Indian traditional music – A different meaning to music

The research focuses on the topic of how classical Indian music, unlike western music, forms a unique combination of focus on simple yet complex performances, single melody lines along with individual musical notes, and the impact and emphasis of every single musical piece on the audience in terms of stress relief and a soothing effect displaying its beauty in its own way. The research progresses on the topic from mentioning how Indian Traditional music takes into account a basic melody that builds up in the course of the duration of the performance and the unique communication with the audience in terms of a relaxing effect to how different languages like Persian, Arab, Sanskrit and others come together to appreciate and play a role in the creation of a given specific piece based on the environment and the audience. This research paper is based on the question of - “How various styles of traditional Indian music from different parts of the country correspond to the music creations of the ​“vedas”, ​and how several languages like Persian, Sanskrit and others come together to appreciate and create an Indian traditional musical piece versus the situation of these performances after the pandemic?” The topic initially sheds light on the history and working of Indian traditional music all across the country and why it is so unique and different from other kinds and how the situation of these aspects have changed after the pandemic. Indian traditional music has played a great role in promoting spirituality and religious beliefs across various states in India through performances and concerts which were traditionally built and created around a single vocalist and instrumentalist which makes this music so special. We can spot this by comparing it to the Western music in which, on the other hand, music is harmonically created. This paper first builds upon the basic information on how Indian traditional music originated, how it is performed and functioned and how it works differently, but conveying the same message across several states in India as well as from a global perspective as seen from the research methods which will be elaborated further in this paper. Indian traditional music has always been the heart of Indian music and attracts a vast amount of audience since it originates from religious practices and spirituality. These performances often last for hours that build and progress slowly, communicating and forming a connection with the audience, where one instrumentalist will perform and the others will do it at other times with a constant droning noise in the background keeping the audience engaged at all the points.

Indian traditional music initially began with the rule focusing on music-making being a male activity, which has changed as of now, and all genders are given equal importance. Indian traditional music mainly is composed of two main schools or types - Hindustani or Karnatak (or Carnatic), based on the location of origins. Locations of origins play a great role in Indian traditional music as Hindustani from the north of india constitutes Turko-Persian musical elements for example “Dhrupad”, “Dhamar”, “Khayal”, “Tappa”, “Thumri” and other forms. On the other hand, Carnatic music originates from the southern part of India, from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh state which was not impacted by the Arab and Iranian influences. This form of music taught in India is done in traditional ways where the bond between the teacher or the father also called the “pandits” or the “gurus” and their pupils is extremely important. The role of a spiritual element of any given instrument plays a great role in this but the relationships might change based on the location and the origins of the Indian Traditional music. For example, in North India, the teacher ties a string on the pupils’ hands to initiate the process. This shows how seriously all the traditions and aspects of Indian traditional music are taken in India to help and make it grow as much for influencing as many people as possible in beneficial ways. Indian traditional musical performances before the pandemic were done in a very traditional and different way than now. A “Mahfil” which is derived from the Persian word for “gathering” or “assembly”, played an elite and the most important role in the Indian music making. In this, there is a true connection between the audience and the performer and the listeners are seated close to the performer to express their emotions and appreciation communicating non verbally with the performer. Some performances on the other hand are shorter in the south of India which are different in pace but evoke the same emotions and explore the same moods and set of notes as the others. In the case of the instruments used, Hindustani music usually uses a “Sitar” or a “Bansuri” (or a Bamboo flute). Carnatic music on the other hand, involves the piercing sound of the thenagaswaram(shawn) and the thetavil(or a barrel drum) involving several vocalists, Veena players, an atanpuroar drone player and several other melodic instruments. Therefore, Indian classical traditional music plays an essential role in the music industry in India since it dates back to the history of music creation in India and plays such an important role in influencing the audience and function in different unique ways as stated above.

As Indian traditional music plays such a great role in the music making in India based on its history and the way it is performed, this topic matters essentially in the field of continuing the functioning of this music making during the pandemic, where everything has changed from real life fieldwork into virtual fieldwork and as this type of music is very important in interacting with the audience in various ways in various locations, it is important to study why this topic matters and the changes and methods made in order to adapt to these changes. Firstly, Indian traditional music matters a lot since it dates back from the “Vedas”, the sacred hindu chants in the ancient periods in India and since from back then a great importance was paid to this music, it was encouraged by all to carry it and spread it forward in the future across the entire country as well as from a global perspective. It was believed that the sound created from the Indian traditional musical performances were of the purest form and were considered as important as cosmic energy. Religious poems and chants played a great role in the development of Indian music over time which gradually spread across various states evolving then into different kinds but to convey the same message and that is to - have a stress relieving effect and a deeper communication with the audience being interacted with. This topic especially matters now since everything after the pandemic has turned into virtual work, the different forms of Indian traditional music are adapting heavily to online meetings and performances in order to make the most of trying to communicate with the audience and have a pleasing effect on them in order to reduce stress and anxiety by using its different notes and keys. After the completing the process of the research methods, that will be stated below, it's essential to understand that the formation of traditional indian classical music from different locations before and after the pandemic matters highly since Indian traditional music has such a pleasing, stress relieving and a calming effect on its audience using a deep form of communication between the performer and the crowd.

Taking into account the readings in the coursework and focusing on the challenges of virtual fieldwork, as studied in the class, that there are basic challenges in living and understanding the expectations of online interactions and learning social cultures and hierarchies pithing specific groups, cultures and communities, the research methods used to understand the working of Indian Traditional music and how it plays such an essential role in calming the soul and the mind of the body and in pleasing the audience with the help of online interviews, research work online collecting data from the internet, and asking specific experienced individuals from this field. The online interview taken was consensual and focused on the ethics, the topic of discussion, questions regarding the experiences of the experienced individual and opinions on Indian traditional music from not only the domestic but a global perspective as well. The online research work was done in order to work through different sets of data focussing on the importance given to Hindustani and Carnatic music and how vastly spread it is in the different states and how much each region of the country contributes in the making, and creation of the given Indian traditional music. The data, graphs and the information collected from the internet regarding this topic is then used to compare with the actual experiences of the individual giving the interview to focus not only on the information provided on the internet, but real life details and back stage important experiences which are not put forward and displayed online.

The field materials used in order to carry out the research methods of interviewing and collecting data to support and back the evidence for the topic of this research paper, the communication and presentation of questions and the relation between the interviewee and I was to be kept in track and strong in order to have the interviewee to be comfortable in the environment and to gather real hand information to support the data collected from the internet and the topic as well. The initial findings focused on the way Indian traditional music, that is, Hindustani and Carnatic music are widespread in every state and how it has a pleasing effect on the mind and the soul through its unique features in the performance and how the way communication worked importantly in these performances has changed before and after the pandemic.

Indian classical performances from the start have been popular to showcase the reach of musical and melody creativity through hectic training, practice and discipline. These performances involve a good combination of lyrics with a bare minimum of instrumental accompaniment, which might involve table or the drone noise by the tanpura. The way this music is performed is believed to have the power to move the audience and express the deepest emotions through the mood created. Hence, in person performances play the most important role in indian classical music since the connection formed between the performer and the audience conveys the message of this music of calming the mood and setting to as per the mood of the audience and the environment. However, this has not been the same since the pandemic started. As mentioned in the article, the pandemic has led to the downfall of the Indian classical music since there have been cancellations of important concerts overnight. The cancellation of these important performances has led these musicians to strive hard and adapt to the online environment of performing through zoom, facebook live, instagram and other applications. Even though the connection with the audience is not the same and not as good as the performances in person, as stated in the article, one way this has been an advantage is that the growing younger generation of these musicians will learn the art of adapting to severe consequences and still be able to perform their best at all the times.

The above information can be backed from the interview of Chitra SriKrishna - A carnatic musician vocalist and writer for over three decades, who has performed all across the globe developing a high level of interest in this field. She mentions in the interview stating how imperative it is for the performer to communicate with their coworkers and the audience in order to have the best musical experience and how Indian Traditional classical music is popular for having a calming effect by relieving stress and adjusting the mood of the audience based on the given environment. She talks about how “It’s completely different to perform virtually and it’s obviously better in person because of the connection and the communication” and so she mentions how she works hard every day with her team in order to perform the best way they can and keep promoting the music as much as possible in this pandemic. She gives an example of a performance she watches online that inspires her to do her best at these times.

Therefore, from this interview, I learned how essential it is to interact with an experienced individual from that field to gather the correct real hand information and I noticed from her stories about how much work goes into the performances and rigorous training and practices in order to promote the music and the message.

In conclusion, it can be said that there are specific aspects that go into the research method to find the answer to the research question and so it can be stated at the end from the interview with Chitra SriKrishna that it is highly important for the musicians in the field of Indian traditional music to keep striving hard with determination to reach as many audience as possible to convey the message of the music in the realistic form until the pandemic is over virtually and until things are back to normal. Hence, the in order to find the answer to this question through research methods and field materials, it can be stated that in order to conduct this research it is highly important to focus on ethics, the presentation of the questions and the initiation of the discussion in the interviews, the time taken for each question and the importance given to each of the questions, the art of communicating and understanding individuals from different cultures and societies and take every opinion and perspective into equal consideration. Potential further research can be conducted in this field using more interviews, from different individuals and working on gathering more real hand experiences and thoughts on the views of how important of a role indian traditional music plays in not only india but globally as well and how it conveys its same message in different forms from different parts of the country and how it has changed in the pandemic.