Learning the Art of Indian Classical Music

Learning the Art of Indian Classical Music. To help you learn the art of Indian classical music this article will brief you about all important components of the art like : Swara, Guru Shishya Parampara, Sadhana, Deity, Chilla, Gharanas and also the instrument “Tanpura”.

काव्यालापांश्च ये केचिद् गीतकान्यखिलानि च ।

शब्दमूर्तिधरस्यैते विष्णोरंशा महात्मनः ॥

All Poetry and all Music

are but parts of the body

of the great God

who wears the form of Sound

Learning the Art

The Search for Swara

The whole social ambiance, the folklore, and the myths, the nature of its discipline or Sadhana, the Guru Shishya Parampara, the instruments used to accompany and support our music, especially the Tanpura, even the Gharanas, all these are directed to a single end-the acquisition of the Swara, the core and substance of Indian music. The Ragas are transient, passing, changing with the performer’s moods or spiritual fluctuations, the time of day, and the season.

What is stable and eternal is the Swara. Its acquisition is not merely necessary but vital and indeed the only truth in the art. If we do not understand Swara and its function, we demean this art to the level of entertainment which it was never intended to be.

The realization of Swara is so basic to our music that it is often overlooked because of its sheer omnipresence, in the same way as God is overlooked by his sheer omnipresence. The problem has always been that we have hesitated to admit openly that Swara does exist as a goal and as a felt experience in our music.

It is looked upon as the unspeakable and refer ences are made to it only obliquely. Historically too, for obvi ous reasons, the pursuit of Swara was, at some point, replaced by the need to attain an accomplished standard in the art of Raga. But whenever Indian music has been true to itself, its seeking has always been after the Swara.

1. Ravi Shanar Sitar-Raga Abhogi KanadaKa44

In Raga Music, the acquisition of Swara, the inner hidden side of a musical note, presents the most awesome challenges in the saga of the growth of the human spirit. The gaining of Swara, in a way, cannot be separated from a process of trans formation of the nature and spirit of the student.

There is a famous Sanskrit Shloka about learning.

आचार्यात्पादमादत्ते पादमेकं स्वमेधया।

पादं सब्रह्मचारिभ्यः पादं कालेन पच्यते ॥

In the process of learning, the first part comes through the teacher or the preceptor; the second part through the practice and devotion of the student himself; the third part emerges from the contact and the interaction with other students; the last is a product of the alchemy of time.”

The Guru Shishya Parampara

We will also, therefore, first try and understand that very special relationship in music between a teacher and a student, which is known as the Guru Shishya Parampara. It is traditionally believed that music cannot be learned deeply and truly, without such a system or something similar to it. People also like to believe that there is in this meeting of two seekers of music, something predestined. It is not only the question of the disciple finding his master but as much of the master finding his disciple.

2. Sanskrit Shloka

3. Ali Akbar Khan-Sarod-Raga Ahir Bhairav

For what is taught in the Guru Shishya Parampara is more than knowledge about music, more than technique, style, or aesthetics of Raga music. What is transmitted is a life, a whole range of values and perceptions, and an unswerving vision. The student assimilates them so imperceptibly that he is not even aware of them as elements of his experience with his Guru. And the essence of this relationship is love.

The student meets a person who has journeyed in a very special way in his life, one whose path has been lit by music. He sees how such a man lives and breathes and acts. He goes to him not merely to know all about music but to be touched by his spirit and to get transformed in his music in the process.

In the beginning, the relationship could be just that of a teacher and a student. Whether it will eventually grow into that of the Guru and the Shishya depends on many factors which are extremely difficult to predict. For it does not come from hard work alone. If work alone were sufficient there would be a hundred Kumar Gandharvas and Bade Ghulam Ali Khans in the world of our music.

Most of our present and recent great masters have had students to whom they have attempted to pass on their own genius. But very few have truly succeeded except notionally. Consider a kettle placed on a burner to boil. If you hold a lit matchstick under this kettle, a lifetime’s burning will not make the water in the kettle boil. It needs temperature.

It is not merely a question of living with the Guru, of making one’s physical life part of his life. It is not sufficient to have respect for the Guru and the desire to serve him, it is not the absence of arrogance and the presence of humility, it is not intelligence and knowledge. It is the irresistible lure of music and the white heat of a single-minded devotion and passion.

