Download World Music

Rag Bhairav 1
Learning Objectives
•
To revise our knowledge of Indian music from
GCSE
Rag Desh – Anoushka
Shankar
•
Means: what instruments do you hear?
•
Metre: describe the metre at the start. How does it
change at 0’55”?
•
Harmony?
•
Melody: would you describe it as major, minor,
modal, something else? Do you think it is
improvised or fixed? Is it written down?
Indian Music
• Closely
linked
to Hinduism
(just like
Western
sacred music)
• The
god Shiva
is associated
with music
and dance
Geography
• Two
main
types:
 Hindustani
(North)
 Carnatic (South)
• Rag
Desh and
Rag Bhairav
are from the
Hindustani
(northern)
tradition
Oral tradition
•
Indian music is not written down; it is taught
by listening and playing by ear
Raga
•
A raga is a piece of
Indian music in several
contrasting sections
•
The Western equivalent
is a symphony
•
It can be any length.
Some are quite short,
others very long
•
Not to be confused with
the rag…(!)
What is a rag?
•
A rag is similar to a scale or mode:
•
The melody of the raga is improvised using the
notes of the rag
Rag
• There
are more
than 200
different rags
• Every rag
creates a mood
called a rasa
• Rags are also
associated with
times of day and
occasions
• Examples
of
rasas include:
 Love
 Devotion
 Happiness
 Romance
Rag Bhairav
•
Here are the notes of Rag Bhairav:
•
The notes of the scale have names like sol-fah (do
re mi, etc.) – this is called sargam.
•
Rag Bhairav is intended for performance in the
morning
•
Its rasas are serenity and peacefulness
Common Indian
Instruments
•
Voice: the purest instrument. All instruments ranked by how
closely they resemble it
• Sitar
• Sarangi
• Sarod
• Tampura
• Tabla
• Bansuri
• Esraj
• Pakhawaj
• Shruti Box
Listen
What instruments do you hear?
Other stringed instruments
Esraj
Sarangi
More stringed instruments
Sarod
Tampura
Two more instruments
Bansuri
Shruti Box
Dictionary time
• Bansuri
• Esraj
• Sarangi
• Sarod
• Shruti
box
• Sitar
• Sympathetic
• Tampura
strings
Elements of a raga
•
Melody
 Improvised on a rag (scale)
 Instruments: sitar, sarod, sarangi, voice, etc.
•
Drone
 Like a tonic pedal in Western music (sometimes both
tonic and dominant)
 Instruments: tambura, shruti box, etc.
•
Rhythm
 Usually a repeating cyclic rhythm
 Instruments: tabla, pakhawaj, etc.
Tabla
Tala
• The
pattern played by the tabla
• A cyclic pattern
• Example: tintal is a very
common tala:
1
Clap
2
3
4
5
6
Clap
• Independent
7
8
9
Wav
e
10
11
12
13
Clap
rhythms which cut
across the tala (causing
syncopation) are called bols.
14
15
16
Dictionary Time
• Tala
• Tabla
• Tintal
• Pakhawaj
• Syncopation
• Bols
Raga Structure
• There
are four
different types of
movement in a raga:
Alap
Jhor
Jhalla
Gat or Bandish
Alap
•A
slow introduction to a
raga
• There is no sense of rhythm
• It establishes the rag
• There are no percussion
instruments
Gat
•3
differences
between Gat
and Alap
Gat
Ala
p
Gat/Alap differences
Alap
Gat
• Slow
• Fast
• No
• Has
sense of
rhythm
• No
percussion
• Improvised
• Solo
a tala
• Uses tabla
• Fixed
composition
• Dialogue
between soloist
and tabla
Bandish
• In
a vocal raga,
gat sections are
called Bandish
instead
• This
bandish
has 2 short
instrumental
solos – what
instruments?
Jhor
• What
do you notice
about…
Instruments? (no tabla)
Rhythm? (regular, not like
alap)
Tempo? (accelerando)
Improvised
Jhalla
• Very
fast
• Complex
and
exciting rhythms
• Advanced
virtuosic playing
• Climax
piece
of the
Typical Raga
• Alap
• Jhor
• Jhalla
• Gat
• Not
all ragas have all of
these sections and they are
not always in the same
order
Dictionary Time
• Bandish
• Gat
• Jhalla
• Jhor
How to categorise
Tabla?
Yes
No
Highly virtuosic?
Yes
Regular Rhythm?
No
Jhalla
Yes
Bandish
Yes
Jhor
Vocal?
No
Gat
No
Alap
Structure
Describe the structure of Rag Bhairav