by: catherine durcan ib music theory indian classical music and davy graham

By: Catherine DurcanIB Music Theory

INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC AND DAVY GRAHAM

India: Demographics• Population: 1,220,800,359 (July 2013 est.)• Area: 3,287,263 sq. km• Ethnicities: 72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% Mongoloid and other• Religions: 80.5% Hinduism, 13.4% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, 1.9% Sikh, 1.8% other, 0.1% unspecified• Languages: 41% Hindi, 8.1% Bengali, 7.2% Telugu, 7% Marathi, 5.9% Tamil, 5% Urdu, 4.5% Gujarati, 3.7% Kannada, 3.2% Malayalam, 3.2% Oriya, 2.8% Punjabi, 1.3% Assamese, 1.2% Maithili, 5.9% other • English is the subsidiary official language• Capital: New Delphi• Shares borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal, and Pakistan• Also borders the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

Geography• Climate: varies from tropical

monsoon in the south to temperate in the north• Terrain:

-Upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in the south

-Flat to rolling plains along the Ganges

-Deserts in the west

-Himalayas in the north

Hinduism: Influencing Indian Music• Origin of Indian Classical music can be traced back to the Vedas, the primary sacred text of Hinduism.• Four Vedas: Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Arhtarva Veda• Rig Veda: Divine Hymns, important prayers and the oldest, most important veda• Sama Veda: Contains music to be sung and is the origin of Indian Classical Music. It defines the seven swaras (notes) and its music has been passed down through generations for over three thousand years • Yajur Veda: Known as the karma veda. Describes rituals and sacrifices during the vedic period• Artharva Veda: Contains magical remedies and chants for curing illnesses and a small number of incantations for cursing enemies

Main Features• Raga: a melodic framework based on a set of notes • Pieces are often improvised using the raga as the foundation of the

piece• Ragas can have 5-12 tones and some ragas have a different number

of notes when they ascend and descend• Each raga belongs to a modal structure called a thaat (in North Indian

music) or a mela (in South Indian music)• Notation: sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, and sa• Tala (or taal): the rhythmic pattern of a piece• Sounds produced by the tala are often vocalized (e.g. dhaa, ga, ka,

ke)• These are called bols. Bols combined together create the tala. • Monophonic• Does not use harmony • Requires use of a drone• Dialogue between instruments

Instruments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTPxqUtlLdo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnsXfc_nXK4

Tabla MridangamSitar Tanpura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joyk_EMtzn0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwFdBztKJiM

Instruments (continued)Kanjira

Violin• Used mainly in

Carnatic music and is played using a different technique than in Western music

• Often used to accompany Carnatic (South Indian) vocalists

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh3Hpy699LY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPPBoei6oCs

Hindustani VS Carnatic• North India: Hindustani• Hindustani Ragas are usually

played at certain times of the day or during different seasons

• South India: Carnatic• There are more Carnatic

ragas than Hindustani because Carnatic music uses shrutis (semi-tones) which allow the creation of more ragas• Use of the Violin is more

prominent in Carnatic music

Similarities:• Both Hindustani and Carnatic music do share some of the same

ragas however, they usually use different names and are played in a way that shows distinctive Hindustani or Carnatic Styles

Anoushka Shankar

• Daughter of the famous Indian sitar player, Ravi Shankar• Started playing sitar at age nine

and was taught by her father• Debuted professionally as a

classical sitar player at age thirteen• Was the first Indian female and

youngest ever nominee for a Grammy in the world music category • Established herself as a well-known

classical sitar player on a global scale in her twenties• As a composer, Shankar blends

Classical music with genres such as flamenco, jazz, electronica, and Western classical music

