North Indian Music Research Papers (original) (raw)

A fundamental purpose of this study was to test whether theories and principles of music cognition and perception derived using western music can be applied to other styles of music, in this case, Carnātic music. Previous investigations showed that listeners use culture-specific and low-level sensory cues to comprehend familiar music, whereas they relied mainly on sensory cues and schematic knowledge gained from listening to music of their own culture to understand unfamiliar music. Research also shows that listeners hold mental representations of the hierarchical ordering of notes in musical scales of one’s culture which they readily access when listening to familiar and unfamiliar melodies. The existence of such representations has been demonstrated in real time using behavioral and neuroimaging techniques. The goals of the present study were to 1) behaviorally track listeners’ responses to two types of modulation as they developed over time in Carnātic music and 2) identify the various cues that listeners, familiar and unfamiliar with the music, utilized in order to perceive the modulations. The purpose of Experiment 1 was to obtain baseline profiles of four rāgams (modes) and compare these against profiles of modulating excerpts containing the same rāgams in Experiment 2. Carnātic and western music teachers heard brief Carnātic excerpts in one ear while in the other ear they heard a continuously sounded probe-tone. The probe-tone was one of the twelve chromatic notes of an octave. Participants judged continuously how well the probe-tone fitted with the melody. Results showed that western teachers’ responses matched those of the Indians on rāgams that had structures similar to the western scales but differed considerably when the rāgams were unfamiliar. Also, there were differences in the two groups’ responses to modulations. These discrepancies were primarily due to the influence of culture. The findings supported previous research and identified three types of cues: 1) culture-specific cues, which included theoretical knowledge of the rāgams and familiarity with the excerpts in the study, employed by Indian teachers, 2) basic psychophysical cues of duration and frequency of note occurrence employed by both Indian and western participants, and 3) transference of schematic knowledge of western music by western participants.

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- Psychology of Music, Music Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Music Cognition

Two very widely used terms, 'musicians' and the 'musicians' statuses', are commonly applied labels across the music fraternity, where Hindustani Raga Music [HRM] is no exception. In HRM, there are no objectively laid definitions of these two expressions. In different music cultures, musicians' statuses were seen from the societal, economic, and based on the roles played in music production and rendering. The intra-status, a musicians' relative position within the same group, is not clearly defined. The formal texts of HRM also do not categorically define a musician. In India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, people use the words vAggeyakAr, kalAvant, mirAsI, kasbi, AtAi, zauqI, and others, but these terms do not categorize musicians within the periphery of a specific musician's close circuit; these words do not point to intra-status. The current investigation used the DELPHI method to find some objective answers to defining musicians and their intrastatus. The HRM Experts from different parts of the world with an average HRM association of 39.11 years joined this investigation. The research exercise systematically generated an objective definition of HRM musician and suggested methods for defining HRM musicians' statuses.

Ranadhir Roy based his compositions for the esraj on the principle that they should be received as autonomous works not dependent on verbal language and liberated from the traditional notion of privileging the human voice. This paper proposes some ways of understanding these key principles behind Roy's compositions. Written in Bengali, the paper is a detailed version of a lecture given at a screening of the documentary film "Esrajer Ranadhir" by Jibansmriti Digital Archive in Kolkata on 20 July 2019.

- by Romit Roy
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- Music, Music and Language, Abstract Art, Traditional Music

Two very widely used terms, ‘musicians’ and the ‘musicians’ statuses’, are commonly applied labels across the music fraternity, where Hindustani Raga Music [HRM] is no exception. In HRM, there are no objectively laid definitions of these two expressions. In different music cultures, musicians’ statuses were seen from the societal, economic, and based on the roles played in music production and rendering. The intra-status, a musicians’ relative position within the same group, is not clearly defined. The formal texts of HRM also do not categorically define a musician. In India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, people use the words vAggeyakAr, kalAvant, mirAsI, kasbi, AtAi, zauqI, and others, but these terms do not categorize musicians within the periphery of a specific musician’s close circuit; these words do not point to intra-status. The current investigation used the DELPHI method to find some objective answers to defining musicians and their intra-status. The HRM Experts from different ...

