Indian Classical Music

Last night we went to an Indian classical music concert.

First, the atmosphere. We were in a temple, which made it seem like a semi-religious event (although obviously I didn’t understand any of the introduction or conclusion that would make it obvious that it was religious. Everyone was also sitting on the floor, which is to say, Indian-style.

Second, the performances.

The first performance was a “violin” and tablas. Tablas are quite simply two drums that are tuned to a particular note and then beaten with the hands. Pretty simple to understand. However, the violin was quite interesting. First, note how the violin is actually played. One sits down to play it, and then, instead of holding the violin parallel to the floor, it’s actually held almost perpendicular to the ground! So the scroll is basically in between your knees and the tailpiece is by your neck, of course. Then, the violin is played pretty standardly, if you ignore the fact that the musician is awkwardly looking down while playing. The violin also has 5 (I think) strings, but it still seemed to be tuned on fifths so it was like a violin-viola combo instrument. Of course, it was played not at all like a traditional violin in terms of sound or technique anyway. For you violinists out there, there was definitely no third position playing, etc., although there was definitely some sliding around. It seems like the violin was a cheap alternative to an Indian instrument they already had before, and that the switch was just fortuitous and convenient rather than the violin actually became an important part of the cultural usage.

The second performance was a vocal performance with Tablas (explained above), a drone instrument, and a harmonium. A harmonium is like a combination accordion piano that follows or leads the singer depending on the raga (musical “mood”). The drone instrument sounds like a dulcimer, and looks like a really tall gourd. It was really boring to watch that being played. The singes sang a song that didn’t make any sense in Hindi or in English, and was really just a group of gobbledygook-type words.

Thirdly, Indian music in general.

Most Indian music (basically all) is improvised, so there’s a lot of work going on between the musicians and creating cooperation and all of that.

Indian music is organized by raga, which is a type of musical “mood” or “key” that can encompass many things, including time of day, type of concert, instruments, and time of the year. It seems to me like there are a million different factors that affect this whole deal.