Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening or embouchure.

The oldest flute ever discovered, though this is disputed, may be a fragment of the femur of a juvenile cave bear, with two to four holes, found at Divje Babe in Slovenia and dated to about 43,000 years ago. In 2008 another flute dated back to at least 35,000 years ago was discovered in Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany. The five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchers involved in the discovery officially published their findings in the journal Nature, in June 2009.[4] The discovery is also the oldest confirmed find of any musical instrument in history.

A three-holed flute, 18.7 cm long, made from a mammoth tusk (from the Geißenklösterle cave, near Ulm, in the southern German Swabian Alb and dated to 30,000 to 37,000 years ago)[8] was discovered in 2004, and two flutes made from swan bones excavated a decade earlier (from the same cave in Germany, dated to circa 36,000 years ago) are among the oldest known musical instruments.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flute#History

MOHAN VEENA

The Mohan veena is a stringed musical instrument used in Indian classical music. It is actually a modified Archtop guitar with 20 strings: three melody strings, five drone strings strung to the peghead, and twelve sympathetic strings strung to the tuners mounted on the side of the neck.[1] A tumba or gourd is screwed into the back of the neck for improved sound quality and vibration. It is played by placing it in one's lap like a slide guitar.

This instrument was developed by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohan_veena

Veena

The design of the veena has evolved over the years, probably from the form seen in South Indian Medieval paintings and temple sculpture: a string instrument with two gourd resonators connected by a central shaft, possibly of bamboo, and held diagonally from lap to shoulder. Veena in South India developing from Kinnari Veena in the 1600s was initially known as Tanjori Veena after hereditary makers from Thanjavur but was later called Saraswati veena. Made in several regions in South India, those made by makers from Thanjavur in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu are to date considered the most sophisticated. Sangeet Ratnakar calls it Ektantri Veena and gives the method for its construction. The North Indian rudra veena and vichitra veena, technically zithers, demonstrate this genealogy. Descendents of Tansen reserved Rudra Veena for family and out of reverence began calling it Saraswati Veena.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veena#History

SARANGI

The history of sarangi is very short because, though it is called as 'Saurangi', an instrument of a hundred colors, no work was actually done to bring out the many colors of this rich instrument as it always remained in the background in a very limited capacity. Its only use was as an accompanying instrument for the dancers and singers, while entertaining their customers. So it remained downtrodden for several centuries so much so that it had a stigma attached to it and Sarangi player could not command any respect in the society due to his association with Sarangi.

source: http://ramnarayansarangi.com/sarangi.htm

SANTOOR

The santur (also santūr, santour, santoor ) (Persian: سنتور) (Arabic: سنطور‎) is a hammered dulcimer of Iran and Iraq. It is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut, with 72 or 96 strings. The name means one hundred strings in Persian. The special-shaped mallets (mezrab/madhrab) are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers. A typical santur has two sets of bridges, providing a range of approximately three octaves. The right-hand strings are made of brass, while the left-hand strings are made of steel.Two rows of 9 articles called "Kharak" (the Iraqi santur has 12 articles called "Damaat") (Totally 18 kharaks/24 damaat) divide the santur into three positions and each lead four unitone strings to the right and left side of the instrument. Each note comes three times in three positions [making (9*3) 27 tones all together and doubles in frequency going to the left. As four notes are repeated in tonation we have only 23 tones in Santur. The santur is primarily tuned a variety of different diatonic scales which utilizes 1/4 tones or semi-tones. There are 12 modes of Persian classical music which is known as the "Radif" which consists of 12 Dastgahs or Modes. Each Dastgah has its own tuning and character which derives from the different parts of Iran (Persia) which dates back thousands of years and was only preserved through performance until the late Ostad Abol Hassan Saba the legendary Master of Persian classical music, who notated and categorized 3500 years of music into the "Radif of Saba."

The santur is the lead instrument in performing of the Iraqi Maqam. The traditional Iraqi ensemble (Chalghi Baghdadi in Osmanli) is made up of a santur (zither, strings are struck) or a qanun (zither, strings are plucked), a joza (rebec or spike fiddle), a clay drum (tabla) or kettle drum (naqqara) and a tambourine with cymbals (daff zinjari). Starting in the 1920’s, the qanun, like the lute, became favored under the influence of Muhammad al-Qubbanji and other masters. The crystalline sound of the qanun is considered as more precise than the santur which leaves an echo. However, modern day Iraqi Maqam ensembles still mainly use the santur, given the instrument's deep roots in the history of this form of art, sometimes along the qanun, and rarely is the qanun used instead of the santur.