- by Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
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- Indian Music, Systematic Musicology, Indian Classical Music, Musician

Philosophical Nature of Indian Music: This article is about the diversity and the interconnectivity between various forms of classical music spread across the Indian subcontinent. It has been published in the August 2020 issue of Yojana ,... more

- by Pranshu Samdarshi
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- Music, Indian studies, Classical Music, Carnatic Music
- by Ramkrishna Das
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- Music, Music Education, Music History, Musicology
- by Dr. Nikhil V Bhagat
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- Indian Music, North Indian Music
- by Subhash Kak
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- Indian Music, Indian Epics, Historical Musicology, North Indian Music
- by Devender Kumar
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- Gender Studies, North Indian Music

This book seeks to understand the complex history of the harmonium in North India, analyse the apparent conflict between musical theory and practice, and describe how the instrument is used in musical practice. Is the harmonium an instrument suitable for Indian music? Can it live up to the requirements of Indian music? These questions pervade the whole book, at the end of which, they appear in a whole new light.

- by Birgit Abels
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- Indian Music, North Indian Music, Hindustani classical music

Intonation, and in particular the concept of shruti, has perhaps received more scholarly attention than any other topic in Indian art music. After the Natyasastra, the first work to discuss shrutis extensively, virtually all treatises on music have elaborated, criticized or commented upon this issue. Shruti is intimately linked to the fundamental concept of svara. Whereas svara is a
musical note or scale degree, shruti is a more subtle division of the octave. From early times, an octave was said to contain twenty-two shrutis, and as we shall see, the relation between shruti and svara has been a major source of confusion. It has not been uncommon to refer to shrutis as microtones or quarter tones, but with twenty-two shrutis to divide over seven svara in an octave, this clearly presents a mathematical problem.

- by suvarnalata rao and +1
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- Music, Musicology, Indian Music, Cultural Musicology

Inspired by the spiritual revelations crying from John Coltrane’s saxophone in the late 60’s, Jonathan Kay has been continuing Coltrane’s search for a “multicultural theory of musical transcendence” in Kolkata, India, where he lived for 10 years alongside his Gurus, Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya, and Sri Abir Singh Khangura, learning the art of North Indian Classical Raga music and its expression on the soprano and tenor saxophones, bansuri and esraj.
This paper is Jonathan's about cultural, psychological and spiritual journey from the improvising world of jazz into the life of a Raga musician in search for meaning and individuality as an artist in today's multicultural world.

- by Jonathan Kay
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- Music, Musicology, Improvisation, Creativity studies
- by Chinthaka P Meddegoda
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- Music, Musicology, Gender Studies, Ethnomusicology

Formula derived for finding nodal point on a string and nodal points derived for subjective Indian Classical Music Instrument Sitar. Harmonics and their equivalent Indian notes derived on the subjective Sitar along with their measurements.
Artificial harmonics defined and derived for the first string of subjective Sitar. Not all harmonics are musically utilitarian, musically useful overtones described. Use of harmonics to tune the Sitar and to define placement of frets explained. Reason for sympathetic harmonic resonance explained.

- by Siddharth S . Shukla
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- Music, Music Education, Musicology, Music Technology
- by Cuca Medina
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- Orchestral Conducting, Early Music, Music Education, Music History

This paper discusses the performance of Gurbani Kırtan rendered by female singers, an activity that is an integral part of the Sikh spiritual practice, yet at a professional level has always been considered a male domain. The study is framed within the wider context of Indian traditional culture, analyzing the social norms that for centuries prevented women from public exposure in the fields of religious and classical music. In relation to the Sikh tradition, the author explores the variety of musical forms (classical and folk) adopted by female kırtaniye for performing Gurbani hymns, raising important issues about music education. Based on ethnographic research among the community of contemporary kırtaniye, the article explores the key role of media in promoting female performers during the last three decades, through dedicated TV and radio shows, social networks and web sites. In the author’s analysis, each decade has brought about radical shifts in the strategies of production and perception of Gurbani Kırtan, opening up new opportunities for performance by female kırtaniye.

- by Francesca Cassio
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- Sikhism, Ethnomusicology, Indian Music, Music and Gender

This research paper focuses on the influence of the Hindustani raga sangeet on the human brain. The paper reveals how the functioning of the human brain on exposure to Hindustani raga Sangit has been analyzed through neuroimaging techniques (EEG) and the enhanced effect on the human brain. Hindustani music has been known from ancient times to have healing effects on the human body. Different ragas through their musical properties are found to help in diffusing mental tension, pacifying anger, excessive mental instability, excitement, etc. This research paper is aimed to trace the changes in the human brain on the application of Hindustani ragas as a stimulus. This research paper was reviewed and explained with the secondary sources available through various journals, magazines, government publications, previous research papers, and other useful internet material.

