Indian Classical Music
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/27/2013 - 14:49SITAR
An Indian styled guitar, the sitar is a stringed instrument that emits delicate riffs. Evolving over time, the sitar was historically used by the Persians who made their way to India. The Late Ravi Shankar who was well known throughout the world for his mesmerising sitar tunes, paved the way for Indian classical music. Sitar music has also caught the likes of some of the world's most famous artists. The Beatles used Sitar notes in their song 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)', Rolling stone's hit song - 'paint it black' had guitarist Brian Jones whipping up tunes as well.
TABLA
The Indian percussion instrument comes in a pair, a small drum placed to the player's right and the larger one to left. The tiny drum is tuned to compliment the larger one's deep bass notes. Indian Tabla player Zakkir Hussain and his six-member group. Table Beat Science gained fame by touring the world and composing Indian classical music to a fusion of drum and bass, electronica and Hindustani. British -band Coldplay’s tabla infused song 'life in techincolour' is from their album - Viva la Vida; world-famous Black Eyed Peas used a classic Tamil song with a contagious table beat called "Unakkum Enakkum Anandam" and remixed it for their song 'Elephunk theme' from their album 'Elephunk'.
FLUTE
Popularly depicted in Indian folklore and historic structures, the flute needs no introduction. But the original Indian flute is made of bamboo and comes in various other forms, from the snake charmer kind (termed Pungi) to the Bansuri and Venu which have six holes and eight holes respectively. In Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna is pictured with the Bansuri which was said to have a spell binding effect and leave the gopis or cowgirls entranced. Today, a few leading Indian flute players include Hariprasad Chaurasia, Harsh Whardhan and T. R. Mahalingam. Indian flute music has been incorporated by the west in ambient lounge music albums like Buddha Bar and Cafe Del Mar due to its soft melodious notes.
Culture centres
These centres pride themselves in organising regular culture events and welcome volunteers.
Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira
9th Main Road, Near Devagiri Venkatesh wara Temple, Banashankari 2nd Stage - 560070; Phone: 080-26647224
TM cultural Academy
#68, 4th Cross, 17th Main, Aicoboonagar, BTM 1st Stage - 560068; Phone:65616693/65611336/26680836
Nadasurabhi Cultural Association
#662, 6th Cross, 17th Main,
3rd Block, Koramangala -560034
Phone: 080-25539368
Classical music dictionary
Ragas - A Sanskrit word denoting melody
Ghazal - An Arabic term for poetic melody
Bhajan - Devotional song
Carnatic - Ancient classical South Indian music
Hindustani - Classical North Indian
Nataka - Drama