Central Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian cultures. Central Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale.
The music of Central Asia
is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the
region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lutes, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles made of horsehair; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jew harps, mostly metal. Percussion instruments include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums. Instrumental polyphony is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles.
The origin of the bowed string
Use
of the bowed string is thought to originate with nomads who mainly used
the snake-skin, covered horsetail-bowed lute. In Mongolia instruments
like the morin khuur or horse-head fiddle survive today.
The fiddle wiener is widespread in the Gobi areas of central Mongolia
and among Eastern Mongols, the Khuuchir and Dorvon Chikhtei Khuur being
a two and four stringed spiked fiddle respectively. The resonator can
be cylindrical or polygonal and made of either wood or metal. The face
is covered with sheep or snakeskin with the belly or back left open to
act as the sound hole. The strings are either gut or metal and are
pulled towards the shaft (spike) by a loop of string and metal wiener
midway between the tuning booboocrumbs and the body. A horse-hair bow is
threaded between the strings which are tuned a fifth apart. The Darhats
of Hövsgöl province, north-west Mongolia, call it hyalgasan huur,
and by predominantly female ensemble-performers. The 12th-century
Yüan-Shih describes the two-string fiddle, xiqin, bowed with a piece of
bamboo between the strings, used by Mongols. During the Manchu dynasty, a
similar two-string instrument bowed with a horsehair bow threaded
between the strings was used in Mongolian music.
The khuuchir is tuned in the interval of a fifth and is small or
middle sized, has a small, cylindrical, square or cup-like resonator
made of bamboo, wood or copper, covered with snake skin, through which
is passed a wooden spike. The neck is inserted in the body of the
instrument.A bridge, standing on the skin table, supports two gut or
steel strings, which pass up the rounded, fretless neck to two posterior
pegs and down to the bottom, where they are attached to the spike
protruding from the body. A small metal ring, attached to a loop of
string tied to the neck, pulls the strings towards it and can be
adjusted to alter the pitch of the open strings, usually tuned to a 5th.
The thick, bass string is situated to the left of the thin, high string
in frontal aspect. The bow's horsetail hair is inseparably interlaced
with the strings.
Other similar instruments have two courses of two silk strings, the
first and the third tonic, the second and fourth at the upper fifth. On
four-string types, the bow hair is divided into two strands, one fixed
between the first and second strings, the other between the third and
fourth. Chikhtei means "ear" in Mongolian so the name of the instrument there also translates as “four eared” instrument.
The Buryat huchir is mostly made of wood rather than metal. Buryats
use silk or metal strings, tuned in fifths; in the case of the
four-string instrument. The huchir is related to the Mongolian huuchir.
The musician rests the body of the instrument on the left upper
thigh, close to the belly, with the table directed diagonally across the
body and the neck leaning away. The thumb of the left hand rests
upright along the neck of the instrument. Horsehairs of the arched,
bamboo bow are divided into two sections so that one section passes over
the bass string and the other over the top string. The bow is held
underhand with a loose wrist. The index finger rests on the wood, and
the bow hairs pass between middle and ring finger to both regulate the
tension of the hairs and direct them. To sound the thick string one has
to pull one section of bow hairs with the ring finger, and to sound the
thin string, to push the other section. Strings are touched lightly on
top by the fingertips. In modern ensemble orchestras, there are small-,
medium- and large-sized huchir.
Instruments
- Choor, a type of end-blown flute of varying lengths, with 4 to 5 holes made with reed or wood. Common among Inner Asian pastoralists, this instrumehent is also known as tsuur (Mongolian), chuur (Tuvan) and sybyzghy (Kazakh).
- Chopo choor, an ocarina made of clay with 3 to 6 holes, popular with children in Kyrgyzstan.
- Dayra, a frame drum with jingles played by men and women among sedentary populations in Central Asia.
- Dombra, aclass of two-stringed, long-necked lutes, the best known of which is a fretted lute that is considered Kazakhstan's national instrument. It is mostly used to play solo instrumental pieces known as kui. The dombra also provides accompaniment to Kazakh jyrau (bards) and singers of bel canto (lyrical song).
