Books on Indian Music

Books Music Movies & TV Games Mobiles

The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India:

All you wanted to know about Indian music but didn’t know whom to ask–: Carnatic and Hindustani
India has the unique distinction of nurturing two different systems of classical music, one in the northern regions known as Hindustani music, and the other in the south, known as Carnatic music. Both systems are classical in the sense that both have very long histories of evolution, both are rich int erms of compositions, musical instruments and technical intricacies. The two systems also share certain common and basic elements. However, the two systems have developed along different lines so that they are today like siblings witha shared parentage (some common features) and yet different from one another (separate identities).

The number of performers who can interpret both styles and explain one to those who are only familiar with the other, is small. Most books deal with Carnatic or Hindustani music, rather than answer questions on both.

This book seeks to fill this gap, by offering an easy to understand introduction to both Carnatic and Hindustani systems of music, separately,a s well as in terms of comparisons and contrasts.
About the Author
Sakuntala Narasimhan is the only vocalist in the country to have sung the National Programme of Music of nationwide TV, in both Carnatic and Hindustani styles. She is also a distinguished journalist. She has won several awards for vocal music and journalism.

Carnatic Summer Lives Of Twenty Great Exponents: Carnatic music has survived contrary to all the gloom and doom that was predicted. New artistes are added, new labels released and new sabhas are born every year. If Carnatic music is still heard all over the world and makes an emphatic and grand statement of survival each year during the annual December season, it is because of a few great artistes who bore the art from aloft amidst crisis and threats.

The Madras Quartet: A well researched and in-depth study on four pioneer women musicians who transformed the musical scene after 1930: M.S. Subbulakshmi, D.K. Pattammal, M.L. Vasanthakumari and T. Brinda. The author traces the struggle that these women faced to break out of the casteist, sexist milieu to become equal partners with men in a common endeavour of creativity.

A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music: A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music is the author’s Journey trying to understand and appreciate the abstract,expansive,fluid and wide-ranging contours of North Indian classical music.

Shruti:a Listener’s Guide To Hindustani Music
Shruti is written with a view to familiarize music lovers with the essential features of the classical music of north India. This musical tradition, known as Hindustani music, has a long history, going back about fifteen centuries. It has been kept alive, and continues to grow in popularity because of very talented exponents of this art who have maintained its classical lineage and yet modified and renewed it afresh, for every generation. It explains, in simple terms, the distinction between khayal, thumri, and other forms of vocal singing. It describes how the main instruments are constructed and have evolved over time. For the lay listener, it outlines the various movements and nuances through which a classical raga is developed, in both its vocal and instrumental genres, and the various gharanas or traditions of style that have emerged as a consequence of the guru-shishya method of learning this art.

Hindustani Music — A Tradition In Transition
A wide-ranging survey of the north Indian tradition of classical music during the post-Independence period. The book is divided into six parts, which, based on the author’s vast experiences, make complex musicological concepts accessible to non-academic readers.

101 Raga-s For The 21st Century And Beyond: A Music Lover’s Guide To Hindustani Music
Indian classical music is so enduring that it is exempt from oblivion. It is destined to live in all ages of this world.
This book on North Indian classical music (also known as Hindustani music) tells you, simply and informally, about the most popular 101 raga-s, and 161 topics commonly mentioned in conversation, articles and books on Hindustani music. It is the best tool to learn about and enjoy this genre of music, which is a significant component of World Music. More details at www.SoundOfIndia.com
An audio CD containing aroha, avaroha and pakad of each of the 101 raga-s, is available. Please visit http: //www.SoundOfIndia.com and click on Products. This book is being translated into French, Hindi and Gujarati.

Solkattu Manual: An Introduction To The Rhythmic Language Of South Indian Music [with 2 Dvds]
Solkattu, the spoken rhythms and patterns of hand-clapping used by all musicians and dancers in the classical traditions of South India, is a subject of worldwide interest–but until now there has not been a textbook for students new to the practice. Designed especially for classroom use in a Western setting, the manual begins with rudimentary lessons in the simplest South Indian tala, or metric cycle, and proceeds step-by-step into more challenging material. The book then provides lessons in the eight-beat adi tala, arranged so that by the end, students will have learned a full percussion piece they can perform as an ensemble. Solkattu Manual includes two DVDs featuring performances of all 150 lessons, and full performances of all three of the outlined small-ensemble pieces. Ideal for courses in world music and general musicianship, as well as independent study. Book lies flat for easy use.

Time In Indian Music: Rhythm, Metre, And Form In North Indian Rag Performance (Oxford Monographs On Music)
Time in Indian Music is the first major study of rhythm, metre, and form in North Indian rag, or classical, music. Martin Clayton presents a theoretical model for the organization of time in this repertory, a model which is related explicitly to other spheres of Indian thought and culture as well as to current ideas on musical time in alternative repertoriesnullincluding that of Western music. This theoretical model is elucidated and illustrated with reference to many musical examples drawn from authentic recorded performances. These examples clarify key Indian musicological concepts such as tal (metre), lay (tempo or rhythm), and laykari (rhythmic variation).
More generally, the volume addresses the implications of performance practice for the organization of rhythm and metre. Written in a clear and accessible style and illustrated with 102 music examples and diagrams, it will appeal to anyone interested in Indian aesthetic forms and the study of musical time.

