Music

Indian music usually sounds very strange to us.  They don't really play harmonies or chords like we do.   They sing and play complicated versions of a melody.  They used stringed instruments that look like guitars but they have many more strings.  They also play drums with their hands.  Often in a music group there will be someone who plays a tamboura to provide a drone (a note or chord which is held for a long time and the rest of the music is created around this sound).  Most of the time the music is made up on the spot.  Musicians sometimes accompany dancers and sometimes play on their own.

Click here and here to listen to Indian music.

Try to see if you can hear the drone and drum in the first piece. In the second listen for the shahnai (oboe like instrument).

India is famous for the music that the snake-charmers play.  A melody is played on a shahnai (a wind instrument like an oboe).  The snakes are drawn to the music and come out of the baskets.

 

Indian music accompanies dancers.  They use their arms, hands and fingers to tell stories and indicate moods.  Movement of different body parts alone or together make up a complicated language.  Dance is often linked with religion, literature and drama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indian_dancer_1_small.jpg (3000 bytes)

The position of this dancer's hands show the God Krishna as a boy.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

 

Things to do!

 

 

Use percussion instruments and try to see if you can find any one which makes a similar sound to the instruments in the music. You can make your own instruments also to sound like those in the extracts above.

Compose a piece of music, that sounds Indian, using the instruments.