Hindustani, Essay Example

The clip chosen to represent Hindustani was the Raga Rageshree (Rageshri) and Tala Tintal performed by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan playing the Sarod and Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan playing the tabla drums. The Sarod is a stringed instrument similar to the American guitar and has an extended air chamber under the fingerboard, which sets it apart from the Sitar or the Tanpura, instruments with only a single air chamber at one end (Chakraborty 2). The instrument has a skin covering on the drum end, which contributes to the identifiable depth of sound and unique clarity that differentiates it from the Afghan Rabab, a smaller stringed, lute-style instrument commonly believed to be the origin of the Sarod (Chakraborty, 2). The Sarod is played with a Jaba, a pick made of coconut shell, held firmly between the thumb and other fingers in a relaxed grip to permit the combination of fast strumming and dramatic slides that the Sarod is known for (Chakraborty 2). The downward stroke, or the ‘Da’, and the upward pluck, or the ‘Ra’, are the two primary notes of the Sarod and, by combining the Da and Ra strokes, Sarodias are able to create the beautiful melodies demonstrated by the two musicians in the featured sound clip (Chakraborty 2).

The Sarod is frequently paired with the rhythmical patterns or bols from accompanying percussion instruments such as the Tabla, which has origins in various parts of India (Batish and Batish; Chakraborty 2). Indian folklore indicates that Brahma, the lord of the Universe, created drums to play when Shiva, the lord of destruction, danced his eternal Tandava Nritya dance and that the present day Tabla is derived form a drum called Durdur (Batish and Batish). Another folktale says that the Tabla was created when the Pakhavaj drum was cut into two pieces, the treble drum called Dayan and a bass drum called Bayan, separating the bass from the treble and combined the technical skills of the Mridangam and Pakhavaj, to create the premiere percussion instrument the Tabla drum is today (Batish and Batish). The pair of drums are placed between the legs, the treble drum being the smallest and placed nearest the dominant hand, and each drum is unique in that they can produce a wide array of tones, unlike other percussion instruments (Vaux). The sounds are made according to which area of the drum is struck, the force of the blow, and the fingers used to strike the blow, with the sections of the drum designated as follows: (a) the syahi is the innermost circle at the center; (b) the maidan is the next ring; (c) the outermost ring is the chat; and (d) the gajara is the side of the drums (Vaux).

The musicians in the selected clip were Ustad Amjad Ali Khan playing the Sarod and Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan playing the Tabla. Amjad Ali Khan was six years old when he gave his first Sarod recital (Sarod.com). He was taught by his father and renowned guru, the great Haafiz Ali Khan of Gwalior of the illustrious Bangash lineage rooted in the Senia Bangash School of music (Sarod.com). An illustrious musician in his own right, he is the sixth generation Sarod player in his family and plays the Sarod with his finger nails instead of finger tips, which produces a clear, ringing sound and is the most difficult technique to use when playing the Sarod (CulturalIndia.net). Amjad Ali Khan has also composed many ragas, such as Kiran Ranjani, Haripriya Kanada, Shivanjali, Shyam Shri, and Suhag Bhairav and acquired international acclaim by composing for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (CulturalIndia.net ). He has enjoyed an illustrious career, performing all over the world, earning numerous awards and accolades, and authoring multiple books.

Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan was taught to play the tabla by his father Ustad Chamma Khan before he could walk (Angelfire.com). Shafaat’s father was a maestro of the Delhi gharana, his maternal grandfather, Ustad Chand Khan, was a vocalist of repute, and his uncles Ustad Nasir Ahmed Khan and Ustad Bande Navab Khan were vocalist and sarangi player respectively, providing an illustrious musical family history for this talented musician to add to (Angelfire.com). Although he started singing first, when he was five he started taking lessons in tabla from his father, who became his guru despite being against his son’s decision to take up tabla playing (Angelfire.com). Ustad Shafaat has performed with almost all the present day musicians and at prestigious concert halls in England, America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Africa, entertaining millions with the magic of his fingers (Angelfire.com). A recipient of the Padma Shree award in 2004, he is also the only tabla player who has performed with the Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj and the Bharat Natyam exponent Leela Sampson and died of acute Hepatitis-B on July 25, 2005 in a private hospital in New Delhi, India (“Tabla maestro”).

