Day 3 - Exploring India

India is one of the places I have yet to visit but I wish to do so sometime in the future.  Below is a video of a group from India performing the leader's home.  Some of the instruments you see are the tabla (drums on the left side) and the shehnai (oboe-like instrument played by the leader).

The player of the shehnai is one of the most famous players.  His name is Ustad Bismillah Khan.  His playing is very graceful and eloquent.  I would have never thought that this instrument could be made to sound so beautiful.  But you have to understand before you listen to it that this is a very unique instrument, similar to the mijwiz from yesterday's post.  Don't be alarmed by its nasal tone color!

The above recording is from BBC.

Indian music is often referred to as guided improvisation.  It is guided in the same way that a jazz performer would be guided through their solo improvisation.  A jazz performer uses chords, scales, and form which guide their decisions in their solo.  Indian musicians use what is referred to as raga and tala in the same fashion.  The term raga can be defined as a scalar-melody form.  It consists of both the basic scale and the basic melodic structure.  The term tala refers to the concept of a cyclic measure of time.  It is similar to the Western idea of form.  Tala can range from 3 to 128 beats in length; the most common are 7 to 16 beat cycles.

The music of India is quite complicated and I will continue to research it so that I can tell you more about it!  Thanks for visiting this page and make sure to check back every day!