Music in South India: The Karnatak Concert Tradition and Beyond: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (Global Music Series) (Paperback): This vivid introduction to the music of South India discusses historical and contemporary performance, cultural history and geography, and the social organization of performance traditions. It focuses primarily on Karnatak concert music and its formal conventions, modes of performance, and cultural influence within the context of the religious, historical, and political landscape of South India.
About the Author
The late Tanjore Viswanathan was a Professor Music at Wesleyan University. Matthew Harp Allen is Assistant Professor of Music at Wheaton College.

Hindustani Classical Music: Indian Classical Music, Dhrupad, Khyal, Thumri, Carnatic music, That (music), Tala (music), Bhajan, Raga

Enlightening the Listener: Contemporary North Indian Classical Vocal Music Performance (Hardcover): Deals with various aspects of music performance as also persons and institutions involved in “Music Making”. Perspective on traditions and includes film music. By a leading vocalist, notes experiences and teaching.Cassette enclosed.

Music in North India: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (Global Music Series) (Paperback): Designed for undergraduates with little or no background in world music, Music in North India is one of several volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the main book in the Global Music Series, in any introductory world music or ethnomusicology course. Music in North India provides an overview of the many styles of North Indian music, from the chants of the ancient Vedas to modern devotional singing; from the serious and meditative rendering of raga to the concert-hall excitement of the modern sitar, sarod, and tabla. The text is framed around three central topics: the devotional component of North Indian music, the idea of fixity and spontaneity in the various styles of Indian music, and the importance of the verbal syllable to the expression of the musical aesthetic in North India. Featuring vivid eyewitness accounts of performances and interviews with performers, this unique volume describes the form, structure, and expression of North Indian music while also illuminating its pronounced religious and cultural significance. It is packaged with a 70-minute CD that includes examples of the music discussed in the text.
About the Author
George E. Ruckert is at Massachusettes Institute of Technology. Bonnie C. Wade is at University of Washington.

Alaap: A discovery of Indian Classical Music
Set of 20 CDs and a book
PART 1 brings to you the spiritual core of Indian Music, and explains the mystical elements of the Swara, the Guru-shishya parampara, the Sadhana in the frame-work of the Raga and the Tala.

PART 2 presents the Hindustani or the North Indian style, its language, technique, Gharanas, instruments and the meaning of improvisation.

PART 3 contains the Carnatic or the South Indian Style, its terminology, its richness and complexities, its ancient tradition…Come, explore the magical world of Indian Classical Music. And, in the process, rediscover yourself and experience the wonder that is India…A creation of Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry.

CONTENTS: 20 CDs AND RESOURCE BOOK COMPRISING ALL 3 PARTS.

The names of the musicians are given in the resource book.

Available here.

Between Two Tanpuras by Vamanrao H Deshpande

This volume comprises biographical sketches of eleven musicians and concentrates on the aesthetic and stylistic features of these artistes.
1.Sureshbabu Mane
2.Naththan Khan
3.Govindrao Tembe
4.Mogubai Kurdikar
5.Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale
6.Alladiya Khan
7.Kumar Gandharva: Musician and Music
8.Kishori Amonkar
9.Jagannathbuwa Purohit
10.Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
11.My Friend Professor B.R. Deodhar:
AVersatile Musicologis
12.Bhimsen Joshi and His Gayaki

Rasa Yatra : My Journey In Music

Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, the doyen of Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, successfully evolved a personal identity of his own. This book, translated into English by his son, is the heartwarming story of a man who could truly be called a genius, yet remained simple to the core. It is also a unique record of an essential part of the musical history of our country.

Khayal Vocalism Continuity Within Change (Paperback) by Deepak Raja

Khayala Vocalism: Continuity Within Change presents stylistic perspectives on the music of nineteen modern and contemporary Khayala vocalists, representing various legacies which have guided vocal music for about 200 years. The book is the result of over five years of research, involving the painstaking analysis of over 500 recordings spanning almost a hundred years of Khayala vocalism. The nineteen vocalists are classified into five stylistic legacies, based on their history of tutelage and the stylistic tendencies evident in their music: Agra legacy, Gwalior-Agra confluence, Jaipur-Atrauli legacy, Kairana legacy, and Patiala legacy. Written by an author of impeccable credentials as a musician, researcher and writer, the book contains seven sections. While the first section serves as an introduction to the Khayala genre and to the various Gharanas, the last presents an annexure containing the various Khayala forms, a glossary of non-English terms rendered in italics, and an index. The intervening five sections deal with the history and stylistics of the five legacies and the music of the vocalists belonging to them. The book makes complex musicological concepts accessible to non-academic readers and contributes significantly to widening the understanding of contemporary trends in Khayala vocalism.

Ramdaskrut Abhang: Abhangas by Ramdas

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923.

Ragas in Hindustani Music by Dr Anupam Mahajan:

About the Book:
This book deals with the communication of identical phrases and single notes projecting various shades within a particular raga or in different ragas.

About the Author
Dr. Anupam Mahajan, is a Reader at Faculty of Music and Fine Arts.

Table of Contents
Foreword Preface The Four Elements Elements of Musical Expression Raga: The Soul of Indian Classical Music Analysis of Ragas with Similar or Identical Scales or Note Patterns Specific Groups of Allied Ragas Epilogue Appendices Index.