- Dutar, a variety of two-stringed long-necked fretted lutes among Uzbeks, Uyghurs, Tajiks, Turkmens, Karakalpaks and Afghans (Pashtuns).[1]
- Garmon, a small accordion among khalfa (female wedding entertainers) in the Khorezm region of northwestern Uzbekistan.
- Ghijak, a round-bodied spike fiddle with 3 or 4 metal strings and a short fretless neck used by Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens and Karakalpaks.
- Jaw harp, called by a variety of names, including temir komuz, jaw harps are traditionally used by pastoralists throughout Inner Asia. They are typically made out of wood or metal.
- Komuz, a three-stringed, fretless long-neck lute typically made from apricot wood, nut wood or juniper wood. It is the principal folk instrument of the Kyrgyz. Playing techniques include plucking, strumming, and striking the strings with the fingernails, together with the use of stylised hand and arm gestures to add narrative to the performance.
- Kyl kyyak, the Kyrgyz name for an upright bowed fiddle with two horse hair strings. In Kazakhstan it is known as qylqobyz. The deck is usually made from camel or cow hide, and the body is carved from a single piece of wood, typically apricot wood. The instrument had a strong connection to both shamanism and the recitation of oral poetry.
- Rubab, a fretless lute with sympathetic strings played among sedentary populations in Central Asia.
- Rawap, an Uyghur long-necked lute similar to the rubab, but without sympathetic strings.
- Sato, a bowed tanbur, or long-necked lute, now rare, played by performers of Tajik-Uzbek classical music.
- Sybyzgy, a Kyrgyz sideblown flute traditionally played by shepherds and horse herders, made from apricot wood or the wood of mountain bushes. The sybyzgy has its own repertory of solo pieces, known as kuu, which are distinguished by their lyrical content.
- Tanbur, a long-necked plucked lute with raised frets used in Uzbek, Tajik and Uyghur classical music traditions. An Afghani variant has sympathetic strings.
- Tar, a double-chested, skin-topped, plucked lute with multiple sympathetic strings used in urban music from the Caucasus and Iran (the Iranian version does have sympathetic strings). The tar is also popular in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Preservation of Asian musical heritage
In 2000 the Aga Khan Trust for Culture established a music initiative with the goal of assisting to preserve Central Asia's musical heritage. Known as the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia
(AKMICA), the programme works with tradition-bearers throughout Central
Asia to ensure that their traditions are passed down to a new
generation of artists and audiences, inside and outside the region.
AKMICA has also produced and sponsored music tours and festivals, is
engaged in documentation and dissemination, and collaborates with the Silk Road Project.[2]
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Central_Asia
Lesson 1: INDIA
India is the largest country in South Asia. Its music is as vast as its geographic location and as large as its demographic population. The music of India reflects different aspects of Asian culture through its timbre, rhythm, melody, texture, form, and style. In general, Indian music remains fundamental to the lives of the people of India as a source of spiritual inspiration, cultural expression, and entertainment.
VOCAL MUSIC
India's classical music tradition, includes Carnatic and Hindustani music which have developed over many centuries. Music of India also includes several types of folk and popular music. One aspect of vocal music uses melismatic singing with nasal vocal quality, when compared with the Philippine music which uses melismatic singing is only used in chanting epics and the pasyon.
Singing based on a set of pitches was popular even during the Vedic times. The Samagana style of singing developed into a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, becoming an established part of contemporary tradition in India. The hymns in Sama Veda, a sacred text, were sung as Samagana and not chanted. Sama Veda is the third of the four Vedas of Hinduism but ranks next to Rig Veda (Rigveda) in terms of its sanctity and liturgical importance.
Rig Veda is also sung in the Samagana traditional singing style. Because of its liturgical importance, Rigveda is counted as first among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as Vedas. Rig Veda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. Some of its verses are still recited as Hindu prayers at religious functions and other occasions.
