Indian Music

Music and India have been an inseparable entity since the beginning. India is a country with many faces and multitudes of cultures and music is one form that has been successfully able to express so many attributes together. In a country with more than 18 languages, Music has become a common tongue spoken by the people of India. Music too has diversified into different genres. There are classic Music like Carnatic Music and Hindustani and there are folk music that have no count.

History of Indian Music
The music of India is one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world. It is said that the origins of this system go back to the Vedas (ancient scripts of the Hindus). Many different legends have grown up concerning the origins and development of Indian classical music. Such legends go a long way in showing the importance that music has in defining Indian culture.

However the advent of modern historical and cultural research has also given us a good perspective on the field. This has shown that Indian music has developed within a very complex interaction between different peoples of different races and cultures. It appears that the ethnic diversity of present day India has been there from the earliest of times.

Types of Indian Music
Indian music can be disintegrated into Carnatic, Hindustani, Jugalbandhi, Light Music such as devotional, folk music, ghazals, indipop, qawwali, patriotic, remix and Regional music such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarathi etc. As regards Indian classical music in general, there are a huge number of modes (ragas). Musicians will elaborate a single mode in detail, largely through improvisation but also based on compositions and formal demands.

Hindustani Music
Hindustani music is the music of North India, involving both Hindu and Muslim musicians. In this, there are a large number of high quality recordings. Different people will, no doubt, like different styles to varying degrees. In this case, I am only going to list some discs I particularly enjoy without any intention of coming close to encyclopedic coverage.

Carnatic Music
Carnatic music is the music of South India, different in many of its terms and formal demands, although similar in overall outline. The two share some common origins, but the details of these relationships can be contentious.