india classical

• Raga


  A scale or mode in Indian classical music that has strict rules about usage
• Tala


  A cyclic/repeating rhythm pattern in Indian classical music
• Raga performance


  • Not worked out beforehand
  • Relies on a Raga and Tala
  • Considerable improvisation and ornamentation added by performers
  • Can last all night
• Characteristic rhythms and metres in Indian classical music

  • Regular Talas
  • Irregular Talas
  • Most popular Tala is Tintal (16 beats per cycle)
  • Over 300 Talas
  • Hand claps and waves used to mark certain beats
• Raga


  • Melodies based on patterns of notes with strict rules about usage
  • Associated with a particular time of day, night or season and have different moods
  • Some Ragas vary in ascent and descent
  • Notated using Sargam notation
• Dynamics in a Raga performance

  • Start softly (p) during Alap and Jhor
  • Gradual crescendo in Jhala
  • Very loud at the end
• Texture of Indian classical music

  • 3 basic layers: Melody (voice, sitar, sarangi, bansuri, esraj, sarod), Drone (tanpura, harmonium), Rhythm (tabla)
  • Opening sections have 2-part texture (melody and drone)
  • Final Gat section has 3-part texture (melody, drone, rhythm)
• Sections of a Raga performance

  1. Alap - slow, free, unmetred

  2. Jhor - speeds up, more rhythmic

  3. Jhala - further increase in tempo, greater sense of metre

  4. Gat - very fast tempo, complex rhythms

  5. Tempo rubato sometimes added
• Ensemble in Indian classical music

  • Musicians must work together to interpret the music and perform effectively
  • Start and stop together
  • Agree tempo and dynamic changes
  • Similar interpretation of expression and articulation
  • Balance between parts
• Form and structure of a Raga performance

  4 sections with no breaks: Alap, Jhor, Jhala, Gat (Bandish)
• Indian classical music developed around 1700 BC in temples and royal palaces
• Oral tradition


  Ragas and Talas learnt through the master-student tradition
• Spirituality (Hinduism) is an important part of Indian classical music
• Characteristics of Indian folk music

  • A Raga performance based on one Raga and one Tala with freedom for improvisation and ornamentation
  • No fixed length
• Indian classical music is now available via the internet, cinema, radio and live concerts
• Indian instruments are now heard in jazz, pop and rock (live or sampled)
• Artists, bands and performers of Indian classical music

  • Ravi Shankar
  • Anoushka Shankar
  • Alla Rakha
• Typical instruments in Indian classical music

  • Sitar
  • Tanpura
  • Sarod
  • Sarangi
  • Esraj
  • Harmonium
  • Bansuri
  • Singer
  • Tabla
• Indian music is based on the concept of raga, which refers to melodic patterns that are associated with specific moods or emotions.
• Instruments used in Indian music include the sitar (a stringed instrument), tabla (a pair of drums), sarangi (a bowed instrument), and veena (a plucked instrument).
• The rhythmic structure of Indian music is called tala, which consists of complex cycles of beats and subdivisions.