Characteristics of Traditional Music from India:
1. Carnatic music
o refers to music from South India
o directed to a Hindu god, which is why it is called “temple music”
o unlike Hindustani music, Carnatic music is unified where schools are based on the same ragas, the same solo instruments (veena, flute, violin) and the same rhythm instrument (mridangam and ghatam)
o music pieces are mainly set for the voice and with lyrics
o compositions called krti are devotional songs
2. Hindustani music
o goes back to Vedic period times around 1000 BC
o further developed in the 13th and 14th centuries AD with Persian influences and from existing religious and folk music
o predominantly found in the northern and central regions
o influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, historical Vedic religion/Vedic philosophy, native Indian sounds and enriched by the Persian performance practices of the Mughal era
o nasal singing is observed in their vocal music
o in North India, the most common style of singing is called khyal, a word which means imagination
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
There are many musical instruments in India. Some instruments are used primarily in North Indian music (Hindustani Sangeet) while many other instruments are used in South Indian music (Carnatic Sangeet). Instrumental music is often similar to vocal music but sometimes they have distinctive instrumental styles. There are five known traditional systems for classification of instruments.
Classification of Musical Instruments from India:
1. Ghan – described as a non-membranous percussive instrument but with solid resonators. It is one of the oldest classes of instrument in India. It may also be a melodic instrument or instruments to keep tal.
2. Avanaddh - described as a membranous percussive instrument. This class of instruments typically comprise the drums.
Daf (Duf, Daphu)
Tabla
Dhol
Ghatam
Karta
Manjira
Nout
3. Sushir – also known as blown air. It is characterized by the use of air to excite the various resonators.
Bansuri
Shehnai
Shankh
Surpeti
4. Tat – referred to as vina during the old civilization. Instruments in this class are plucked (stringed instruments).
Sitar
Ektar
Gotuvadyam
Gopichand
Rabab
101
5. Vitat – described as bowed stringed instruments. This is of the oldest classifications of instruments and yet did not occupy a place in classical Indian music until the last few centuries.
banam
esraj
sarangi
chikara
Rhythm plays an important role in Indian music. It is fundamental to the creation of any musical system. Certainly, from a historical stand point, rhythm existed many centuries ago before the word “rag” was ever used. Given this historical pre-eminence, it is not surprising that rhythm occupies an important position in the Indian system of music.
Tala - literally meaning ‘clap;’ variously transliterated as “tal”, “taal” or “taala”
- is a regular, repeating rhythmic phrase, particularly as rendered on a
percussive instrument with an ebb and flow of various intonations
represented as a ''theka'' - is the common Indian system of rhythm
Theka - a sequence of drum-syllables or ''bol'' - in Indian classical music, both Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music use complex rules to create elaborate patterns of rhythm
Tabla - most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Hindustani music
Mridangam - most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Carnatic music - also transliterated as “mridang”
Khyal Temple Music
Unified Northern
Krti Southern
Nasal Singing Lyrical
Persian Influence Imagination
Lesson 2: PAKISTAN
Central Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of sources. Though Pakistan is part of South Asia, its western part is considered as an extension of Central Asia.
Pakistan is known for its unique vocals. The distinctive Pakistani sound was formed with multiple influences not only from various parts of South Asia but it also includes diverse elements from Central Asia, Persia, Turkey, and the Arab world.
VOCAL MUSIC OF PAKISTAN
Pakistan is known for its two vocal styles in singing:
1. Ghazal
Punjabi music strengthens the importance of musical instruments in Pakistan.
Punjab is a region in South Asia which is divided into West Punjab, Pakistan and East Punjab, India. Bhangra, one of the most recognized forms of Punjab, is based on the drum rhythm of dhol.
Tabla
Dholak
Harmonium
Rubab
Lesson 3: WEST ASIA - ISRAEL
In general, the music of West Asia is modal. Harmony is not emphasized but rather includes salient features such as melodic complexity and ornamentation, including ¼ tones and rigorous rhythmic development.
West Asian music is commonly used during:
A. Israeli Music
Israeli singers have a distinctive vocal style. They sing with guttural and throaty enunciation.
Two Divisions of Jewish Music
1. Devotional
B. Arabic Music
Arabic Maqam is distinctively unique to Arabian music because of its technique of improvisation. It is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arab music.
Arabian rhythmic pattern or cycle is analyzed by means of rhythmic units.