On the side of the Guru, his effort is not so much to instruct as to awaken and set free the music which is dormant in the disciple. He succeeds in doing so to the extent he has mastered his art but, even more, when he has explored his own self and has lived the truths he has known so that his whole life has become a channel through which these truths flow into his music. In this relationship, the Shishya and the Guru seem to fuse and grow into one, but without losing their own identities.”

The Sadhana

To acquire the Swara it is not sufficient for the disciple to find his Guru. He has to bring his own zeal and dedication to the effort. To learn the rules and structure of the Raga is not too difficult. It is the discovery and acquisition of the Swara which demands Riyaz, Sadhana and Nadopasana.

Between those who have never really worked on their voices, getting by on their naturally endowed Swara, and those who have relentlessly pursued it as a discipline in their lives, the gap is hard to bridge. The difference between them is not one of degree but of quality. The reason lies in the manner of acquiring it.

4. Ali Akbar Khan-Sarod-Raga Ahir Bhairav

Swara is acquired by, what can be called, musical Brahmacharya. Brahmacharya is ordinarily defined as period life when a student denies himself life’s pleasures, comfort, serves his Guru, lives a life of chastity continence. This chastity is denial delight, life and art. It is achieved by directing all energies in one single direction until the essence of Swara is obtained. But we learn the Raga we cannot keep Rasa out of Raga for Rasa is the essence of Raga. This is why work on the Swara through the will and through feelings.

This is also why even Raga is kept out during the process of the Swara building. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the work confined single notes of the scale. During this period we exclude all Bhavas and Rasas by discarding the graces that are associated with the Raga.

In the search for the Swara, the voice metaphorically disassembled like the works a watch, cleaned, and then together again. is a journey that is truly without any perceivable end. No one can say when, if or the Swara will be revealed to the student. He takes one from the scale time, polishes and cleans cuts it in facets like a shining diamond finally he penetrates its interior after much effort, waiting, and trauma.

Even the Guru is not able to help him speed up the process. All may do stand-by orders to reinforce the student’s courage. exercise does not result a better voice. It is like a caterpillar that grows a butterfly. A butterfly, not an improved caterpillar transformed new is reborn.

5. D.V. Paluskar – Vocal – Raga Shree

The Deity in the Swara

The concept associated with the quest for Swara is that in the heart of each musical note is a door through which, when it is opened, a wondrous universe is revealed, rich in significance and meaning. A point of timeless bliss is found to reside within. This, say the Shastras, is the Deity that resides in the heart of each note.

As yet the notes have been but sweet sounds. They are like pieces of plastic, glass, and stone, bright red or deep blue but without that hidden light, the flashing tongue of cold fire that makes a stone precious.

But once the Swara is attained and the Deity is experienced, the notes spring to life. They flash and gleam revealing the essence of the singer. The opening of this temple door and the entry into this strange realm is the true story of Indian music.

The Chilla

One of the most austere and mysterious traditions, in the learning of Indian classical music, is the tradition of the Chilla.” The Chilla is an all-out effort made in total isolation from the rest of the world. It can have several purposes: to attain a greater excellence in performance, a mastery in technique, and sometimes to find the Swara in one’s music.

The Shishya, or disciple, decides on his own, aware of the gravity of his vow, to shut himself in a secluded room. He totally cuts himself off from all human contacts. He does not see or talk even with the members of his own family. He allows himself the barest time for his most essential physical needs which have to be fulfilled within the confines of his self-imposed isolation. Nothing is permitted, even momentarily, to break the intensity of his concentration.

7. Shubha Mudgal-Vocal-Raga Yaman
8. D.V. Paluskar-Vocal-Raga Shree
9. Debendra Chakraborty Tabla-Teental

A Chilla normally lasts for forty days, hence its name. But there may be a string of successive Chillas extending for longer periods, even over years. Such an extreme step has to be taken after careful thought, but once decided upon, it is a voluntary act, an act of love. There are no compulsions or external restraints of any kind. The student has only his Tanpura, or his instrument, as a companion while he grapples with life’s severe demands. In this solitude, he comes face to face with himself. He tests his own resolve, strength, and deep need.

No one is in a position to judge the outcome of the Chilla. In some rare cases its effect can be so far-reaching that the student abandons all desire, even for music, and becomes a mendicant withdrawing from life and turning into a wandering Sanyasi. Many illusions about life and its meaning drop away from people who do the Chilla. The Chilla is in the nature of a rebirth and most often can mark the birth of a new musician.