The contemporary Iraqi santur consists of a soundbox in the shape of a trapezium made from two boards of wood joined together by splints of varying height; the soundbox is made from a hardwood such as walnut, bitter orange, white beech or apricot. It is approximately 80 to 90 cm wide at the broad end, 31 to 41 cm wide at the narrow end and 7 to 12 cm deep, though the instrument has often been made to accompany a specific singer, so the dimensions of the soundbox are changed to accommodate the register of the singer's voice. Also, unlike the Iranian santur, the Iraqi santur uses steel strings on both the left and right sides. The right side bridges, besides being taller in size than the left side, are moved towards the middle, parallel to the left side, which allows for multi-scale tuning and is more suitable for Iraqi traditional music.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santur

SHEHNAI

Sahnai (also Sanai, Shahnai, Shehnai) is a double-reeded wind instrument similar to the western Oboe. The name Sahnai is of Persian origin (In Persian, "Sah" means "King" and "Nai" means "Wind Instrument"), and some theorize that the instrument may have been taken to India from Persia by the Mughals, a tribe of Mongolian origin, which occupied much of northern India from the 16th century to the 18th century. Others believe the Sahnai may have developed from an earlier Indian instrument.

The Sahnai or Shehnai, double-reeded instrument of the wind instrument category is one of the most ancient instruments used in India. Sahnai or Shehnai is mainly an outdoor instrument played particularly on occasions considered auspicious such as processions and weddings. The Shehnai is a tube that gradually widens towards the lower end. It usually has eight or nine holes. The Sahnai has a wooden tubular body of about 45 to 60 cm (1.5 to 2 ft) in length, backed by metal, ending in a wider bell shape. Of its or nine holes, only seven are used for playing; the others are left open or are closed with wax to define the pitch of the instrument. The reed is fixed at the narrow blowing end. The reeds used in Shehnai are made of pala grass. Spare reeds and an ivory needle with which the reeds are adjusted are attached to the mouth piece.

The Sahnai produces a rich, expressive sound, with the characteristic timbre of the reed. It is considered to be an auspicious instrument and is used in celebrations and festivals, particularly at weddings. It is often paired with a shruti, a Sahnai with several closed holes, with the shruti supplying a drone (a continuous accompanying tone) at a suitable pitch.

The origin of Shehnai instrument is shrouded in controversy; it does not seem to be more than three-four centuries old. We see similar-looking instruments in ancient carvings and paintings, but it is in the 20th century that the instrument has attained concert level status. Closely related to the Sahnai is the nagasvaram of South India, which is also double-reeded but longer at 60 to 76 cm (2 to 2.5 ft). The nagasvaram has 12 holes, of which 7 are used for playing, and the body ends in a metal bell. It produces a higher-pitched, sharper sound than the Sahnai, and is usually only performed outdoors. Also considered auspicious, the nagasvaram is frequently played at temple festivals and processions, and on ceremonial occasions.

SHEHNAI: STRUCTURE AND NATURE

The Shehnai is a wind instrument blown through the mouth. Made out of dark, black wood, it is about one and a half to two feet long and cylindrical in shape some curved cylindrical. It has eight or nine holes. There is a separate metallic or wooden contraption called the reed, which is added to one end of the cylinder. The other end of the cylinder has a metallic bell-like structure, which gives out the sound.

source: http://www.himalayanmart.com/Shehnai.php

TANPURA

Tanpura is a drone instrument. It resembles a sitar except it has no frets. It has four strings tuned to the tonic. The word "tanpura" (tanpoora) is common in the north, but in south India it is called "tambura", "thamboora", "thambura", or "tamboora". The tanpura is known for its very rich sound. There are three main styles; the Miraj style, the Tanjore style and the small instrumental version sometimes called tamburi.

The Miraj style is the typical north Indian tanpura (tambura). This is the favourite of Hindustani musicians. It typically is between 3 to 5 feet in length. It is characterized by a pear shapped, well rounded tabali (resonator face) and non-tapering neck. It usually has a resonator made of a gourd, but rarely one may find resonators made of wood. This style is shown at the top of this page.

The Tanjore style of tambura is found in the south. This is the favourite for Carnatic musicians. It is also about 3 to 5 feet in length. Unlike the Miraj style, the neck tapers toward the top, and the front plate is very flat. Resonators are almost always of wood.