- by Subrata Sinha
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- Ethnomusicology, Historical Musicology, Rabindranath Tagore, North Indian Music

The rich, buzzing and haunting sound, known as the javari ( ‫جوار‬ ‫ی‬ ), is perhaps the most ethereal of the many sounds of the sitar ‫ِتار(‬ ‫.)س‬ It is certainly the most exacting one for both sitar players and sitar makers. The effect is produced by the sitar strings vibrating on flat bridge, with a curved surface, known as the ghori ( ‫گهوڑ‬ ‫ی‬ ). The most radical work of a sitar maker is, undoubtedly, the construction and maintenance of the

- by Ally Adnan
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- Music, Musicology, Ethnomusicology, Indian Music

This article was written to introduce the Maihar (in Satna district, Madhya Pradesh, India), in 1976. The year in which the author as Collector and District Magistrate, Satna revived the Maihar Music Festival after a long lapse of time, with the help of the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, Bhopal and the speaker of the Madhya Pradesh assembly, Barrister, Gulsher Ahmed. The festival was put together by the author with the complete involvement of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurnaji. The ex-King of Maihar and his family as well as the citizens of Maihar and the leaders of industry in Satna were also fully involved. Ustad Allauddin Khan's wife was still alive and blessed the effort. The program was attended by all the illustrious musicians including, Vilayat Hussain Khan, Sitara Devi and Ustad Zakir Hussain, young at that time. The article is based on information culled from the oral tradition, which was still very much alive. It provides a succinct account of the tremendous pains undergone by the Ustad in the service of music, his complete devotion to the evocation of deep spirituality, transcending all religious divides, his versatility and exacting standards.

- by Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty
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- Indian Music, Indian studies, Indian Classical Music, North Indian Music

Music is a melodious and harmonious blend of scientific skill, sweetness and mood which, when combines with the various nuances, modulation of tones and the peculiar melodic subtleties brings out the beauty of the literature and the typical mood in which the composer composed it. The modulation of voice is one of the most important aspects of music which contributes to the overall melody. A good voice is essential for good singing. Though a natural gift, it is necessary to cultivate and improve any voice by systematic training. It is like improving health with good diet and exercise. And this practice has been going around from ancient time till today. From the earlier times of Vedas when voice training was automatically obtained by the systematic recital of hymns of 'Rigveda' and singing of ''Samveda', to the era of 'Dhrupad and Dhamar' where singing used to begin with the words , " Narayan Hari Om Tum hi Ananta Hari " , and it was believed that by pronouncing these words , the organ of the voice gets the necessary exercise, to the present day of khayal, thumari and gazal and other musical forms, the need and ways to improve and modulate the voice to suit the various musical forms have always been existed and which also could be called the cultivation of voice or science and art of ' Voice-culture ". Human voice, like face is a unique aspect of personality and has different tonal structure for different people .The resonant system of voice is more complex than that of any musical instruments' resonant chambers. Voice is unique in having several resonant chambers. The quality of a tone depends upon the intensity and distribution

- by Divya dayal
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- Music, Musicology, Music Aesthetics, North Indian Music

Embodied cognition posits that the mind and body function as a single entity and that all aspects of the mind are shaped by the body. Embodied pedagogy, influenced by embodied cognition, realizes the role of the body and its relationship to the mind through the experiences of teaching and learning. This article explores what it means to "embody" music in pedagogical practice. What are some of the applied dimensions of embodiment? How might embodiment aid in music learning, particularly multicultural music learning? Through case studies involving South Asian music and dance, the authors demonstrate how the body and mind may be cognitively engaged in music and movement, and what is uniquely learned by using embodiment as a pedagogical tool. 1

- by Sarah Morelli and +1
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- Ethnomusicology, Indian Classical Dance (Kathak), North Indian Music, Ethnomusicology and Music Education
- by Anna Philips
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- Indian Music, South Indian music, North Indian Music, World music-Ethnomusicology

