PERFORMANCE PRACTICE IN INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC
- Performers sit cross-legged on the floor while performing.
- Performances can last several hours, and are of indeterminate length.
- The vast majority of the music is improvised, and the performers are constantly communicating and responding to each other with their playing.
Three key elements need to be studied:
- Rag
- Tala
- Drone
Raga are Indian scales
Rag Desh
Rhythms are based on tala (rhythmic cycles)
John Ball made this tala recording for you
STRUCTURE
An Indian classical piece is usually in three sections. As the music is predominantly improvised, the length of each section is always different.
- ALAP The opening section of an Indian classical piece is in free time, beginning with just the drone. The instrument playing the raga improvises, beginning slowly, with just a few notes from the scale. Over time, more and more notes are incorporated into the improvisation.
- GAT The tabla enters in this section, improvising over the tala. The melody instrument continues to improvise over the raga, but the material becomes more complex. Some ‘fixed compositions’ (also called gats) may also be played.
- JHALLA Towards the end of the piece, the tempo increases, and the music builds in excitement and intensity. Both the tala and raga instruments perform virtuosic patterns that are both melodically and rhythmically complex. The piece ends with a huge climax.