In recent decades the tamburi or instrumental tambura (tanpura) has become popular. Its most striking characteristic is its size. It averages only about 2 to 3 feet in length. It has a very shallow resonator made of wood and only a slightly curved resonator plate (tabali). It usually has four strings but may just as well have 5, 6, or even more strings. The tamburi's small size means that the playing technique is usually slightly different from the standard tambura. Although the tamburi is generally acknowledged to have an inferior sound, it is the easiest of all the tamburas to maintain. It is extremely portable, it holds its tuning well, and because it is all wood (i.e., no gourds) it is virtually indestructible. These points makes the tamburi very popular with the travelling musician.

source: http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/tanpura.html

History of Sarod

The sarod is belived by some to have descended from the Afghan rubab, a similar instrument originating in Central Asia and Afghanistan. [1] The name Sarod means "beautiful sound" in Persian (which is spoken in Afghanistan). Although the sarod has been referred to as a " bass rebab"[2] its pitch range is only slightly lower than that of the rubab. Lalmani Misra opines in his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya that the sarod is an amalgamation of the ancient chitra veena, the medieval rebab and modern sursingar. There is also a speculation that the oud may be the origin of the sarod.

Amjad Ali Khan’s ancestor Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, a musician and horsetrader, came to India with the Afghan rebab in the mid-1700s and became a court musician to the Maharajah of Rewa (now in Madhya Pradesh). It was his descendants, and notably his grandson Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash who became a court musician in Gwalior, who gradually transformed the rabab into the sarod we know today.[3]. A parallel, but equally credible theory credits descendants of Madar Khan (1701-1748), and Niyamatullah Khan in particular, with the same innovation circa 1820. It is possible that Ghulam Ali Khan and Niyamatullah Khan came to the similar design propositions either independently or in unacknowledged collaboration. The sarod in its present recognizable form dates back to c.1820, when it started gaining recognition as a serious instrument in Rewa, Shahjahanpur, Gwalior and Lucknow. In the twentieth century, the sarod received some finishing touches from Allauddin Khan, the performer-pedagogue from Maihar best known as Ravi Shankar's guru.

Design:

The design of the instrument depends on the school (gharana) of playing. There are three distinguishable types, discussed below.

* The conventional sarod is an 18 to 19-stringed lute-like instrument — four to five main strings used for playing the melody, one or two drone strings, two chikari strings and ten to eleven sympathetic strings. The design of this early model is generally credited to Niyamatullah Khan of the Lucknow Gharana as well as Ghulam Ali Khan of the Gwalior-Bangash Gharana. Among the contemporary sarod players, this basic design is kept intact by two streams of sarod playing. Amjad Ali Khan and his disciples play this model, as do the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra. Both Amjad Ali Khan and Buddhadev Dasgupta have introduced minor changes to their respective instruments which have become the design templates for their followers. Both musicians use sarods made of teak wood, with the playing face covered with goat skin. Buddhadev Dasgupta prefers a polished stainless steel fingerboard for the ease of maintenance while Amjad Ali Khan uses the conventional chrome or nickel-plated cast steel fingerboard. Visually, the two variants are similar, with six pegs in the main pegbox, two rounded chikari pegs and 11 (Amjad) to 15 (Buddhadev) sympathetic strings. The descendants of Niyamatullah Khan (namely Irfan Khan and Ghulfam Khan) also play similar instruments. The followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra still carry the second resonator on their sarods. Amjad Ali khan and his followers rejected the resonator altogether. They tune their instruments to B, which is the traditional setting.
* Another type is that designed by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. This instrument, referred by David Trasoff (Trasoff, 2000) as the 1934 Maihar Prototype, is larger and longer than the conventional instrument, though the fingerboard is identical to the traditional sarod described above. This instrument has 25 strings in all. These include four main strings, four jod strings (tuned to Ni or Dha, R/r, G/g and Sa respectively), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of the upper octave) and fifteen tarab strings. The main strings are tuned to Ma ("fa"), Sa ("do"), lower Pa ("so") and lower Sa, giving the instrument a range of three octaves. The Maihar sarod lends itself extremely well to the presentation of alap with the four jod strings providing a backdrop that helps usher in the ambience of the raga. This variant is, however, not conducive to the performance of clean right-hand picking on individual strings. They tune to C.

