Womenz Magazine

The Journey of Indian Music

Indian Music History

Indian Music HistoryMusic is food for the soul, universal language, where words give up music speaks, there are many sayings on music which is heard and made throughout the world. Each different region or country has different types of music is strongly related to the culture of that region. This vast versatility makes it even more unique than anything else.

  • Indian Music:

Indian music is also deeply entangled with its cultural roots showing their true colors. Over the past few years it has become quite popular and is heard and liked throughout the world. People enjoy the melody, the music and the composition. Even though when people don’t understand the lyrics but music is the universal language and it is heard and felt regardless of the country or language barriers. Let us look at a brief history of Indian music before moving on.

  • Brief History:

Indian Musical journey started a long time back and it is also thought that it is the oldest in the world.No one can pin point the exact time period or era but it has been said that Indian musical journey started way back in 500BC. At first it was only folk music however the time created many variations in the art of music which you can experience in present day time.

  • Types:

Indian Musical journey has gone through many evolution phases from folk to popular which we hear in the current times. Types of Indian music include ‘Classical, semi-classical, popular, folk and bollywood music ( indian movies music ) and rock. These are the major types while there are many side branches as well.

  • Classical:

This type is known since the start and the teachings of classical music has been passed out from generations to generations, father to son and still going on as it is being taught to children in schools as compulsory form of art.  This type has been considered as the basic of singing and music and it is said that if you don’t know classical then you don’t know anything. The Indian classical music is much different from the western as there is much emphasis on Ragas, scales and melodies.Ragas are the results of the long evolution of the musical journey and each specific raga is considered important. There are so many ragas that there are different ragas for the day time and night as well.  Raag Malhar, Khamaj, Bhairvi and Aiman are few of the many Ragas. One can enjoy these melodious ragas in any form whether it is singing or just instrumentals, one can have a different experience every time listening to a classical performance as each and every performance can be different depending on the scale and melodies.

  • Semi-Classical:

Semi-classical or light classical is considered as the branch of classical however which does contains the element of classical but comparatively in less amount. Genres of Semi-classical are Thumri, Dadra, ghazal, Chaiti, Kajri, Kaththa and Tappa.

  • Folk:

Folk is the type which is more related to the culture of India. Each Region of India has its own unique and different culture which can be also felt in their music. Dandiya, Bhangr and Lavani are few of the genres but Indian Folk spreads out much more than any kind of music.

  • Popular:

Popular is the name states is currently ruling the Indian musical scene and has overpowered classical, semi classical and folk. Bollywood music is much more popular and is being heard throughout the world. The versatility and the vast diversity make it even more enjoyable and it has been taking over. Many singers got fame through playback singing like Sonu Nigam, LataMangeshkar, AshaBhosle, M.Rafi and there are countless others who have sung thousands of songs for the films and still doing so.

The great the Bollywood musical scene which is admired and copied by others however sometimes India copies from many for their sound and films without giving any proper credit to the original creators. There have been countless occasions where the tunes were copied. Many of the examples can be found if when might give a thorough search for them. But none the less one cannot deny the fact that the Indian industry has much more to offer than any other and still producing different kinds of sound and entertaining the listeners throughout the world with its melodious work.

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