Many of the great names in Indian classical music have done the Chilla. Some several times for several years. The names are legion. Apart from its immediate gain, the Chilla can lead one to a higher mental and spiritual plane. Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan once said that if we do a Chilla long enough the period differs from person to person – we cannot get free of its psychological state. We remain in it all our life even after we have emerged from the formal Chilla. This is a spiritual state, the “Mehfil ki tanhayee”, the loneliness in the crowd, spoken of by the poets.

In Chilla there are no failures. We always get something we could not have got otherwise. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan describing the nature of the Chilla says, “If you have fallen into the water, whether you know how to swim or not, you are wet”.

That is all the Chilla does. It wets us, through and through, with an awareness of the awesome meaning of man’s existence. Abdul Karim Khan is reported to have told Pandit Bhatkhande. the musicologist, that the Chilla is like “lighting a fire under your life. If you do not cook you will burn. It is better to get cooked so that everyone can enjoy your flavour. Otherwise, you will be a mass of cinders, a heap of ash.\

The Gharanas

The growth of Indian music is very closely linked with the growth of musical families and traditions, which are known as the Gharanas. The Gharanas are, in a way, an extension of the Guru Shishya Parampara and an ideal ambiance for the acquisition of Swara and the pursuit of Sadhana. For Sadhana is not mere practice and this distinction is preserved by the Gharanas even in their inheritance.

The Gharanas are identified by their particular styles of music and view of life-which are passed on from father to son or mostly from teacher to disciple. They are generally named after a place or a family. We can look upon a Gharana as a vessel that holds together particular kinds of efforts, secrets of talent, training or inspiration which, in some cases, are accumulated by a family over generations. It keeps the liquid as though in a concentrated state, hot and simmering, preventing it from getting cooled or dissipated.

10. D.V. Paluskar-Vocal-Raga Shree

Then, once in a while, this milieu emerges singer, whose extraordinary passion and love for music brings the liquid to boil over. Suddenly the musician the Gharana into infinite world music and makes an immortal impact upon his times. He takes birth the Gharana but endeavors to enlarge scope.

The of the Gharana consists fulfilling this need own time. the means by which ated. The understanding Guru provides Shishya with his experience, love and care, insights and practice, so one the Shishya may find this release.

But all musicians of the Gharana can attain this. They are the comrades whom the musician grows and learns then moves on. stay part the Gharana, working on new insights illuminations that the liquid may potent and simmering, for another burst of the boil, preparing the coming to another musician, whether from among family or from outside. They not But they keep alive the tradition and find their fulfillment their own Sadhana and in assisting in birth those who are heart soul Indian music.”

There are several stories told the Gharanas, about concrete and close life their art It not uncommon to that, in family Tabla players, number of Tukras or special compositions rhythmic patterns, much treasured Gharana, are offered dowry with the bride. The members of girl’s family never play with them again, after these are given away with girl. The family receiving the dowry, may use them unaltered or restructure them creatively to enrich its own style. Instances of such dowries are also found in the families of vocalists and instrumentalists.

11. Ravi Shangkar – Sitar – Raga Shudh Sarang

There is also the story of a singer from the Gwalior Gharana who, on account of a financial crisis in his family, pawned the Raga Darbari which he used to sing uncommonly well. When ordered by the Maharaja to sing Darbari, the singer regretted his inability to do so. After much persuasion, the Maharaja discovered what had happened. On behalf of his court musician, the Maharaja redeemed the Raga that had been pawned and thus freed the singer from his debt of honor.

To the Gharanas music is not a mere art. It is life. It is all there is.

12. Vilayat Khan Sitar- Raga Shankara

13. Sound of the Tanpura

The Tanpura

No Indian musician is complete without his Tanpura. Yet those who have not entered into this world, look upon it as a mere background drone and are unable to understand its role and its special relationship with the musician. The Swara of Indian music would have been a myth without the existence of this, one of the most mysterious instruments ever invented.

Only someone who has used the Tanpura, learned how to tune it perfectly, can understand its true power and significance. Some musicians feel that it is the only instrument that can give at least a vague clue, if that is at all possible, of the meaning of terms like Nada Brahman or Anahata Nada.