We used Toiviainen and Krumhansl's (2003) concurrent probe-tone technique to track Indian and Western musicians' tonal-hierarchy profiles through modulations in Carnātic (South Indian classical) music. Changes of mode (rāgam) are particularly interesting in Carnātic music because of the large number of modes (more than 300) in its tonal system. We first had musicians generate profiles to establish a baseline for each of four rāgams in isolation. Then we obtained dynamic profiles of two modulating excerpts, each of which incorporated two of the four baseline rāgams. The two excerpts used the two techniques of modulation in Carnātic music: grahabēdham (analogous to a Western shift from C major to A minor), and rāgamālikā (analogous to a shift from C major to C minor). We assessed listeners' tracking of the modulations by plotting the correlations of their response profiles with the baseline profiles. In general, the correlation to the original rāgam declined and the correlation to the new rāgam increased with the modulation, and then followed the reverse pattern when the original rāgam returned. Westerners' responses matched those of the Indians on rāgams with structures similar to Western scales, but differed when rāgams were less familiar, and surprisingly, they registered the shifts more strongly than Indian musicians. These findings converged with previous research in identifying three types of cues: 1) culture-specific cues—schematic and veridical knowledge—employed by Indians, 2) tone-distribution cues—duration and frequency of note occurrence—employed by both Indians and Westerners, and 3) transference of schematic knowledge of Western music by Western participants.

- by Rachna Raman
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- Psychology of Music, Music Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Music Cognition

Актуальные проблемы теории и истории искусства: сб. науч. статей. Вып. 9 / Под ред. А. В. Захаровой, С. В. Мальцевой, Е. Ю. Станюкович-Денисовой. – МГУ имени М. В. Ломоносова / СПб.: НП-Принт, 2019. С. 726–736.
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Статья посвящена феномену рагамала, уникальному явлению индийского искусства, связывающему музыку, поэзию и живопись. История его изучения насчитывает уже более столетия, однако многие аспекты ещё не исследованы в достаточной мере. Так, хотя некоторые образцы его первого известного проявления в живописи Индии второй половины XV в. и стали хрестоматийными для литературы, посвящённой рагамала, за пределами внимания исследователей обычно оставались контексты их возникновения. Они довольно сильно отличаются от тех, которые дали жизнь последующей традиции XVI–XIX вв., и их изучение существенно проясняет комплексный характер феномена в целом. Наиболее ранние известные изображения раг встречаются на полях манускрипта «Кальпа-сутры», канонического текста джайнизма. Несмотря на своё периферийное положение в структуре памятника, они представляют собой организованную систему, параллельную основному тексту, и играют в манускрипте определённую роль. В статье рассмотрены обстоятельства, повлиявшие на форму и на сам факт появления раг на листах рукописи и источники их иконографии, а также предложена интерпретация их образов, основанная на сравнении с типологически сходными изображениями на памятниках западно-индийской живописи того же периода.
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This paper examines ragamala, a unique phenomenon of Indian art that connects music, poetry and painting. Till more than a century studying, many its aspects have not been investigated sufficiently yet. Although some samples of its first known manifestation in painting became textbook examples for the ragamala studies, the scope of their appearance usually remains out of the researchers’ attention. Notably, those scopes are quite different from that gave life to the next tradition, and their study clarifies a complex nature of the phenomenon as a whole. The earliest known images of ragas appear in the margins of Kalpasutra, the canonical text of Jainism. Despite their peripheral position in the manuscript, they are presented as an organized system, parallel to the main text, and therefore imply to play a certain role in it. The following study discusses the circumstances that influenced the form and the fact of the appearance of ragas in Kalpasutra manuscript. It also considered the sources of their iconography, and offered an interpretation of their images, based on a comparative analysis with typologically similar objects in Western Indian painting of the same period.

- by Alexander Babin
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- Jainism, Musical Iconography, Tantrism, North Indian Music

Los rāga son los entes melódicos de la música clásica de la India. En la práctica, el músico invoca su nombre durante la improvisación y, si es lo suficientemente diestro y el momento es favorable, el rāga acaba por densificar en forma definida frente a la audiencia. Su seductora presencia y belleza nos cautiva entonces por entero y, tomando de la mano a aquel elemento sutil que nos habita, nos eleva hasta perder de vista todo lo mundano. Es la liberación que persigue el yoga clásico, mediante el sonido.
El primer capítulo de esta obra ofrece un retrato, esbozado en términos estético-espirituales, de la idea de rāga tal y como se entiende en el seno de la tradición musical india. Le sigue la descripción sistemática y contrastada de un conjunto de 80 rāga del repertorio indostaní contemporáneo; tan populares y estimados como Bhairav, Yaman, Darbari o Marva.
Un texto esencial tanto para el público general aficionado a esta tradición artística como para el músico que desee entender en detalle la identidad melódica de los rāga que estas páginas recogen.

