Hindustani Classical Music

Music of India
A lady playing the Tanpura, c. 1735 (Rajasthan)
Genres
Traditional Classical Carnatic Odissi Hindustani Folk Borgeet Baul Bhajan Kirtana Shyama Sangeet Ramprasadi Rabindra Sangeet Nazrul Geeti Dwijendrageeti Atulprasadi Prabhat Samgiita Thumri Dadra Chaiti Kajari Sufi Ghazal Qawwali Modern Bhangra Bhangragga Blues Filmi Bollywood Ghazal Qawwali Chakwood Goa trance Dance Indi-pop Asian Underground Jazz Rock Bengali Raga
Media and performance
Music awards	Filmfare Awards Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Music festivals	Saptak Festival of Music Chennai Music Season Dover Lane music festival Purandaradasa Aradhana Tyagaraja Aradhana Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan
Music media	Sruti The Record
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	Jana Gana Mana
Regional music
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar (Maithili) Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Ladakh Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Ancient Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal

Music of Bangladesh
Baul, the mystic minstrel of Bengal.
Genres
Classical Rock Heavy metal Hip hop
Specific forms
Religious music	Hamd Naat Ghazal Qawwali Jari Srikrishno kirton Shyama Sangeet
Ethnic music	Agamani-Vijaya Baul Bhatiali Bhawaiya Dhamail Gombhira Kavigan Mymensingh Gitika Sari gan
Traditional music	Rabindra Sangeet Nazrul Geeti Lalon Hason Raja
Media and performance
Music awards	Shilpakala Academy Award
Music festivals	Dhaka World Music Festival RockNation
Music media	Radio Bangladesh Betar Radio Foorti Radio Today Radio Aamar ABC Radio Radio Next Television Channel 9 Banglavision NTV Channel i Channel 16 Internet AmaderGaan.com
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	Amar Shonar Bangla
Other	Notuner Gaan (National March) Ekusher Gaan (Ode to the Language Movement)
Regional music
Related areas	Bengal West Bengal
Other regions	India Pakistan

Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, shastriya sangeet (śāstriya saṅgīt). Its origins date from the 12th century CE, when it diverged from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of southern regions of the Indian subcontinent.

History

Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from what eventually came to be identified as Carnatic classical music. Hindustani music places more emphasis on improvisation and exploring all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic music is primarily composition-based. The central notion in both these systems is that of a melodic musical mode or raga, sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala. It is melodic music, with no concept of harmony. These principles were refined in the musical treatises Natya Shastra, by Bharata (2nd–3rd century CE), and Dattilam (probably 3rd–4th century CE).

In medieval times, the melodic systems were fused with ideas from Persian music, particularly through the influence of Sufi composers like Amir Khusro, and later in the Mughal courts, noted composers such as Tansen flourished, along with religious groups like the Vaishnavites.

After the 16th century, the singing styles diversified into different gharanas patronized in different princely courts. Around 1900, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande consolidated the musical structures of Hindustani classical music, called ragas, into a few thaats based on their notes. This is a very flawed system but is somewhat useful as a heuristic.

Distinguished musicians who are Hindu may be addressed as Pandit and those who are Muslim as Ustad. An aspect of Hindustani music going back to Sufi times is the tradition of religious neutrality: Muslim ustads may sing compositions in praise of Hindu deities and vice versa.

Characteristics

Indian classical music has seven basic notes with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike the 12-note scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and intertonal gaps (temperament) may also vary. The performance is set to a melodic pattern called a raga characterized in part by specific ascent (aroha) and descent (avaroha) sequences, "king" (vadi) and "queen" (samavadi) notes and characteristic phrases (pakad).

Ragas may originate from any source, including religious hymns, folk tunes, and music from outside the Indian subcontinent. For example, raga Khamaj and its variants have been classicized from folk music, while ragas such as Hijaz (also called Basant Mukhari) originated in Persian maqams.

History

Sanskritic tradition

Ravana and Narada from Hindu mythology are accomplished musicians; Saraswati with her veena is the goddess of music. Gandharvas are presented as spirits who are musical masters, and the gandharva style looks to music primarily for pleasure, accompanied by the soma rasa. In the Vishnudharmottara Purana, the Naga king Ashvatara asks to know the swaras from Saraswati.