(By Ann Alex).
And that restriction, jazzers, is one of the rules about playing Indian ragas, as I learned when attending the lecture about South Asian music, at the Sage on Tuesday this week, given by Prof. David Clarke ofNewcastle University
Prof. Clarke was discussing Northern Indian classical music, known as Hindustani music. Rather than our formal written classical music, this is ‘mood’ music with a certain ‘feel’, hence the rule that certain pieces or ‘Ragas’ can only be played at certain times of the day. The music is improvised within a set structure and most musicians are able to play about 100 ragas, although there are 1000s in existence. The music isn't normally written down except for teaching purposes. No two performances of the same raga will be identical.
And that restriction, jazzers, is one of the rules about playing Indian ragas, as I learned when attending the lecture about South Asian music, at the Sage on Tuesday this week, given by Prof. David Clarke of
Prof. Clarke was discussing Northern Indian classical music, known as Hindustani music. Rather than our formal written classical music, this is ‘mood’ music with a certain ‘feel’, hence the rule that certain pieces or ‘Ragas’ can only be played at certain times of the day. The music is improvised within a set structure and most musicians are able to play about 100 ragas, although there are 1000s in existence. The music isn't normally written down except for teaching purposes. No two performances of the same raga will be identical.
First, the drone
is set up, played on a 4 stringed instrument. We were told that this is played
by stroking each string as you'd stroke a lover! The drone plays throughout the piece and can
be produced electronically. Then comes
the main instrument, often a sitar or the voice, and the raga is established by
playing the relevant notes for that raga from the scale. The note names are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha
Ni. After some time, possibly 5 or so
minutes of playing, the two tabla drums begin repeating their pattern of 12 or
16 notes, called Thekas, as appropriate for the raga. There is improvisation by the sitar and
drums, although the drums have to be subtle.
The raga proceeds through the various sections, often ending with very
fast tabla playing. How do the musicians
know when to begin a new section? Prof
Clarke said ‘They just know!’ This must
sound familiar to jazz musicians.
If someone is
singing the raga, the words are either religious or romantic, or sometimes both
combined. I recently heard a raga
performance and the music reminded me of Western minimalist classical music,
say that of Philip Glass, but more complex.
Apparently the ethos of ragas is in the background of lots of Indian
music, including popular music. I was
fascinated by this talk which has demystified an unfamiliar type of music. There is more information about performances
at
Ann Alex.
No comments :
Post a Comment