Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several geo-locations spanning the subcontinent. Music in India began as an integral part of socio-religious life.
History
Pre-history Paleolithic The 30,000-year-old Paleolithic and Neolithic cave paintings at the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh show a type of dance. Mesolithic and Chalcolithic cave art of Bhimbetka illustrates musical instruments such as Gongs, Bowed Lyre, and daf.
Neolithic Chalcolithic era (4000 BCE onward) narrow bar shaped polished stone celts like music instruments, one of the earlier musical instrument in India, were excavated at Sankarjang in the Angul district of Odisha. There is historical evidence in the form of sculptural evidence, i.e. musical instruments, singing and dancing postures of damsels in the Ranigumpha Caves in Khandagiri and Udayagiri at Bhubaneswar.
Indus Valley Civilisation The Dancing Girl sculpture (2500 BCE) was found from the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) site. There are IVC-era paintings on pottery of a man with a dhol hanging from his neck and a woman holding a drum under her left arm.origin of Indian music and arts. Shodhganga.
Vedic and ancient era The Vedas (c. 1500 – c. 800 BCE Vedic period)see e.g. MacDonell 2004, pp 29–39; Sanskrit literature (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09see e.g. Radhakrishnan and Moore, 1957; Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in: ; MacDonell 2004, pp 29–39; Sanskrit literature (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09Sanujit Ghose (2011). "Religious Developments in Ancient India" in Ancient History Encyclopedia. document rituals with performing arts and play. For example, Shatapatha Brahmana (800–700 BCE) has verses in chapter 13.2 written in the form of a play between two actors.ML Varadpande (1990), History of Indian Theatre, Volume 1, Abhinav, , p. 48 Tala or taal is an ancient music concept traceable to Vedic era texts of Hinduism, such as the Samaveda and methods for singing the Vedic hymns. Smriti (500 BCE to 100 BCE ) post-Vedic Hindu textsJan Gonda (1970 through 1987), A History of Indian Literature, Volumes 1 to 7, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, Teun Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta (1981), Hindu Tantric and Śākta Literature, A History of Indian Literature, Volume 2, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, , pp. 7–14 include Valmiki's Ramayana (500 BCE to 100 BCE) which mentions dance and music (dance by Apsaras such as Urvashi, Rambha, Menaka, Tilottama Panchāpsaras, and Ravana's wives excelling in nrityageeta or "singing and dancing" and nritavaditra or "playing musical instruments"), music and singing by Gandharvas, several string instruments (vina, tantri, bīn, vipanci and vallaki similar to veena), wind instruments (shankha, venu and venugana – likely a mouth organ made by tying several flutes together), raga (including kaushika such as raag kaushik dhwani), vocal registers (seven svara or sur, ana or ekashurti drag note, murchana the regulated rise and fall of voice in matra and tripramana three-fold teen taal laya such as drut or quick, madhya or middle, and vilambit or slow), poetry recitation in Bala Kanda and also in Uttara Kanda by Luv and Kusha in marga style.Ananda W. P. Guruge, 1991, The Society of the Ramayana, pp. 180–200.
There are several references to music and Panns in the ancient pre-Sangam and Sangam literature starting from the earliest known work Tholkappiyam (500 BCE). Among Sangam literature, Mathuraikkanci refers to women singing sevvazhi pann to invoke the mercy of God during childbirth. In Tolkappiyam, the five landscapes of the Sangam literature had each an associated Pann, each describing the mood of the song associated with that landscape. Among the numerous panns that find mention in the ancient Tamil literature are, Ambal Pann, which is suitable to be played on the flute, sevvazhi pann on the Yazh (lute), Nottiram and Sevvazhi expressing pathos, the captivating Kurinji pann and the invigorating Murudappann. Pann() is the melodic mode used by the Tamil people in their music since the ancient times. The ancient panns over centuries evolved first into a pentatonic scale and later into the seven note Carnatic Sargam. But from the earliest times, Tamil Music is heptatonic and known as Ezhisai (ஏழிசை).Adiyarkunallar's commentary to the Aychiyarkkuravai, the seventh book of Cilappatikaram gives the number of Srutis and how they were allotted among Seven notes.
Sanskrit saint-poet Jayadeva, who was the great composer and illustrious master of classical music, shaped Odra-Magadhi style music and had great influence on Odissi Sangita.
Śārṅgadeva composed Sangita-Ratnakara, one of the most important Sanskrit musicological texts from India,, Quote: "The largest work that has for a long time been the most important source of information on the ancient period, is the famous Samgitaratnakara written by Sarngadeva in the first half of the thirteenth century." which is regarded as the definitive text in both Hindustani music and Carnatic music traditions of Indian classical music.
Assamese poet Madhava Kandali, writer of Saptakanda Ramayana, lists several instruments in his version of "Ramayana", such as mardala, khumuchi, bhemachi, dagar, gratal, ramtal, tabal, jhajhar, jinjiri, bheri mahari, tokari, dosari, kendara, dotara, vina, rudra-vipanchi, etc. (meaning that these instruments existed since his time in the 14th century or earlier).Suresh Kant Sharma and Usha Sharma, 2005, Discovery of North-East India, p. 288. The Indian system of notation is perhaps the world's oldest and most elaborate. pp. 193–194.
Medieval era In the early 14th century under the Khiljis, there were concerts and competitions between Hindustani and Carnatic musicians.Beale, T.W., An Oriental Biographical Dictionary, p. 145
In late 15th century, music golden era started, the Dhupad school of music was established in Gwalior. Raja Man Singh Tomar complied music treatise in his book called Manakautuhala. Tanasena or Tansen popularized Hindustani classical music. Many celebrated singers and composers like Jagananth Kaviral, Swami Haridasa, Baiju Bawra, Nayaka Baksu, Mohamud Lohang joined Gwalior court as musicians.
From the 16th century onwards, treatises written on music were Sangitamava Chandrika, Gita Prakasha, Sangita Kalalata and Natya Manorama.
Twentieth century In the early 1960s Jazz pioneers such as John Coltrane and George Harrison collaborated with Indian instrumentalists and started to use Indian instruments such as sitar in their songs. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, rock and roll fusions with Indian music were well known throughout Europe and North America. In the late 1980s, Indian-British artists fused Indian and Western traditions to make the Asian Underground. In the new millennium, American hip-hop has featured Indian filmi and bhangra. Mainstream hip-hop artists have sampled songs from Bollywood movies and have collaborated with Indian artists, such as Timbaland's "Indian Flute"
In 2010, Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons collaborated with the Dharohar Project.
Classical music
The two main traditions of Indian classical music are Carnatic music, which is practised predominantly in the peninsular (southern) regions, and Hindustani music, which is found in the northern, eastern and central regions. The basic concepts of this music includes Shruti (microtones), Swaras (notes), Alankar (ornamentations), Raga (melodies improvised from basic grammars), and Tala (rhythmic patterns used in percussion). Its tonal system divides the octave into 22 segments called Shrutis, not all equal but each roughly equal to a quarter of a whole tone of the Western music. Both the classical music are standing on the fundamentals of The seven notes of Indian Classical music. These seven notes are also called as Sapta svara or Sapta Sur. These seven svaras are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni respectively. These Sapta Svaras are spelt as Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni, but these are shortforms of Shadja (षड्ज), Rishabha (ऋषभ), Gandhara (गान्धार), Madhyama (मध्यम), Panchama (पंचम), Dhaivata (धैवत) and Nishada (निषाद) respectively. These are also equivalent to Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti. Only these seven svaras built up the Hindustani classical music and the Carnatic classical music. These seven svaras are the fundamentals of a Raga. This seven svaras without any variations in them, are called as Shuddha svaras. Variations in these svaras cause them to be and svaras. All the other svaras except Sadja(Sa) and Pancham (Pa) can be or svaras but Sa and Pa are always svaras. And hence svaras Sa and Pa are called Achal Svaras, since these svaras don't move from their original position while svaras Ra, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni are called Chal Svaras, since these svaras move from their original position.
Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni - Svaras
Re, Ga, Dha, Ni - Komal Svaras
Ma - Svaras
Sangeet Natak Academy recognizes eight classical dance and music forms, namely Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Sattriya, Manipuri and Mohiniyattam. Additionally, India's Ministry of culture also includes Chhau in its classical list.
Carnatic music
Carnatic music can be traced to the 14th - 15th centuries AD and thereafter. It originated in South India during the rule of Vijayanagar Empire through the Keerthanas composed by Purandara Dasa. Like Hindustani music, it is melodic, with improvised variations, but tends to have more fixed compositions. It consists of a composition with improvised embellishments added to the piece in the forms of Raga Alapana, Kalpanaswaram, Neraval and, in the case of more advanced students, Ragam Thanam Pallavi. The main emphasis is on the vocals as most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki). Around 300 ragams are in use today. Annamayya is the first known composer in Carnatic music. He is widely regarded as the Andhra Pada kavitā Pitāmaha (Godfather of Telugu song-writing).
Purandara Dasa is considered the father of Carnatic music, while the later musicians Tyagaraja, Shyama Shastry and Muthuswami Dikshitar are considered the trinity of Carnatic music.
Noted artists of Carnatic music include Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar (the father of the current concert format), Palghat Mani Iyer, Madurai Mani Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy Alathur Brothers, M. S. Subbulakshmi, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Balamuralikrishna, T. N. Seshagopalan, K. J. Yesudas, N. Ramani, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, T. M. Krishna, Bombay Jayashri, Aruna Sairam, Mysore Manjunath,
Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its eight-week-long Music Season, which is the world's largest cultural event.Madras Music Season
Carnatic music has served as the foundation for most music in South India, including folk music, festival music and has also extended its influence to film music in the past 100–150 years or so.
Hindustani music