Author: Highwater, Jamake

Publication Year: 1981

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Indian music is the product of over 200 tribes which still exist in the today with a total population of almost a million people. Each of these tribes has its own distinct music, dance, and philosophical viewpoint. And yet there's an overriding focus which makes Indian music different from every other music in the contemporary world. (from abstract)

Abstract:

Indian music is the product of over 200 tribes which still exist in the today with a total population of almost a million people. Each of these tribes has its own distinct music, dance, and philosophical viewpoint. And yet there's an overriding focus which makes Indian music different from every other music in the contemporary world.

The most obvious aspect of Indian music is of course the prevalence of drums and rattles and the characteristic harshness of vocal tone - a sort of flat, nonemotional sound. Indian music is essentially unison vocal composition with percussive accompaniment. Voice production is typically strong in accent with tension in the vocal organs and an Asiatic-like pulsation on the long notes. It's a music of linear structure, not unlike the music of Asia. It does not excel in harmonic development. The melodic structure descends predominantly from higher to lower pitch in either terraced or downward cascading intervals. Melodic polyphony - the simultaneous voicing of two or more melodic lines - is nonexistent except for an occasional drone-type accompaniment of a voice or voices using a single sustained pitch. Instruments are used strictly for rhythmic accompaniment; there's very little purely instrumental music such as solo drumming or any other kind of instrumental virtuosity. Structurally uneven bar lengths and asymmetrical rhythmic patterns are far more common than consistent measure lengths.

That's the technical side of the picture, but it tells us very little about the sounds produced by these techniques. Music, like all the arts, is built upon the viewpoint of a culture, and the music of Indians has almost nothing in common with the attitudes which give substance and direction to Anglo music. (p. 3-8)

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Cultural Diversity