- by Jaime R. Pombo
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- Music, Music Education, Musicology, Indian Art

This essay is a collection of some anecdotes of North Indian Hindustani Classical music. It has the music stories from life of Omkar nath Thakur, Hafiz Ali Khan, Bundu Khan, Siddheshwari Devi, Allauddin Khan, Alladiya Khan, sharad Chandrta Arolkar, Sadarang and others. It focuses mostly the defeat of the accompanying artistes who were egotistic hypocrites because of their false pretensions.

- by Ramkrishna Das
- •
- Music, Music History, Musicology, Indian Music

If in discourse about traditional music in North India, the notions of "folk" and "classical" continue to be widely used, in this essay I posit the existence of an "intermediate sphere, " comprising a heterogeneous set of traditional music genres that, in different ways, shares features with both folk and classical realms. I suggest five categories in this socio-musical stratum and provide brief glimpses of some of their constituents and distinguishing features, including the distinctive sorts of theory they embody and elite patronage that sustains them. I conclude with observations about historical changes in the status of this sphere in general. I n the music culture of North India, there exists a vast and rich stratum of traditional music genres that resist facile categorization as either classical or folk. Some of these idioms are typically referred to as light-classical or semi-classical; or they are described as being "between folk and classical, " or they are likened to a "regional classical music, " or they are noted to be in some way related or similar to classical music, while being clearly distinct from it. Other genres are not commonly spoken of in such terms but can in fact be seen to exhibit, to some marked degree, certain of the features that distinguish art music. This congeries of entities is internally heterogeneous, its constituents varying widely not only in form, style, region, and status but also in the specific sorts of affinities they may have to art music, which may or may not involve such particular features as presence of rāg and tāl. Not surprisingly, there is no indigenous umbrella term for this set of diverse music forms.

- by Peter Manuel
- •
- Anthropology, Ethnomusicology, North Indian Music, North Indian Classical Music

