Indian Classical Music

[49410enrique]

this is so freakin cool, i mean how awesome would it be to get to attend this class, and study non-western (tonality system) based North Indian classical music with the man who is perhaps regarded as the greatest living musician of the genre?

well i think it's pretty cool at least.

https://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/april/sarod-maestro-khan-041812.html

i think it speaks volumes in wonderful way about the music dept at stanford, incredible open mindedness and creative thought, what a wonderful learning environment it must be!

[ted]

I completely agree. I listen to many different varieties of world music and find it deepens and broadens my personal piano improvisation immensely. Classical Chinese music on the guzheng moves me very profoundly, as does Beijing Opera. I was at a piano party and one of the guests set up a guzheng, which I ended up listening to and ignoring the people playing the Fazioli !

Of course the big difference in all this music is the importance of improvisation, which liberates us from the four-square restrictions of notation, especially in the matter of rhythm. Western music has been hamstrung by notation for centuries. What started out as an approximate way of graphically representing sound, which is all notation really is, gradually came to be a musical objective in itself. The fact is that the most moving rhythms and phrasing cannot be written out at all. Improvisation is not a sort of poor man's composition, quite the contrary. Written composition is a rather poor visual approximation of improvisation.

Jarrett's immense contribution to my mind lies, not in the actual musical content of what he plays, but in his global statement, "Look everybody, it's all right to improvise freely after all". Jarrett's improvisation is very close to the spirit of Indian and other world music.

Mind you, I think I am overly optimistic. There still exists colossal bias against these things. But as you say, it's a big step forward that some educational institutions are seeing the light. At least it's a start.

[49410enrique]

fanstastic post ted. makes me think a bit more about this.... thanks!

[49410enrique]

new upload

[cadenza14224]

This is awesome. The fusion of East and West is really unique and exotic!

If you enjoy this, you should definitely check out the Sitar Concertos for Sitar and Orchestra by Ravi Shankar and some of his Western Classical Colleauges, and his collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin.

[cuberdrift]

Shankar's album with Menuhin might help 

[pytheamateur]

If anyone knows any Indian piano music, please share.  It would be most interesting to play it.

[49410enrique]

this is pretty amazing too!

Performed by Yu Hongmei 于红

Associate Professor of Department of Traditional Chinese Music, the Central Conservatory of Music (CCM); Guest Soloist of the China Central Chinese Orchestra; Guest Professor at the University of Calgary, Canada.

Yu Hongmei began her erhu study at the age of eight, and she studied at the Attached High School of the ChinaCentral Music University and then the China Central Music University where she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degree. At the university she was taught by professors including Zhang Shao, Su Anguo, Lan Yusong and Liu Changfu; she also learned Banhu, Gaohu, Jinghu, Zhuihu and other national musical instruments with some masters.

[john pitts]

Hi, I see this thread is a little old, but in case interested, I have written two books of Indian music for piano:
How to Play Indian Sitar Rāgas on a Piano (2020, 2nd edition) ISBN 979-8664008531
Indian Rāgas for Piano made easy (2020, 2nd edition) ISBN 978-1659067255
 
The paperback books are available individually from https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B07GX535RR
or www.pianoraga.com

“If you are curious about rāgas, composer John Pitts’ method books are exactly what you need …a great introduction to a very different genre of classical music …well researched and rich in detail …demystifying the Indian classical genre for western audiences and opening the door to a new way of understanding music.” Evelyn Dias, Piano Magazine, Summer 2021
 
“Studying John Pitts’ innovative books could fundamentally change your perspective on music. …Both books are fascinating and deserve wide currency.”  Murray McLachlan, International Piano Magazine, Jan/Feb 2021
 
“Five stars to John Pitts for his exhaustive and absorbing book on a timeless music” John Carpenter, WAIF FM, December 2020
 
“I can see this book being extremely useful to: those who teach world music and would value a keyboard approach to it; classical pianists wanting a wonderfully approachable insight into Indian music; and anyone teaching pupils of Indian heritage.” Fiona Lau, Music Teacher Magazine, July 2018
 
“a fascinating and unique product!” Christopher Norton, October 2017
 
“bursting with information, ideas, and advice… truly monumental… a lot of fun” Dr Gail Fischler, Piano Bench Magazine, December 2017
 
“fascinating” Dr Angela Miller-Niles, American Music Teacher Magazine, October 2017
 
“endlessly fascinating” Allan Cronin, NewMusicBuff, February 2017
 
“…I strongly recommend the book to pianists with an eye and an ear to the East…” Dr Jonathan Katz, International Piano Magazine, September 2017
 
“If you have any interest in this esoteric arena… I can’t imagine a better primer than this.” Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb-International, March 2017
 
“a very well produced and informative book”
Robert Matthew-Walker, Editor, ‘Musical Opinion’
 
“This is a great book.” Dr Mark Polishook