Raga Jog• Traditional Hindustani raga• Commonly used raga• Traditionally sung or played in the hours just after midnight• The word “jog” means a state of enchantment• Uses the rhythmic cycle Adi Taal- an eight beat cycle• Instruments: sitar, violin, tanpura, shehnai, and various Indian percussion such as the mridanga and kanjira• The sitar, violin, shehnai, and percussionist each have a small solo part in the raga• The violin is played in the Carnatic style• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wra4p4zARw • http://vimeo.com/58801551 (full version)

Davy Graham (1940-2008)

• British Folk-blues guitarist• Influenced by traditional folk, blues, jazz,

North African, Indian, and Arabic music• Travelled often and his ideas were ahead

of his time• Travelled to India• Most well-known piece, “Anji”, was

released in 1962• Influenced many artists who came after

him: Pentangle, John Martin, Martin Carthy, and Jimmy Page • Created alternate tuning for the guitar

called DADGAD• Blended traditional Irish music and Indian

Classical when he played the Irish folk song, “She Moved Through the Fair” in the style of an Indian raga• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Yvw_ZztQk (She Moved Through the Fair)

DADGAD• Associated with Celtic music and Indian folk music• Used in genres besides folk/traditional including rock, pop, New Age, and many more• This tuning can be achieved from standard tuning by tuning the first, second, and sixth string down a whole step which creates an open D suspended chord and makes the tuning neither major nor minor• DADGAD uses many movable chords that allow open strings therefore, when played it creates a drone effect

Sunshine Raga• Released in 1968• Part of the album: Large As Life And Twice As Natural• Uses an original tuning Graham created as a blend of eastern modal tunings • Instruments: Guitar and drums• The guitar is used to imitate the playing style of the sitar• A drone effect is created by the open strings of the guitar• The drums are played in the style of the tabla• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8nNauYpMpU

Comparison

• They are both essentially ragas • Use of the drone• Indian rhythmic ideas• Playing style of the guitar and sitar are similar• Monophonic

Similarities

Comparison: Differences

• Use of the tanpura to create the drone• Uses traditional Indian

instruments and has a greater variety of instruments• Pure traditional music

• Use of the guitar’s open strings to create a drone effect• Uses only two instruments

and they are not Indian instruments• Fusion of different styles

Raga Jog Sunshine Raga

Work cited• http://www.carnatica.net/ragasystem.htm• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html• http://www.itcsra.org/sra_faq_index.html• http://www.enlightengroup.org/the-four-vedas.html• http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/489518/raga• http://india.tilos.hu/english_ragarend.html• http://raag-hindustani.com/Scales1.html• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581886/tambura• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/579723/tabla• http://www.trinity.nottingham.sch.uk/music/gcse/indianClassicalAndGamelan.aspx

Work Cited• http://www.folkblues.co.uk/artistsgraham.html• http://www.folkblues.co.uk/graham1968.htm• http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/17/folk-blues-music• http://

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3834429/Davy-Graham.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadgad• http://www.anoushkashankar.com/biography/\• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/765595/shehnai• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395591/mridangam• http://www.trichysankaran.com/music/instruments/kanjira.html• http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/13942• http://raag-hindustani.com/Scales3.html• http://www.anoushkashankar.com/music/• http://raag-hindustani.com/Rhythm.html

Picture References:• http://www.squidoo.com/only-in-india• http://www.last.fm/music/Davy+Graham/+images/46397• http://

www.ethnicmusicalinstruments.com/G-Rosul-49-Inch-Single-Tumba-Pro-Indian-Sitar-Extras.html• http://kksongs.org/tanpura/mp3s.html• http://artdrum.com/TABLA.HTM• http://culturalsindia.blogspot.com/2012/06/indian-music-instruments.html• http://tablasitar.net/mridangam-%E2%80%93-information-history/• http://www.indian-instruments.com/drums_and_percussion/kanjira.htm• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_India.svg• http://www.amazingplacesonearth.com/category/asia/• http://www.hennadesignsguide.com/bridal-henna-designs/henna-makeup/• http://www.flickr.com/photos/kukkaibkk/5455426158/