Welcome to Jeehan's Brief Guide To
*Indian Music*
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The music of India is a mosaic of different genres and levels of
sophistication. At one extreme, classical music is performed in the urban
concert halls for purely artistic reasons, and at the other, many kinds of
functional rural music accompany life-cycle and agricultural rites. In
between are many ther musical genres of different regions of the country,
reflecting the diversity of its peoples, their life-styles and their
languages. The Indian tradition is unique since it has a longer unbroken
(though continuously evolving)
tradition than perhaps any other system known today.
*Classical Instrumental:
There is a great variety of
Indian instruments, here are a few of
interest.
-
SITAR
- The most widely known of all North Indian instruments, this
plucked lute was made popular in the 1960s in the US by Ravi Shankar
- SHENAI
- This is a double
reeded oboe of Islamic origin. It was
originally only
played outdoors, until
brought into the classical world by Ustad Bismillah Khan. The shenai is
still traditional music at Indian weddings.
- TABLA
- This is a pair of kettle
drums
used to
accompany melodic instruments, providing drone and secondary melody and
giving rhythmic support.
*Classical Vocal:
- GHAZAL
- This
Persian lyrical form has been completely
naturalized in India. Slow and rich with poetry, it is sung in various
languages such as Urdu and Hindi.
- QAWWALI
- This is the devotional
music of the Sufis, the mystics of Islam. The music's popularity has
transcended religious and geographical barriers. Qawwali with its
enormous emotional strength, is popular with Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims.
- RABINDRASANGEET
- Rabindranath Tagore's
recognition to the world was as a brilliant Nobel prize winning poet. His
reputation as a
music composer occurred at a later time. The variety found in
Rabindrasangeet, literally meaning "songs of Rabindranath"
, is astonishing. He incorporated numerous disparate styles from
the rural folk music of Bengal and Indian ragas to Western musical
mode. Even after his death, his songs live on.
Rabindrasangeet is the most popular lyrical form sung by Bengalis of both
Bangladesh and India.
*Popular:
- NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN
- Acknowledged as the greatest master of
Qawwali (see above), this late Pakistani Muslim singer popularized
this
beautiful and inspirational music beyond the Indian subcontinent to a
worldwide audience. Many of his songs have been remixed to become
international dance hits. Before his death in August 1997, he contributed
to the movie
soundtracks of "Dead Man Walking" with Pearl Jam's Eddie Veder and also
with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails for the movie "Natural Born Killers".
- HINDI FILM SONGS
- As the largest movie industry in the world, Bombay (a.k.a.
"Bollywood") produces hundreds of films per year in the Hindi language. No
film is complete without songs and dances. Discover it for yourself here
at one of the
largest hindi songs archive on the web. It has songs from the past &
present, remixes, video clips, interactive games and more.
- BHANGRA
- This traditional folk
music from Punjab, India, characterized by the
dhol (large drum), has moved from the villages to the dance floors and
become popular music for indian youth around the world to dance to at
parties and clubs. Deejays have remixed bhangra lyrics with western beats
and club music and has revolutionized the indian pop scene.
- EAST MEETS WEST
- Mixing British pop & rock, American hip hop & jazz is what one of my
absolute
favorite bands Cornershop
does to create a funky east meets west sort of style. Also check out
Madonna's CD
Ray of Light to hear another fusion of eastern and western music
(especially in the songs "Shanti/Ashtangi" and "Frozen").
*Other Resources I
Recommend:
- ONLINE MUSIC SHOPS
- For all types of music try cd now
- For all types of Indian music try
The Mahal - Bringing the music & videos of India to you
- NEWSGROUPS
- Indian film music: rec.music.indian.misc
- Classical Indian music: rec.music.indian.classical
- E-MAIL LISTS
- Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Among
Youth: SPICMACAY
*More Info:
- RETAIL STORES
- Khazana offering collectibles
from
India.
- India Plaza an on-line
Indian marketplace
- SEARCH ENGINES
- Jadoo India's first official
search
engine
- SAARC The
South Asian search engine
- GENERAL INFO ON INDIA
- Discover India
- ALL-IN-ONE MUSIC PAGE
- Music if you
want a one stop place to listen to all the music discussed on my site,
then use
this link
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