Hindustani Music
By Tulsi Menon
I conducted my Ethnomusicology report on how North Indian (Hindustani ) music is received in the Western world, namely in the Twin cities. I focused on two main aspects. One was how this form of music is taught to a western audience and therefore how students perceive this genre and second,how this genre is integrated with Western music to create a fusion sound.
Indian notes are the same as Western notes, except for their notes and the fact that all notes except for “Ma” (F) can have flat (lower) versions of their notes “Ma” (F) can only have a sharp (higher) version of its note. Different combination structures of the notes create songs or raagas, which is then sung to a certain rhythm, taal
1. How Hindustani music is taught and perceived
Although the notes used are by-in large the same, many students had difficulty in understanding the variations and concepts as the accompanying instruments, rhythm, language and intonations used are very different.
To explain the concepts briefly is almost impossible but sadly, that’s how it’s taught in Western schools. This is problematic especially because the method of holding lectures is not conducive to teaching Hindustani music. Typically, because there is a great importance placed on the interaction between the teacher, guru and student. Usually the setting is that classes are on a one-on-one basis and on multiple days, if not every day during the week. One of my informants, who is now a performer as well as a teacher said that she lived with her teacher, practiced with him everyday and actually spent an entire year on voice training before she ventured into learning songs.
Although the language was different (Hindi), students didn’t have much of a problem with it once they were taught the pronunciations, what they did have a problem with however was the process of teaching. Indian music generally, is orally taught, in the sense that the teacher sings the song and the students repeat. Therefore for students who had learnt through the Western method of sheet music, it was very hard for them to grasp the different intonations and notes that the teacher used when she sang.
2. How Hindustani and Western music are fused together to create a new sound
I conducted an Interview with Greg Herriges, an ethnomusicologist who plays fusion music. He collaborates with many Indian musicians and there is a lot of improvisation that goes on on both parts to create music that is both appealing and adaptable to both genres. This form of collaboration is easier for both artists because they don’t necessarily have to learn the other instrument in order to integrate the music. Artist’s make use of their proficiency in their own genre and there because they then bring different musical backgrounds to the table the outcome is very dynamic.
As a result of globalization, people have become more interested in foreign cultures and music seems to be an excellent approach to experience a different society. Therefore although Indian music is still only received by a small niche population in the Twin Cities and USA on the whole. The fusion sound is easier for artists to create and more accessible for the wide-spread audience.