AOS 4: Indian Music And Rag Desh - Anoushka Shankar

Question 1

Instrumentation of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 1

Sitar - plucked string instrument with a long neck. Plays raga and drone.
It has 7 main strings which are used to play the melody and 12 sympathetic strings which aren’t plucked but resonate with other strings to create a shimmering sound.
The sitar also plays the drone

Tabla - a pair of drums. Plays tal.
The right one is the Dayan and is smaller (higher pitched) and made of wood.
The left is the Bayan and is larger (lower pitched) and made of metal.
They’re played mainly by the fingers

Question 2

Rhythm Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 2

It uses 2 tals:
1) Jhaptal - a 10 beat cycle (2 + 3 + 2 + 3)

2) Tintal - a 16 beat cycle (4 + 4 + 4 + 4)

The rhythmic pattern played by the drums is based on the tal (the cycle of beats repeated and improvised during a performance)
The first beat in a tal is called the sam. It’s often stressed by the musician.

Question 3

Structure of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 3

There are three parts, progressing from slow to fast tempo:

Alap - sitar only
It’s slow and has no regular pulse
The sitar introduces the notes and mood of the rag
The melodic line is decorated with slides and pitch bends (called meends)

Gat - the tabla enters - plays the tal
The sitar plays a fixed composition (the ‘gat’) in a moderate tempo
The sitar and tabla improvise (sitar based on gat, tabla based on the tal)
The improvisations end with a tihai (short melody or rhythm played 3 times).
Tempo increases towards the end

Jhalla - the music is fast and the sitar is strummed
Virtuosic and decorated

Question 4

Melody of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 4

Based on rag - a pattern of notes, a little like a scale.
(Scalia)
Different rags are associated with certain times of the day and year.

The pattern on the way up is different on the way down.

Fixed melody idea in the gat

Some conjunct and disjunct - unpredictable

Alap - simple, scalic, improvised
Gat - fixed melody, improvisation
Jhalla - complex, virtuosic, ornamentation, tan (scalic flourish), meend (note bend), strumming, repeated notes, improvisation.

Question 5

Texture of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 5

Indian classical music is based up of 3 layers:

1) a melodic line played on a solo instrument
2) a rhythmic pattern played on the drums
3) a drone played on a stringed instrument

Question 6

Context of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 6

It’s a example of Indian classical music

It’s an improvised form of musical though improvisations are structured.

Anoushka plays the sitar and is the daughter of famous Indian musician Ravi Shankar

This version was recorded live in 2001 and New York.

Question 7

Tempo of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 7

Alap - slow and unmetered
Gat - steady
Jhalla - fast

Question 8

Harmony of Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar

Answer 8

Static harmony
Based on the rag
Drone