Sarod strings are made either of steel or phosphor bronze. Most contemporary sarod players use Roslau, Schaff or Precision brand music wire. The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum (java) made of polished coconut shell, ebony, DelrinTM or other materials such as bone.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarod

Sitar

The sitar is a plucked string instrument that uses sympathetic strings and a long hollow neck along with a gourd resonating chamber in order to produce a very rich musical sound along with a complex harmonic resonance. The Sitar is predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, but has been used in other styles of music since as far back as the Middle Ages. This instrument is one that has been used all throughout the Indian sub continent, particularly in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

One of the most distinctive features of the sitar are its curved frets which can all be moved which allows for a fine variation in tuning. They are also raised which allows the sympathetic strings to run beneath the frets. A typical sitar can have 21, 22 or 23 strings depending on the specific style of the sitar. Among these strings are six or seven that are playable and situated directly over the frets. Gandhar-pancham sitars have six playable strings, but Khadaj-pancham sitars have seven playable strings. Three or four of these strings, known as chikari, provide the drone while the other strings on the sitar play the melody. Most of the melody's notes are played on the first string, which is called the baj tar. There are also between eleven and sixteen sympathetic strings also known as tarbs, tariff or tarifdar, which run beneath the frets.

The sitar instrument has two different bridges. The main bridge is known as the bada goraj and is used for playing and the drone strings. There is also a smaller, secondary bridge known as the chota goraj, which is used for the sympathetic strings running underneath the primary strings. The sitar can have a secondary resonator though it does not always have this resonator which is known as a tumba and located at the top of the instrument's hollow neck. The sitar creates a distinctive sound that is a result of the way each string interacts with the wide and sloping bridge. In a sitar, when a string reverberates, its length can change just slightly as its edges touch against the bridge, which is capable of creating overtones which gives the sound a tone that is distinctive and rich. The maintenance of this very specific tone comes by shaping the bridge, a process known as jawari. Adjusting the jawari is something that requires a great amount of skill, and as a result, even professional musicians often have to rely upon the professional instrument crafters to perform these particular tasks. Many Sitar players tour with their sitar makers simply so they can insure that their instruments are always properly adjusted and tuned.

The materials that are most commonly used to construct sitar instruments include tun wood or teak wood, which is a variation upon standard mahogany for the neck and the faceplate. Gourds are used for the Kaddu, the main resonating chamber. The bridges of the instrument are crafted from ebony, deer horn or camel bone in certain circumstances. Today many modern, synthetic materials are also becoming common.

source: http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/brief-history-of-the-sitar/

History Of Violin

The modern European violin evolved from various bowed stringed instruments which were brought from the Middle East [4] and the Byzantine Empire[5] [6] . Most likely the first makers of violins borrowed from three types of current instruments: the rebec, in use since the 10th century (itself derived from the Arabic rebab), the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio[7] (derived from the Byzantine lira [5]). One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, was in the Epitome musical by Jambe de Fer, published in Lyon in 1556.[8] By this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe.

The oldest documented violin to have four strings, like the modern violin, is supposed to have been constructed in 1555 by Andrea Amati, but the date is very doubtful. (Other violins, documented significantly earlier, only had three strings and were called "violetta".) The violin immediately became very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility, illustrated by the fact that the French king Charles IX ordered Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560.[9] The oldest surviving violin, dated inside, is from this set, and is known as the "Charles IX," made in Cremona c. 1560. The finest Renaissance carved and decorated violin in the world is the Gasparo da Salò (1574 c.) owned by Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and later, from 1841, by the Norwegian virtuoso Ole Bull, that used it for forty years and thousands of concerts, for his very powerful and beautiful tone, similar to those of a Guarneri.

Construction and mechanics

A violin typically consists of a spruce top (the soundboard, also known as the top plate, table, or belly), maple ribs and back, two endblocks, a neck, a bridge, a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings, optionally including a chinrest, which may attach directly over, or to the left of, the tailpiece. A distinctive feature of a violin body is its "hourglass" shape and the arching of its top and back. The hourglass shape comprises two upper bouts, two lower bouts, and two concave C-bouts at the "waist," providing clearance for the bow.

The "voice" of a violin depends on its shape, the wood it is made from, the graduation (the thickness profile) of both the top and back, and the varnish which coats its outside surface. The varnish and especially the wood continue to improve with age, making the fixed supply of old violins much sought-after.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin

North Indian Music

The north Indian system of music is known as Hindustani Sangeet or sometimes Hindustani Sangit. It covers an area that extends roughly from Bangladesh through northern and central India into Pakistan and as far as Afghanistan.

The usual interpretation states that the Hindustani system may be thought of as a mixture of traditional Hindu musical concepts and Persian performance practice. The advent of Islamic rule over northern India caused the musicians to seek patronage in the courts of the new rulers. These rulers, often of foreign extraction, had strong cultural and religious sentiments focused outside of India; yet they lived in, and administered kingdoms which retained their traditional Hindu culture. Several centuries of this arrangement caused the Hindu music to absorb musical influences from the Islamic world, primarily greater Persia.

Although this is the usual view, there are reasons to think that this is an over-simplification. This view gives excessive weight to the religious differences between the Hindus of South Asia and the Muslims of the greater Persian empire (present day Iran, Afghanistan, and portions of the former Soviet Union.) At the same time it ignores long standing linguistic, economic, and cultural ties which existed between the areas of present day northern Indian and the greater Persian world.

There are a number of musical instruments that we associate with Hindustani sangeet. The most famous is the sitar and tabla. Other less well known instruments are the sarod, sarangi and a host of others.

Some of the major vocal forms associated with Hindustani Sangeet are the kheyal, gazal, and thumri. Other styles which are also important are the dhrupad, dhammar, and tarana. This is just a small sampling for there are many other vocal styles that we will have to discuss elsewhere.


NORTH INDIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

* Sitar
* Sarod
* Surbahar
* Vichitra Vina
* Tanpura
* Santur
* Rabab
* Bansuri
* Shehnai
* Harmonium
* Manjira
* Ghungharu
* Sarangi
* Esraj
* Dilruba
* Mayuri
* Tabla
* Tabla Tarang
* Pakhawaj


NORTH INDIAN VOCAL STYLES

* Kheyal
* Bhajan
* Tarana
* Dhrupad
* Dhammar
* Dadra
* Gazal
* Geet
* Thumri
* qawwali
* Kirtan or Dhun
* Shabad
* Lakshangeet
* Film Songs
* Folk Music
* Swarmalika


NORTH INDIAN INSTRUMENTAL STYLES

* Alap
* Jor
* Gat
* Jhala
* Dhun

source: http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/hindustani_sangeet.html

Hindustani Classical Music

The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called Taal. The melodic foundations are "melodic modes", or "Parent Scales", known as Thaats, under which most ragas can be classified based on the notes they use.

Thaats - and so Ragas - may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or swara. Hindustani musicians name these pitches using a system called Sargam, the equivalent of Western movable do solfege:

* Sa (Shadaj) = Do
* Re (Rishab) = Re
* Ga (Gandhar) = Mi
* Ma (Madhyam) = Fa
* Pa (Pancham) = So
* Dha (Dhaiwat) = La
* Ni (Nishad) = Ti
* Sa (Shadaj) = Do

Both systems repeat at the octave. The difference between sargam and solfege is that re, ga, ma, dha, and ni can refer to either "Natural" (Shuddha) or altered "Flat" (Komal) or "Sharp" (Tivra) versions of their respective scale degrees. As with movable do solfege, the notes are heard relative to an arbitrary tonic that varies from performance to performance, rather than to fixed frequencies, as on a xylophone.

The fine intonational differences between different instances of the same swara are sometimes called śruti. The three primary registers of Indian classical music are Mandra, Madhya and Tara. Since the octave location is not fixed, it is also possible to use provenances in mid-register (such as Mandra-Madhya or Madhya-Tara) for certain ragas. A typical rendition of Hindustani raga involves two stages:

* Alap: a rhythmically free improvisation on the rules for the raga in order to give life to the raga and shape out its characteristics. The alap is followed by the jod and jhala in instrumental music.

* Bandish or Gat: a fixed, melodic composition set in a specific raga, performed with rhythmic accompaniment by a tabla or pakhavaj. There are different ways of systematizing the parts of a composition. For example:
o Sthaayi: The initial, Rondo phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition.
o Antara: The first body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition.
o Sanchaari: The third body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition, seen more typically in Dhrupad Bandishes
o Aabhog: The fourth and concluding body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition, seen more typically in Dhrupad Bandishes.

