, then there are two possibilities:
1. You really dont like classical music or have an ear for it.. fair enough and read no more of this post.
2. You ended up hearing something that you dint like .. maybe you dont like vocals or maybe you prefer one instrument to the other and you have been hearing the wrong instruments. In that case read on.
I know nothing about music, so maybe I will get through to my readers better, coz I am one of them. All this is in lay man's terms, so there is no chance that you cant understand it. If I am mistaken about anything, feel free to correct me.
In most instrumental pieces, there is a core tune if you will, that defines the Raag, and a bunch of improvisations built around that (all spur of the moment). How do you know what the core tune is? Well it repeats itself again and again in the piece, hard to miss if you concentrate a bit. This is called the Mukhda. Alaap, as they call it is usually introducing this Mukhda by playing parts of it. This is generally hard to grasp for the common man (it certainly is for me). That is followed by a slow tempo composition piece which has the Mukhda played in full over and over again, interspersed with some compositions (lets forget what these are called for now). You can observe the tempo (speed of playing) increase as you get into the piece and get really fast towards the end. Sometimes, the change in tempo may lead to a change in the core tune (Mukhda or the core tune).
Here is a piece you might want to listen to...... you just might like it! Its around 42 minutes long, but the full mukhda starts at the 4th or 5th minute so it should grow on you if you give it 10 minutes.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/0101070A
and click on Raag Hansadhwani.
If anyone ended up liking it, please comment on this post.
1. They never wanted to know what its all about (coz it aint cool)
2. Many ppl have heard a bit of it, but never an entire piece (it seems so long!). In these cases they hear the intial part of the piece which is the slow alaap without accompaniment (tabla or pakhawaj or something alike), which they cant make head or tail out of and thats the last time you wanted to hear anything remotely classical.
3. There are some who have heard an entire piece and tried a few times, but just cant understand wats going on and things sound either cacophonous or sleep-inducing/boring.
If you belong to the first two, then you should definitely give this a chance. If you are among the third, then there are two possibilities:
1. You really dont like classical music or have an ear for it.. fair enough and read no more of this post.
2. You ended up hearing something that you dint like .. maybe you dont like vocals or maybe you prefer one instrument to the other and you have been hearing the wrong instruments. In that case read on.
I know nothing about music, so maybe I will get through to my readers better, coz I am one of them. All this is in lay man's terms, so there is no chance that you cant understand it. If I am mistaken about anything, feel free to correct me.
In most instrumental pieces, there is a core tune if you will, that defines the Raag, and a bunch of improvisations built around that (all spur of the moment). How do you know what the core tune is? Well it repeats itself again and again in the piece, hard to miss if you concentrate a bit. This is called the Mukhda. Alaap, as they call it is usually introducing this Mukhda by playing parts of it. This is generally hard to grasp for the common man (it certainly is for me). That is followed by a slow tempo composition piece which has the Mukhda played in full over and over again, interspersed with some compositions (lets forget what these are called for now). You can observe the tempo (speed of playing) increase as you get into the piece and get really fast towards the end. Sometimes, the change in tempo may lead to a change in the core tune (Mukhda or the core tune).
Here is a piece you might want to listen to...... you just might like it! Its around 42 minutes long, but the full mukhda starts at the 4th or 5th minute so it should grow on you if you give it 10 minutes.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/0101070A
and click on Raag Hansadhwani.
If anyone ended up liking it, please comment on this post.
Is Indian classical music the thing of yesterday?
My reply, not at all. I have attended a few live concerts and they were packed or almost full. It was a bit disconcerting that not so many young people want to hear it, and its not the in thing.
Why this blog?
I love music and this is my two cents to promote that by sharing what I have heard. By the way, I am the naive listener with no training in any form of music.
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