‫ﭼﻜﻴﺪه‬ ‫ﺳﺒﻚ‬ ‫از‬ ‫ﻳﻜﻲ‬ ‫ﺧﻴﺎل،‬ ‫آوازي‬ ‫ﺳﺒﻚ‬ ‫ﺑﻪ‬ ‫ﺟﺪﻳﺪي‬ ‫ﻫﻴﺌﺖ‬ ‫و‬ ‫ﺷﻜﻞ‬ ‫در‬ ‫ﻧﻴﺰ‬ ‫اﻣﺮوزه‬ ‫ﻛﻪ‬ ‫اﺳﺖ‬ ‫ﻫﻨﺪ‬ ‫ﺷﻤﺎل‬ ‫آوازي‬ ‫ﻫﺎي‬ ‫ﻣﻲ‬ ‫اداﻣﻪ‬ ‫ﺧﻮد‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺎت‬ ‫دﻫﺪ‬ . ‫د‬ ‫وﺟـﻮد‬ ‫اﺧﺘﻼﻓـﺎﺗﻲ‬ ‫ﻣﺤﻘﻘﺎن‬ ‫ﻣﻴﺎن‬ ‫آوازي‬ ‫ﮔﻮﻧﺔ‬ ‫اﻳﻦ‬ ‫ﻣﺒﺪع‬ ‫درﺑﺎرة‬ ‫ارد‬ ‫اﻣـﺎ‬ ، ‫ﻧﻘﻄـﺔ‬ ‫اﺷﺘﺮاك‬ ‫آﻧﺎن‬ ‫اﺳـﺖ‬ ‫ﺳﺒﻚ‬ ‫اﻳﻦ‬ ‫ﺑﻮدن‬ ‫اﻟﺘﻘﺎﻃﻲ‬ ‫ﺑﻪ‬ ‫اﻋﺘﻘﺎد‬ . ‫درواﻗـﻊ‬ ‫اﻣﺘـﺰاج‬ ‫زاﻳﻴـﺪة‬ ‫را‬ ‫ﺧﻴـﺎل‬ ‫ﻣﺤﻘﻘـﺎن،‬ ‫ﻫﻤـﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻲ‬ ‫اﻳﺮاﻧﻲ‬ ‫ﻣﻮﺳﻴﻘﻲ‬ ‫ﻓﺮﻫﻨﮓ‬ ‫ﺑﺎ‬ ‫ﻫﻨﺪي‬ ‫ﻣﻮﺳﻴﻘﻴﺎﻳﻲ‬ ‫ﻓﺮﻫﻨﮓ‬ ‫ﺑﻪ‬ ‫داﻧﻨﺪ؛‬ ‫ﺻـﻮﻓﻴﺎن‬ ‫ﻣﻴـﺎن‬ ‫راﻳـﺞ‬ ‫ﻣﻮﺳﻴﻘﻲ‬ ‫ﺧﺼﻮص‬ ‫دارد‬ ‫ﺷﻬﺮت‬ ‫ﻗﻮاﻟﻲ‬ ‫ﺑﻪ‬ ‫ﻛﻪ‬ ‫اﻳﺮان‬ ‫ﺧﺮاﺳﺎن‬ . ‫آن‬ ‫ﺑﺮ‬ ‫ﮔﺮوﻫﻲ‬ ‫ﭘﺎﻳﻪ‬ ‫ﻛﻪ‬ ‫اﻧﺪ‬ ‫ﮔﺬار‬ ‫دﻫﻠـﻮي‬ ‫ﺧﺴـﺮو‬ ‫اﻣﻴـﺮ‬ ‫آواز،‬ ‫ﻧﻮع‬ ‫اﻳﻦ‬ ‫اﺳﺖ‬ . ‫ﻛﻠﻴﺪواژه‬ ‫ﻫﺎ‬ : ‫ﻫﻨﺪ‬ ‫ﺷﻤﺎل‬ ‫ﻣﻮﺳﻴﻘﻲ‬ ‫دﻫﻠﻮي،‬ ‫ﺧﺴﺮو‬ ‫اﻣﻴﺮ‬ ‫ﺧﻴﺎل،‬ . * . ‫ﻓﺎرﺳﻲ‬ ‫ادﺑﻴﺎت‬ ‫و‬ ‫زﺑﺎن‬ ‫ارﺷﺪ‬ ‫ﻛﺎرﺷﻨﺎس‬ .

- by Golaleh Honari
- •
- North Indian Music, Imagination (Khayal), خیال
- by Matthew (Mattu) Noone
- •
- Music, Globalization, Ethnomusicology, Performance Studies
- by Ramkrishna Das
- •
- Music, Music History, Indian Music, Sufism

This is a textbook chapter (New York: Prentice Hall, 2016).

- by Jim Sykes
- •
- Ethnomusicology, Indian Music, Sri Lanka, World music
- by Balbinder Singh Bhogal
- •
- Sikhism, Music, Musicology, Medieval History

North Indian rāg music essentially needs the knowledge of musical phrases or patterns, and their appropriate application, which specifically and consciously are not highlighted in the books of rāg music in the history of music publishing... more

- by Taliya Khafizova
- •
- Ethnomusicology, Hindustani music, North Indian Music

A true artist and a man of many parts -actor, budding photographer, host, model, news anchor, poet, radio jockey, video jockey, and vocalist -Mohsin Abbas Haider started his career in show business as a radio jockey, in Lyallpur, while still in his teens. He subsequently moved to Karachi to study at the National Academy of Performing Arts and stayed in the city for many years, determined to make a name for himself in the world of show business.

- by Ally Adnan
- •
- Music, Film Studies, Film Theory, Television Studies

We examined differences between musicians’ and nonmusicians’ perception of modulations as they unfolded in time in Carnātic music using Toiviainen and Krumhansl’s (2003) concurrent probe-tone technique. Previous investigations showed that with culturally familiar music listeners use culture-specific and psychophysical cues, whereas with music from another culture they rely more on psychophysical cues and schematic knowledge imported from their own culture. We compared baseline profiles of four rāgams (modes) with profiles of modulating excerpts containing the same rāgams. Indian musicians’ tonal hierarchy profiles tracked the modulations in and out of the new rāgam. Western musicians’ profiles tended to match those of Indian musicians, indicating their employment of psychophysical cues as well as western schematic cues. Indian and western nonmusicians’ profiles did not reflect the modulations. Indian nonmusicians’ inability to identify modulations in melodies from their own culture suggests that musical training, irrespective of culture, facilitated performance on the continuous probe-tone task.

