Designed for undergraduates with little or no background in world music, Music in North India is one of several volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the main book in the Global Music Series, in any introductory world music or ethnomusicology course.
Music in North India provides an overview of the many styles of North Indian music, from the chants of the ancient Vedas to modern devotional singing; from the serious and meditative rendering of raga to the concert-hall excitement of the modern sitar, sarod, and tabla. The text is framed around three central topics: the devotional component of North Indian music, the idea of fixity and spontaneity in the various styles of Indian music, and the importance of the verbal syllable to the expression of the musical aesthetic in North India. Featuring vivid eyewitness accounts of performances and interviews with performers, this unique volume describes the form, structure, and expression of North Indian music while also illuminating its pronounced religious and cultural significance. It is packaged with a 70-minute CD that includes examples of the music discussed in the text.
Foreword:
Preface:
CD Track List:
1. Modernity and Tradition
A Culture of Bewildering Variety
Threads to Follow in this Text
The Devotional Component:
Fixed Composition and Improvisation:
The Verbal Syllable:
Rhythmic Jatis
Syllables for Pitch Names
The Old and New in an Ancient Land
Indian Music on the Move
2. Affect
Religious Connotations
Sacred Texts
Verbal Syllables
The Vocal Genre of dhrupad
The Vocal Genre of Tarana
Song Texts
A Musician's Practice
The Nine Moods
Extramusical Effects
Conclusion
3. Teaching, Learning, and Performing Music
Teaching and Learning Music
Old Traditions in New Packages
4. Rhythm and Drumming
Tala:
Theka: The Tal as a Succession of Drum Sounds
Counting Patterns in Tal
The Tabla
Kayda:
Tihai:
Other Drumming Traditions
Conclusion
5. Song and Performance
Composition and Improvisation
What is a Raga?
Raga in Performance
The On-the-spot Development of the Composition
Bara khyal
Vistar
Tan
Khyal and Instrumental Styles
Song Texts in Classical Styles
Other Song Genres
Conclusion
6. Instruments, Melodic and Rhythmic
Drone Instruments
Melody Instruments
The Rise of Instrumental Music:
The Sitar and the Sarod
Other Melody Instruments
Ensembles
Conclusion
7. The Old World Joins the New
The Postcolonial Era
The Effect of the New Democracy on Music
Electronics: Preserving and Spreading the Traditions
Glossary:
Resources:
Index:
