For Students --> Indian Classical Music

Indian music encompasses some of the richest, most remarkable musical traditions of the world. It has developed through very complex interactions between peoples of different races and cultures over several thousand years.

India's musical history begins in the Vedic period in the 2nd millennium B.C. The Sama Veda, one of the sacred four Vedas ("four books of knowledge"), comprises the world's oldest notated melodies. These hymns have been passed down through oral tradition since that early period. Beginning with the second century A.D., complicated theoretical systems developed, and the important raga principle was established.

In the 11th and 12th centuries A.D., Islamic influences were felt in India as the result of the invasions from the northwest. This intrusion undoubtedly brought about the division, in about 1200 A.D., of Indian music into the northern Hindustani classical system and the southern Carnatic system.

There are many differences between Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music, but both systems have in common fundamental characteristics. Two important elements of both systems are the raga and tala. In general, raga concerns melody and tala rhythm.

Bibliography

"Intricacies of Indian Classical Music - The Raga." Know Your Raga. 2009. ITC Sangeet Research Academy. 15 Apr. 2009 <http://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_index.asp>.

Capwell, Charles. "India, Music of." The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 15 Apr. 2009 <http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2014520-h>.

Howard, Wayne. "Indian music." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. 15 Apr. 2009 <http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0147060-0>.