- by Rachna Raman
- •
- Psychology of Music, Music Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Music Cognition

- by PRAGYA PYASI
- •
- Indian Music, Systematic Musicology, Indian Classical Music, Musician

With this chapter, I explore the social meanings of embodied ways of listening to North Indian classical music. I focus especially on still, silent listening, a mode of listening that has been neglected in scholarship in this context. This scholarly neglect re ects the fact that most North Indian classical musicians and listeners tend either not to discuss this form of listening or else to cast it in a negative light, preferring instead to celebrate more active, noisy ways of listening to music. However, by not considering the full range of listening practices at North Indian classical performances, scholars have not theorised how competing value systems shape different ways of listening within a single performance environment. Here, I consider how certain North Indian classical musicians and listeners invest still, silent listening with positive signi cance. I argue that embodied modes of attending to music are implicated in social negotiations over prestige and status. Moreover, e...

This article explores the current state of the regional vernacular popular music industry in North India, assessing the changes that have occurred since around 2000 with the advent of digital technologies, including DVD format, and especially the Internet, cellphones and ‘pen-drives’. It provides a cursory overview of the regional music scene as a whole, and then focuses, as a case study, on a particular genre, namely the languriya songs of the Braj region, south of Delhi. It discusses how commercial music production is adapting, or failing to adapt, to recent technological developments, and it notes the vigorous and persistent flowering of regional music scenes such as that in the Braj region.

The study was aimed at (1) identifying cues that help listeners perceive tonality changes, (2) investigating if cues learnt from one culture help toward understanding music across cultures, and (3) understanding if musical training is advantageous for cross-cultural perception. Carnātic music has two kinds of tonality shifts: the popular rāgamālikā (shifts of rāgam, retaining tonal center; e.g., C to C minor), and the controversial grahabēdham (shifts of rāgam and tonal center; e.g., C to A minor). Stimuli consisted of songs containing 45 rāgamālikā and 46 grahabēdham shifts. South Indian and American teachers and students were further divided by age (older or younger than 60 yr), and served in either the rāgamālikā or grahabēdham condition. Participants indicated the point at which a modulation occurred which we measured in terms of accuracy and latency. Results showed that Indians were more accurate and faster with rāgamālikās while westerners performed better with grahabēdhams. Cues could explain performance differences between nationalities: Indians performed better than westerners with rāgamālikās presumably because of their familiarity with it; westerners, on the other hand, performed better with grahabēdhams because they were probably able to apply cues from their culture to a type of modulation that was familiar to them. Indians and westerners had similar hit rates with grahabēdhams. Increased caution toward the less familiar grahabēdhams for Indians could explain their slower response time compared to rāgamālikās. Musical training was advantageous to teachers across both conditions and ages: they had more hits and fewer errors than students. This could be attributed to an enhanced representation for systems of pitches and modalities.

- by Rachna Raman
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- Psychology of Music, Music Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Music Cognition
- by Chinthaka P Meddegoda and +1
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- Ethnomusicology, Performance Studies, Indian Music, Performance Art

Through a comparative analysis of sound and pilgrimage in Bhakti, Sufi and Sikh cultures, this paper examines their musical repertoires and divergent views from the standpoint of sacred journeying. While the Gurū Granth Sāhib is critically inclusive of Bhakti and Sufi voices, the musical setting and the performance of the hymns incorporated into the Sikh scripture suggest a distinct function of the gurbānī kīrtan practice, associated with the process of inner transmutation from a self-willed being (manmukh) into a Gurū- oriented realized self (gurmukh). The gurbānī repertoire also includes various types of ancient songs-forms (like chhants, prabandhs, dhur-pads and partāls) of historical and musicological importance. This article focuses on two of them which, developed during the Sikh Gurūs era, reveal a unique construction that seems to translate into music the Sikh literary and philosophical stances on sacred journeying. Applying Turner’s concepts of communitas and liminality, Sikh kīrtan is here interpreted as a shared experience for a potential transformation, a sonic form of ‘introverted pilgrimage’ leading to a state of blissful equanimity (sahaj).

- by Francesca Cassio
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- Sikhism, Ethnomusicology, Indian Music, South Asian Studies