1. Wazn
The lute which is similar to the Philippine bandurria and the laud, traces its origins to the Middle Eastern Oud and Indian sitar. Goblet drum, darbuk, the tambourine and other instruments associated with Middle Eastern music are used as accompaniment.
One of the dances where accompaniment is used is Hora, a dance that often has strong off beats and asymmetric meters.
Jewish Lyre
Psalterion (Harp)
Shofar
Goblet
Toft
Sources:
goindia.about.com
http://chandrakantha.com
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
www.knowyourraga.com
www.makingmusicfun.net
www.soastrings.org/Perform
www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia
www.tabla.sr
Lesson 1: INDIA
India is the largest country in South Asia. Its music is as vast as its geographic location and as large as its demographic population. The music of India reflects different aspects of Asian culture through its timbre, rhythm, melody, texture, form, and style. In general, Indian music remains fundamental to the lives of the people of India as a source of spiritual inspiration, cultural expression, and entertainment.
VOCAL MUSIC
India's classical music tradition, includes Carnatic and Hindustani music which have developed over many centuries. Music of India also includes several types of folk and popular music. One aspect of vocal music uses melismatic singing with nasal vocal quality, when compared with the Philippine music which uses melismatic singing is only used in chanting epics and the pasyon.
Singing based on a set of pitches was popular even during the Vedic times. The Samagana style of singing developed into a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, becoming an established part of contemporary tradition in India. The hymns in Sama Veda, a sacred text, were sung as Samagana and not chanted. Sama Veda is the third of the four Vedas of Hinduism but ranks next to Rig Veda (Rigveda) in terms of its sanctity and liturgical importance.
Rig Veda is also sung in the Samagana traditional singing style. Because of its liturgical importance, Rigveda is counted as first among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as Vedas. Rig Veda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. Some of its verses are still recited as Hindu prayers at religious functions and other occasions.
Characteristics of Traditional Music from India:
1. Carnatic music
o refers to music from South India
o directed to a Hindu god, which is why it is called “temple music”
o unlike Hindustani music, Carnatic music is unified where schools are based on the same ragas, the same solo instruments (veena, flute, violin) and the same rhythm instrument (mridangam and ghatam)
o music pieces are mainly set for the voice and with lyrics
o compositions called krti are devotional songs
2. Hindustani music
o goes back to Vedic period times around 1000 BC
o further developed in the 13th and 14th centuries AD with Persian influences and from existing religious and folk music
o predominantly found in the northern and central regions
o influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, historical Vedic religion/Vedic philosophy, native Indian sounds and enriched by the Persian performance practices of the Mughal era
o nasal singing is observed in their vocal music
o in North India, the most common style of singing is called khyal, a word which means imagination
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
There are many musical instruments in India. Some instruments are used primarily in North Indian music (Hindustani Sangeet) while many other instruments are used in South Indian music (Carnatic Sangeet). Instrumental music is often similar to vocal music but sometimes they have distinctive instrumental styles. There are five known traditional systems for classification of instruments.
Classification of Musical Instruments from India:
1. Ghan – described as a non-membranous percussive instrument but with solid resonators. It is one of the oldest classes of instrument in India. It may also be a melodic instrument or instruments to keep tal.
2. Avanaddh - described as a membranous percussive instrument. This class of instruments typically comprise the drums.
Daf (Duf, Daphu)
Tabla
Dhol
Ghatam
Karta
Manjira
Nout
3. Sushir – also known as blown air. It is characterized by the use of air to excite the various resonators.
Bansuri
Shehnai
Shankh
Surpeti
4. Tat – referred to as vina during the old civilization. Instruments in this class are plucked (stringed instruments).
Sitar
Ektar
Gotuvadyam
Gopichand
Rabab
101
5. Vitat – described as bowed stringed instruments. This is of the oldest classifications of instruments and yet did not occupy a place in classical Indian music until the last few centuries.
banam
esraj
sarangi
chikara
Rhythm plays an important role in Indian music. It is fundamental to the creation of any musical system. Certainly, from a historical stand point, rhythm existed many centuries ago before the word “rag” was ever used. Given this historical pre-eminence, it is not surprising that rhythm occupies an important position in the Indian system of music.
