AOS2 Shared Music Ensemble

Indian Classical Music

Indian classical music

Indian music usually has:

A single melody line (based on a raga)

A rhythmic pattern (known as a tala)

A drone

Tala

A cycle of beats that forms the rhythmic basis of

a piece of music
They are made up of strong beats and weak
beats

Tala Rhythms
Dadra
XO
1 2

XO

1 2

Kahavra
XO
1 2
Ektal
9

10

Raga

It is a scale of notes used to create a melody

Linked to a particular time of day or season

Handed down from one generation to the next

as part of oral tradition

I'm droning on a bit...

A drone is a sustained sound which carries on

throughout the piece, usually based on the first note
of the raga harmonised in intervals of a fifth

Instruments

The Sitar

Used to play the melody of the raga.

Frets like a guitar, played by plucking strings

Tabla

Pair of small single headed

drums

Played with the fingers and

the palm of the hand
black spots have different
sounds

Task

To create a short composition in the style of an

Indian classical piece.
1 to compose your own raga (scale of notes)
using keyboards or your own instrument

2 to devise your own tala (rhythm)

Be sure to write both of these down