There are three variations of Bandish, regarding tempo:

o Vilambit Bandish: A slow and steady melodic composition, usually in Largo to Adagio speeds.
o Madhyalaya Bandish: A medium tempo melodic competition, usually set in Andante to Allegretto speeds.
o Drut Bandish: A fast tempo melodic composition, usually set to Allegretto speed, and onwards.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustani_classical_music

Mythological origin of music

Indian music has a very long, unbroken tradition and is an accumulated heritage of centuries. It is believed that the sage Narada introduced the art of music to the Earth. The origin can be traced back to Vedic days, nearly two thousand years ago. It is said that the sound that pervades the whole universe, i.e. Nadabrahma, itself represents the divinity. Organised Indian music owes its origin to the Samaveda. The Veda has all the seven notes of the raga karaharpriya in the descending order. The earliest Raga is speculated to be 'Sama Raga'. Theories and treatises began to be written about how the primitive sound 'Om' gave rise to the various notes. The first reference to music was made by Panini (500 BC) and the first reference to musical theory is found in Rikpratisakhya (400 BC). Bharata's Natya Sastra (4th Century AD) contains several chapters on music. This is probably the first work that clearly elaborated the octave and divided it into 22 keys. The next major work on music was Dathilam, which also endorses the existence of the 22 sruti per octave and even goes to suggest that these 22 srutis are the only ones a human body could make. This view was expressed again by another musicologist of the 13th century AD Saranga Deva in his famous work Sangeeta Ratnakara. Saranga Deva, among other things, defined almost 264 Ragas, including some Dravidian and North Indian ones. He also described the various 'kinds' of 'microtones' and also classified them into different categories. Of the other important works on Indian music, mention may be made of Brihaddesi (9 AD) written by Matanga, which attempts to define the word 'Raga', Sangeeta Makaranda (11th century AD) written by Narada, which enumerates 93 Ragas and classifies them into masculine and feminine species, Swaramela-kalanidhi of Ramamatya (16 AD) and Chaturdandi-prakssika of Venkatamakhi (17 AD).

It took a long time for music to come to its present-day form. In the beginning music was devotional in content and was purely used for ritualistic purposes and was restricted to temples. During the late Vedic period (3000-1200 BC), a form of music called Samgana was prevalent which involved chanting of the verses set to musical patterns. Various forms of music like Jatigan were evolved to narrate the epics. Between 2-7 AD a form of music called Prabandh Sangeet, which was written in Sanskrit, became very popular. This form gave way to a simpler form called dhruvapad, which used Hindi as the medium. The Gupta Period is considered as the golden era in the development of Indian music. All the music treatises like Natya Shastra and Brihaddeshi were written during this period.

One of the strongest and most significant influences on Indian music has perhaps been that of Persian music, which brought in a changed perspective in the style of Northern Indian music. In the 15^th century AD, as a result of the patronage given to the classical music by the rulers, the devotional dhruvapad transformed into the dhrupad form of singing. The khayal developed as a new form of singing in the 18^th century AD. The Indian classical music, thus, developed from the ritualistic music in association with folk music and other musical expressions of India's extended neighbourhood, developing into its own characteristic art. It is then that the two schools of music resulted, the Hindustani (North Indian music) and the Carnatic (South Indian music). Historical roots of both Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions stem from Bharata's Natyashastra. The two traditions started to diverge only around 14th Century AD. Carnatic music is kriti based and saahitya (lyric) oriented, while Hindustani music emphasises on the musical structure and the possibilities of improvisation in it. Hindustani music adopted a scale of Shudha Swara saptaka (octave of natural notes) while Carnatic music retained the traditional octave. Both systems have shown great assimilative power, constantly absorbing folk tunes and regional tilts and elevating many of them to the status of ragas. These systems have also mutually influenced each other.

source: http://www.culturopedia.com/Music/musicintro.html

Origin of Indian Classical Music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. It is also significantly influenced by Persian music.

The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length. The Samaveda was created out of Rigveda so that its hymns could be sung as Samagana; this style evolved into jatis and eventually into ragas. Indian classical music has its origins as a meditation tool for attaining self realization. All different forms of these melodies (ragas) are believed to affect various "chakras" (energy centers, or "moods") in the path of the Kundalini. However, there is little mention of these esoteric beliefs in Bharat's Natyashastra, the first treatise laying down the fundamental principles of drama, dance and music.

Indian classical music has one of the most complex and complete musical systems ever developed. Like Western classical music, it divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 7 basic notes are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa, in order, replacing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. However, it uses the just intonation tuning (unlike most modern Western classical music, which uses the equal-temperament tuning system).

source::http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_music