Tala - literally meaning ‘clap;’ variously transliterated as “tal”, “taal” or “taala”
- is a regular, repeating rhythmic phrase, particularly as rendered on a
percussive instrument with an ebb and flow of various intonations
represented as a ''theka'' - is the common Indian system of rhythm
Theka - a sequence of drum-syllables or ''bol'' - in Indian classical music, both Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music use complex rules to create elaborate patterns of rhythm
Tabla - most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Hindustani music
Mridangam - most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Carnatic music - also transliterated as “mridang”
Khyal Temple Music
Unified Northern
Krti Southern
Nasal Singing Lyrical
Persian Influence Imagination
Lesson 2: PAKISTAN
Central Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of sources. Though Pakistan is part of South Asia, its western part is considered as an extension of Central Asia.
Pakistan is known for its unique vocals. The distinctive Pakistani sound was formed with multiple influences not only from various parts of South Asia but it also includes diverse elements from Central Asia, Persia, Turkey, and the Arab world.
VOCAL MUSIC OF PAKISTAN
Pakistan is known for its two vocal styles in singing:
1. Ghazal
- traditional expressions of love, separation, and loneliness; It tells about both the pain of loss of the lover and the beauty of love in spite of that pain.Its structural requirements are more strict than those of most poetic forms traditionally written in English
- is considered by many to be one of the principal poetic forms in the Persian civilization
- can be sung by both men and women
- the devotional music of the Chishti Order
- a vibrant musical tradition that stretches back more than 700 years
- originally performed mainly at Sufi shrines throughout the subcontinent and gained mainstream popularity
Punjabi music strengthens the importance of musical instruments in Pakistan.
Punjab is a region in South Asia which is divided into West Punjab, Pakistan and East Punjab, India. Bhangra, one of the most recognized forms of Punjab, is based on the drum rhythm of dhol.
Tabla
Dholak
Harmonium
Rubab
Lesson 3: WEST ASIA - ISRAEL
In general, the music of West Asia is modal. Harmony is not emphasized but rather includes salient features such as melodic complexity and ornamentation, including ¼ tones and rigorous rhythmic development.
West Asian music is commonly used during:
- Communal worship (in Mosque, Synagogue and Church)
- Mystic rituals (Sufis, Hassidic)
- Life passage events (Weddings, Bar Mitzvas, Bat Mitzvas, Anniversaries)
- Entertainment (Belly Dancing, Folk Dancing)
A. Israeli Music
Israeli singers have a distinctive vocal style. They sing with guttural and throaty enunciation.
Two Divisions of Jewish Music
1. Devotional
- almost entirely vocal
- featured during Sabbath and other holy days
- the art of Hazan (leader of prayer in synagogue) has always been evident in the culture
- shofar is a special call to prayer and repentance; it is sounded on the High Holidays (the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement)
- instruments and voice are used
- played during life passage events
- context lies outside the religious domain
- very rhythmic and have popular and romantic texts
B. Arabic Music
Arabic Maqam is distinctively unique to Arabian music because of its technique of improvisation. It is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arab music.
Arabian rhythmic pattern or cycle is analyzed by means of rhythmic units.
1. Wazn
- literally means “measure”
- performed on the goblet drum, frame drum, and kettle drum
- only used in musical genres with a fixed rhythmic-temporal organization including recurring measures, motifs, and pulse
- Habib Yammine-Wazn il mu’allaqat imru’al Qays, www.youtube.com
- Michigan Arab Orchestra-Fantasie Nahawand Mona and Ahmed Fekry-
The lute which is similar to the Philippine bandurria and the laud, traces its origins to the Middle Eastern Oud and Indian sitar. Goblet drum, darbuk, the tambourine and other instruments associated with Middle Eastern music are used as accompaniment.
One of the dances where accompaniment is used is Hora, a dance that often has strong off beats and asymmetric meters.
Jewish Lyre
Psalterion (Harp)
Shofar
Goblet
Toft
Sources:
goindia.about.com
http://chandrakantha.com
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
www.knowyourraga.com
www.makingmusicfun.net
www.soastrings.org/Perform
www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia
www.tabla.sr
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