Indian Music- Trends and Traditions

About the Book Indian classical music is the only music which has its own traditions carried on from the 'Vedic times. An effort is made to give details of different gharanas of Indian music, as well all the prevalent forms. Some of the problems faced by a student of music along with some suggestions to overcome them are also touched. Over all It is a humble attempt which may- prove very beneficial to students of music and . gives an understanding of our traditional art to a general reader.

About the Author Professor Vinay Kumar Aggarwal is a well known Sitar Player graded Top Class from A.I.R. and T.V., who has performed all over India and abroad. PhD from Delhi University and author of many articles and a book 'Indian Music Through Foreign Eyes'.

He has served Kurukshetra University's Music Department as Professor Head and the Dean of faculty of Indic Studies. Many scholars got their Ph.D. degrees under his guidance.

He has served Music Department 0 Delhi University also as Professor and Head & Dean Faculty of Music and Fine Arts and retired as a professor from the same.

Dr. Alka Nagpal is a Reader in the Department of Music. Delhi University and 'A' class graded Si Player. She is a topper and gold medalist in M.A. from Kurukshetr University and Ph.D. from Delhi University. She is the author 0 'Sangeet Mein Shodh Pravidhi’; She is also guiding few scholars for their Ph.D. work. She has performed in various prestigious music concerts I India.

Preface Gharana; as the word suggests, means a school of thought or a particular style in music. Our classical music as we famed it today apparently has been preserved by some of the great maestros of the past who were exponents of different styles and who handed over their respective secrets to the next generation. It is therefore, very essential for the votaries of music to get a lucid picture of the old traditions and . the history of forms in the light of newly sprung off shoots.

From the earliest times the tradition of India's great cultural heritage found its progressive path in the hands of great masters traditionally. Its bright future in foreign countries was foreseen by Pt. Ravi Shankar even four decades back when he commented that the world needed an exposure to our music in a big way. At that time he felt very much concerned about the slow decline of standard of Indian music, but as the time passed this fear of. his proved abortive and the music of Indian kept its supremacy over the music of the world in its 'aesthetic and spiritual manner.

It is interesting to note that inspire of many different languages spoken in the country and numerous customs, India before partition and even afterwards had only two systems of classical music i.e. Hindustani music and music of the South, known as Karnataka music. There is no rigid distinction in India between classical or folk music. These are correlated with each other.

Many books have been written on various aspects of Indian music by great authors; still the student of music wants to go through different writers, dealing particular topics in a concise form. The present book is a modest attempt of the writer to give the genealogy of musicians, the forms of Indian music from ancient to modern times and as well as the problems of a music student, all in a concise form so that not even a student of music but a general reader can also get a fair idea about . all these aspects of Indian music. In doing so I have not depended only on one source but have tried to collect the material from different sources. Again, undue importance has not been attached to anyone particular style but to my best ability, all have been treated equally. This would enable the readers to get an unbiased picture and to feel free to draw his own conclusions.

It is vitally desired by all concerned that a student of music should be conversant with all the different styles of different Gharanas. Of course, if this Endeavour of mine goes to any length to serve this long-standing need of the students of music and other music lovers, I shall consider my labor sufficiently well rewarded. I owe my gratefulness to my Guru, Pt. Ravi Shankar for writing the foreword of this humble attempt of mine, at my request and also for his continued encouragement and inspiration. I am also debated to all my colleagues and friends and other learned personalities who guided me from time to time and gave many valuable suggestions, so that this work could be completed in this form. I am also thankful to Smt. Alka Nagpal who helped me in collecting the material of this book as well as is a co-writer of this booklet.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages