CBSE Class 11 Hindustani Music Melodic Instruments (035)
Chapters: 6
1. Basic Concepts
Nada to gat
- Music Theory Basics: The Language of Music – Music theory explains how music is built. Pitch is how high or low a note is; the seven note names repeat every octave, where the frequency doubles. Rhythm is how sounds are placed in time over a steady beat, counted in note values and grouped into bars by a time signature. Scales follow step patterns (major: T T S T T T S), and chords stack notes such as the 1st, 3rd and 5th. Dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and form complete the elements of music.
2. Forms
Dhrupad, Masitkhani and Razakhani gat
- Forms of Hindustani Music – Hindustani (North Indian) classical music has several forms. Dhrupad is the oldest: serious, slow, sung with the pakhawaj in chautal after a long nom-tom alap, in four parts (sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog). Dhamar is a dhrupad-style form in the 14-beat dhamar tala, with Holi songs. Khayal ("imagination") grew in the 18th century: freer and more decorative, with a slow bada khayal and a fast chhota khayal on the tabla. Tarana uses syllables instead of words and is fast. On sitar and sarod, the Masitkhani gat is slow and the Razakhani gat is fast, both in teentaal.
3. Texts and Musicians
Natya Shastra and musicians
- History of Indian Music: Texts and Great Musicians – Indian music grew over about 3000 years. Sama Veda hymns gave the first melodies. Bharata's Natya Shastra described swaras, 22 shrutis, gramas, jatis and four families of instruments, including membrane drums (avanaddha). Sharngadeva's Sangeet Ratnakar (13th century) gathered the theory; Ahobal's Sangeet Parijat (17th century) fixed note positions on the veena string. Tansen made dhrupad famous; the tabla grew in the 18th century with khayal. Around 1900, Bhatkhande and Paluskar brought notation and music schools, and 20th-century masters took the music worldwide.
4. Tala and Instrument
Talas and instrument structure
- Taal: The Rhythm Cycle of Hindustani Music – A taal is a fixed cycle of beats (matras) split into groups (vibhags). The cycle starts on sam, strong groups are marked by a clap (tali) and a lighter group by a wave (khali). Its basic drum pattern is the theka.
5. Ragas
Prescribed ragas
- Raga: The Melody Plan of Indian Music – A raga is a set of chosen notes (swaras) with its own way of going up (arohana) and coming down (avarohana), its important notes, typical phrases and mood. In Carnatic music the 72 melakartas are parent ragas with all seven notes; janya ragas are born from them. In Hindustani music each raga has a vadi (most important note) and samvadi (second), and a usual time of day. Ragas are sung in a tala (time cycle) such as Adi (8 beats) or Rupaka, and the singer creates new music inside the rules (manodharma).
6. Practical
Performance
- Music Performance: Playing Solo and in an Ensemble – Performing music means playing or singing a piece for listeners. A good performance is accurate (right notes, right rhythm), keeps a steady tempo, uses dynamics and phrasing to show feeling, and fits the style of the music. In an ensemble, players also listen to each other, balance their volume and follow cues. Good preparation is slow, careful practice in small chunks, then speeding up and performing for others.