A gat is a melody played in a 16 beat cycle known as teen tal in Raag Rageshree and in typical Indian classical music performance features, a single melody instrument or voice can be accompanied by percussion such as a tabla, providing a harmonical base (Courtney). The selected musical clip demonstrates the Sarod in a trio with the Tabla and another instrument played by a female musician. Shafaat began the piece in an alaap in which the raga is elaborated without percussion and was later joined by Amjad on the Tabla, who played a song-like composition called “gat” where the percussion begins (Chakraborty 6). The most common tal in north Indian classical music is tintal, which is variously referred to as teental or trital and these names all reflect the three claps of its vibhags structure (Courtney). This structure is displayed in various ways throughout the musical clip, primarily in the speeding up of the cadence and then the slowing down, symbolizing the clap, clap, wave, and a clap of the four vibhags of four matras each (Courtney).

Khyal, also referred to as khyel or khayal, is generally translated as imagination or fancy and indications of lightness and reliance on the performer’s powers of improvisation, which is prominently displayed in the consistent manner in which the musicians followed each other’s patterns as they played and the light, whimsical flow of the melody (Chakraborty 6). Iinterpreted as whim or idea, khyal has usurped dhrupad and become the staple style of Hindustani classical music. Kriti, or krithi, is a song of praise or adoration for a particular Hindu deity, especially associated with Tyagaraja or Thyagaraja, Muttuswamy Dikshitar, and Syama or Shyama Sastri, a famed trinity of musician-saints or saint-composers (Clement 353). Thumri is a semi-classical vocal form said to have begun with the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, 1847-1856. And there are three types of thumri, which are Punjabi, Lucknavi and Poorab ang (Clement 364). While khyal was present in the musical clip selection, thumri was not present because there were no vocals in the musical piece.

Works Cited

Angelfire.com. n.d. Austin Tabla Masters: Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://www.angelfire.com/music3/tabla/masters.htm#Gourisankar Karmaker>.

Batish, Ashwin and Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish. “Origins of the Tabla: Tabla Lesson 1”. Batish Institute of Indian Music and Fine Arts, (2003). 02 Mar. 2012 <http://raganet.com/Issues/1/tabla1.html>.

Chakraborty, Soubhik et al. “A Statistical Analysis of Raga Ahir Bhairav.” JMM – The Journal of Music and Meaning.8 (2009): 1-9. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://www.musicandmeaning.net/issues/pdf/JMMart_8_4.pdf>.

Clements, Carl. “Tradition and Innovation in the B?nsur? Performance Style of Pannalal Ghosh.” Analytical Approaches to World Music. 1.2 (2011): 330-379.

Courtney, David. Tintal (Teental) and Thumri (Thumree)- Semi-classical Song. 14 Feb. 2012. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://www.chandrakantha.com/tala_taal/teental_tin_taal/tintal.html>.

CulturalIndia.net, n.d. Cultural India, Amjad Ali Khan. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-music/classical-singers/amjad-ali-khan.html>.

Khan, Amjad Ali and Shafaat Ahmed Khan. “Raga Rageshree (Rageshri); Tala Tintal.” 23 May 2009. 02 Mar. 2012 < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbEXssSENwI>.

Sarod.com Amjad Ali Khan: Master of the Sarod and composer. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://www.sarod.com/amjad/default.htm>.

“Tabla maestro Shafaat Khan passes away.” The Economic Times 25 July 2005. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tabla-maestro-shafaat-khan-passes-away/articleshow/1181249.cms>.

Vaux, Robert. “How to Play the Tabla Drums.” eHow.com 2012. 02 Mar. 2012 <http://www.ehow.com/how_4710316_play-tabla-drums.html#ixzz1o1WmtbQG>.