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= The Music of India =

Like literature, music is always originated from somewhere. We listen to pop and hip-hop artists today and never really wonder where this type of music came from. In the case of many mainstream British bands, Indian music has been their muse. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Queen are some popular rock bands that have paved their way from the United Kingdom to international superstars with the help of the classical music styles of Hindustani and Carnatic.

Back to the Basics
Hindustani and Carnatic music originated in India over 2500 years ago acording to ancient Sanskrit works. Hindustani, or //hindusthānī//, music made its first sound in the 13th and 14th centuries in Southern India. Its inspiration came from the existing religious, folk, and theatrical practices of Northern India. The singing was based on notes, and hymns were sung not chanted. Many forms of their hymns came from a sacred text, //Sama Veda// (Wikipedia).

Carnatic, or //karnātic,// music was developed in the 15th and 16th century in Northern India. The founder, Purandara Dasa, began to incorporate the daily life of people into the composition of songs. Although melody was very important, the vocals in the music gave the real depth and soul into the songs. Popular Indian artists of today who still are influenced by classical music are the Priya Sisters and Sudha Ragunthan (Wikipedia).

Classical music paved the way for more genres to emerge. One of the many, is folk music. Bhangra is a type of lively folk music and dance that originated in the city of Punjab. The lyrics of Bhangra music usually contain history of Punjab, which allows people unfamiliar with the city to learn and appreciate where this music comes from. Originally played at weddings and New Year celebrations, Bhangra has begun to fuse into hip-hop, house, and reggae over the past 30 years in the UK (Wikipedia).

media type="youtube" key="TbYrxBECKo4" height="344" width="425"Pop music of India began in the movies. It was only introduced in songs which were supported in Bollywood films, or on music television. Artists such as Asha Bhosle and Indus Creed became popular choices on and off the big screen, not only in India, but in the UK as well. A British band called Cornershop paid tribute to Asha Bhosle in their song called //"Brimful Asha//." Also, British born Pangabi MC produced an American hit featuring Jay-Z called "Mundian to Bach Ke" (Wikipedia).

After Rock 'n' Roll was introduced The Beatles took a visit to India in the 1960's and 70's. They collaborated with Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain who formed Raga Rock. Another rocker who was influenced by Indian music greatly was Farrokh Bomi Bulsara. Why doesn't this sound familiar? Well, it's because he went by Freddie Mercury of Queen. He was born to Indian parents in Zanzibar. Mercury was greatly influenced by Bollywood playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar (Wikipedia).

Instruments
The sitar is a string instrument, which seems to resemble a guitar, but is much more complicated to play. In India, the sitar is considered a //Senia// i   nstrument. This means musicians who play the sitar can be traced back through their lineage to the 16th century vocalist of the Akbar Court, Miyan Tansen (Farrell 32). Great sitar players, such as Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee, are considered to be a part of the  //Senia// lineage, which means their music is full of purity (Farrell 33). The sitar has changed over the last 100 years physically. In the nineteenth century it was known to have sixteen frets and no //taraf// strings, no //suddha// fret in the //mandra suptak// (lower octaves), and no third flat seventh strings of the scale in the //madhyu saptak// (middle octave). The twentieth century sitar tends to be a little bit simpler. To put it plainly, there are thirteen frets and twenty-one strings. Of those twenty-one strings, only seven of them are playable (Farrell 41). In order to play the sitar, the left-hand is used of fingering and the right-hand is used for strumming, or plucking (Farrell 37). The tabla is a percussion instrument which was originally used in Hinduastani classical music. Now it has transcended into a more popular market. The tabla is a pair of hand drums that are two different sizes. The smaller of the two drums, //dayan//, is played with the musician's domin ant hand. It is made of //shesham// and rosewood hollowed out to get the perfect sound. The drum is tuned to a specific note, which usually pla ys the melodies. The larger drum, the //bāyāñ//, plays bass tones. It is typically made of brass. To play these drums, the fingers and palms are used to created complicated beats (Wikipedia).

Influences
Some of our great musical idols have come across these instruments and incorporated them into their own music. The Beatles take both the tabla and the sitar and use them in their song, "Love You To." They also have a great sitar influence in a popular hit, "Norwegian Wood." The sitar is also known in The Rolling Stones' "Paint it, Black." Finding all these multi-cultural musical influences in our popular music tends to make you wonder where your favorite song originated from. The next time you are jamming out to the melody of new hit, listen to the instruments in the band, they might have more cultural significance than you would think. media type="youtube" key="RaNQjhXhfVs" height="368" width="761" Laura Canepa



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