If we hold a perfectly tuned Tanpura to our ear, we will hear a swirl, a submarine sound of extraordinary delicacy and pur ity. As we listen to its sound, our eyes closed, gently dissolving into its eddies and if the time is dusk, before the lamps are lit, we can hear the Tanpura singing. Perhaps it is the Raga Yaman or the Raga Poorvi. Distant, it sounds like a pealing temple bell in our ear.

Away, beyond, at the edges of the sound, on any day at dawn or dusk, or in the depths of the night, we can hear in the Tanpura the waiting Ragas, laughing or crying out in an anguish of need, that they may be released from their timeless restraint within the instrument and be sung by the singer. Finally as we quietly listen to the entreaties of the Ragas within, we find the call ir resistible and we succumb and begin to sing.”

The sound of the Tanpura seems to cover its tracks as it moves along. Its front and its back are the same and it stays in the same place even as its strings are plucked in sequence. From the Pancham, Madhyam or Nishad, to whichever notes the Tanpura has been tuned, the plucking gives the impression of four notes being struck but the sound feels like a steady hold ing tide on a beach, the waves of sound retracting all their back ward steps, reaching back to the source which seems poised on an eternal present, the tenseless ‘Now’ of the Vedanta. ¹5

All the Ragas of Indian music are present in the Tanpura. As the Chilla proceeds and months and years pass, the Tanpura becomes our lifelong companion, our source of strength and light. Once it is held in the hand, in its swirling notes the musi cian becomes oblivious of everything of the world and even of himself.

It is difficult to believe, for someone who has known music. only from the outside, that an inanimate object made of wood, gourd, and metal strings could have such a living impact upon a human being. Only a musician who has lived with a Tanpura can believe that the Tanpura has a life of its own.

Only someone who has done a Chilla with it can know it. If we do not approach the instrument as a part of ourselves, tuning, wiping, and handling it daily, if we leave it unattended for several days, we will find that it has literally turned its back upon us. It takes days of care and attention, love and pleading, till it returns to us once again, ready and giving.”

14. Kishori Amonkar-Vocal-Raga Bhoop

15. Sound of the Tanpura

There are four strings on a Tanpura. This is usually enough although there are some Tanpuras that have more. But four is the standard. Three of these strings are made of steel and the fourth is of brass or copper, sometimes coiled like the strings of a guitar. The first string is usually tuned to Pa, the fifth note of our scale or sometimes to Ma, the fourth note. There are some Ragas which are enriched when the Tanpura’s first string is tuned to Ni. The two middle strings are usually tuned to Sa and the last brass or copper string to the lower Sa. Let us listen once again to the sound of the Tanpura.”17

The Tanpura has to be finely tuned. This does not mean that we adjust the pegs to the right frequency and leave it there. After the pitch is secured by adjusting the pegs, there are beads through which the strings pass and these have to be adjusted very delicately. This tunes the notes to the dead centre. But there is another step left to be taken and this is done finally by, what can be called, the tuning of the texture of the note.”

No two Tanpuras can be tuned to an identical texture. Yet musicians like Kumar Gandharava, whose tuning of the Tanpura was almost esoteric, can be said to have achieved almost identical textures. This done with the help of small pieces of cotton or wool that pass under each string in pass age across the bridge. These strings are moved infinitesimally back and forth until, at particular point, the Tanpura sudden ly leaps into life. This also called the Jawari or the Jeeva.

A stream of Anuswaras and deep overtones surge out the Tanpura when these strings are fixed perfectly and sensitively adjusted to give the right texture the note. Soft echoing calls whisper the background of well-tuned Tanpura, rich plush Gandharas and grieving Madhyams and unrequited Nishads, that call and beckon from within the instrument.

Many musicians often use more than one Tanpura while singing. Kumar Gandharva usually used two, but his tuning was, what Alain Danielou has called, kind Theophany’. Not instrument any more but voice from “the burning bush”. sprays silver on voice, dazzling and gleaming like moonlight on fresh fallen snow..

Many musicians often use more than one Tanpura while singing. Kumar Gandharva usually used two, but his tuning was, what Alain Danielou has called, kind Theophany’. Not instrument anymore but the voice from “the burning bush”. sprays silver on voice, dazzling and gleaming like moonlight on fresh fallen snow..

The mystery of Tanpura and its relationship with the singer cannot be described. Nor can it be understood by the mind. It only experienced.”1⁹

16. Kishori Amonkar-Vocal-Raga Bhoop

17. Sound of the Tanpura

18. Tuning of the Tanpura