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In western classical music, the Piano has an octave that
consists of 12 notes, whereas in Indian classical music
the same consists of 22 notes or shrutis. Swara is
generally defined as a note whereas a shruti is the
microtonal intervals between two swaras.
The great diversity of Indian traditions has given birth
to a variety of musical instruments. Some of these
instruments are played solo while others are used as
accompanying instruments to the soloists and dancers.
There are instruments that are strictly devotional and
ritualistic like the conch and the Khol drum. The
evolution of most musical instruments is evident in the
ancient cave paintings and sculptures of historic temples.
Indian musical instruments are also broadly classified
into the four types: stringed, wind, percussion and bells,
cymbals and gongs.
The stringed instruments vary according to their
complications. The simplest of these being, the single
stringed `ektara`. The veena, sitar, sarangi and sarod too
are popular stringed instruments. These instruments
commonly have round resonators at one end and are made out
of dried hollow gourd. The veena is said to have been used
by Bharata in his musical studies. The sitar is said to
have been invented by Amir Khusrau. The sarod is smaller
of the lot and has 10 main strings and 15 sympathetic
strings. The sarangi on the other hand, is played with a
bow. The other stringed instruments include the dilruba,
esraj, tanpura, ektara and the mayuri.
Among the wind instruments the most popular is the Shahnai,
a double-reeded flute. The bansuri has many variations
producing different pitches and sounds. Other wind
instruments include the bansuri, nadaswaram, ninkirns and
pongi.
There are many types of drums in India. The double-faced
ones can be hit on both sides, like the dholak or the
pakhawaj. Similarly, the mridangam of the south used to
accompany Carnatic music, is placed on the lap of a person
and struck with the hands on both sides. The tabla on the
other hand is a set of two single faced drums and is
played using both hands. It is the traditional
accompaniment for Hindustani music. Religious festivals in
Kerala are incomplete without the large drums called `chenda`,
which are beaten with sticks. The `ghatam` is perhaps the
most interesting as it is a big round clay pot. It is
placed on the musician`s lap and he taps it with his
fingers and knuckles to produce the most exciting sounds.
The last category `ghana`, has a wide variety of
instruments that are percussion - based like bells,
clappers, cymbals and gongs. They usually fulfill rhythmic
functions that produce a variety of notes like the other
instruments. The jal-tarang is a set of china bowls of
varying sizes filled with different quantities of water,
which produce different notes when tapped with a stick. |
