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III. Theory and practice of classical music.
This section addresses the styles and structures of Indian classical music as it is performed today and as it has been described over centuries in the theoretical works introduced in §II above. While practice has always moved ahead of theory, theory has articulated the underlying concepts and provided a technical vocabulary that is still used by musicians today. Study of the theoretical sources reveals how Indian music has constantly changed and developed while remaining faithful to certain underlying principles.
The science of music (sangīta) is traditionally divided into vocal music (gīta), instrumental music (vādya) and dance (nrtya). This sequence underlies the highly influential treatise Sangīta-ratnākara by the 13th-century writer Śārngadeva. Śārngadeva further divided his account of vocal music into (1) tonal systems; (2) rāga; (3) melodic elaboration and (vocal) ensembles; (4) compositions; (5) tāla (as articulated by rhythmic instruments); (6) instruments and instrumental music; (7) dance. This sequence is followed in the present section, except that the topic ‘Rhythm and tāla’ (§4 below), which applies to both vocal and instrumental music, precedes ‘Compositions, genres and performance of vocal music’ (§5 below).
1. Tonal systems.
2. Rāga.
3. Melodic elaboration.
4. Rhythm and tāla.
5. Compositions, genres and performance of vocal music.
6. Instrumental traditions.
7. Aesthetics.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
India, Subcontinent of, §III: Theory and practice of classical music.
1. Tonal systems.
(i) Svara.
(ii) History of tonal systems.
(iii) Scale-types in modern theory.
(iv) The 22 śruti in modern theory.
India, Subcontinent of, §III, 1: Theory and practice of classical music., Tonal systems.
(i) Svara.
Svara can have two senses: an abstract pitch class, a scale degree; or a melodic element, a scale degree in a melodic context. The names of the seven svara and the syllables by which they are solmized in teaching and performance are set out in Table 1. The syllables can function as an oral and a written notation. Three octave registers (sthāna ‘position’ or saptak ‘group of 7’) called mandra (‘soft’, ‘low’), madhya (‘medium’) and tāra (‘carrying’, ‘high’) are associated with the chest, throat and head registers of the voice respectively. Additional lower and higher octaves (atimandra, atitāra) are encountered in instrumental music.
Since the 16th century the first scale degree, sadja, has functioned as a universal reference-pitch or tonic for all rāgas and is sustained or reiterated as a drone accompaniment (kharaj, sur, śruti). The svara refer to relative pitches, not to a common pitch standard, since each soloist fixes the sadja at a pitch to suit his or her voice or instrument. The chosen pitch may be defined with reference to the keys of the harmonium: kālī ek ‘first black [key]’ (C), safed do ‘second white’ (D) etc. In Western writings, and in this article, sadja is equated by convention with C. In most rāgas, either the perfect fourth or the perfect fifth degree, madhyama or pañcama, is also structurally important and is usually included in the drone. The functions and pitches of the remaining svara vary from rāga to rāga.
Svara can be construed as scale degrees, defined in terms of the 22 microtones (śruti) of ancient theory or the 12 pitch positions (svarasthāna) of modern practice. In addition there are particular ways of treating each scale degree in specific musical contexts, referred to as gamaka (‘ornament’), lāg (‘way of taking’), uccār (‘pronunciation’) etc. Sometimes the way of treating a svara is designated by reference to a well-known rāga: Kānadā ga or Todī ga, Adānā ni or Bhairavī ni etc. A pitch becomes a svara by virtue of a particular mode of approach, prolongation and release (see §3(i) below).
Svara are also defined in terms of intervallic relationships. Theory from the Nātyaśāstra onwards identifies three such relationships: ‘consonant’ (samvādī), perfect 4ths and 5ths; ‘dissonant’ (vivādī), minor 2nds and major 7ths; and ‘assonant’ (anuvādī), all other intervals. Consonance (samvāda) is required between the predominant note of a rāga (called the amśa or vādī) and its companion a 4th or 5th distant, the samvādī. It also obtains between other notes, melodic motifs and registers (see §2(iii)–(iv) below). Therefore it is an important factor in the structure and evolution of scales, rāgas and melodies, especially in Hindustani music. Intervallic relationships are important not only between the successive pitches of a melody, but also between each individual svara and the ever-present drone.
India, Subcontinent of, §III, 1: Theory and practice of classical music., Tonal systems.
(ii) History of tonal systems.
The history of Indian tonal systems shows a gradual change, (1) from a microtonal to a semitonal division of the octave; (2) from a variable tonic system, where each svara can serve as the ground-note of scales and modes, to the use of sa as a universal system-tonic; and (3) from a system in which only three svara are of variable relative pitch to systems in which all are variable except sa and pa. The relationship of modern practice to older systems, and of each to Pythagorean and other tonal theories, has been the subject of intense debate among Western and Indian scholars. The theoretical primacy of heptatonic scales may reflect distant links with other Asian systems of antiquity, but hexatonic and especially pentatonic structures have been equally important. Scales with augmented 2nds appear in theory from the 16th century onwards and presumably reflect the arrival at Indian courts of musicians from Islamic Central Asia and Iran.
(a) Ancient Indian terms: grāma, śruti, mūrcchanā.
(b) The tonal system of the Sangīta-ratnākara.
(c) The development of the Karnatak general scale.
(d) The development of the Hindustani general scale.
India, Subcontinent of, §III, 1(ii): Theory and practice of classical music., Tonal systems., i) History of tonal systems.
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