Ustad Zakir Hussain

Popularly known as Tabla Maestro, Ustad Zakir Hussain is the son of the renowned tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha. He was born on 9th March, 1951 and showed much interest in tabla since a very young age. This child prodigy started touring by the time he was twelve and started to perform at concerts and gain much recognition and fame. He went to in St. Michael's High School in Mahim and did his graduation from St. Xavier's Mumbai. In his twenties, he started to tour the United States frequently and performed in not less than 150 concerts per year. Read the fascinating life history of the famous musical genius in this biography of Zakhir Hussein.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma is a very famous classical musician who has acquired international fame by playing the classical instrument, Santoor. The Santoor is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer often made of walnut wood and has 72 strings, which are struck with two delicate carved wooden mallets. The santoor is essentially a folk instrument that originated in the Kashmir Valley, which was given the status of a classical instrument due to the persistent efforts of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Reaching at this level in life was not easy for him and it is because of the determination of Shivkumar Sharma that the Santoor is a popular classical instrument. Know his life history in this short biography of Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma.

Pandit Ravi Shankar

Pandit Ravi Shankar is a living legend who is a genius Sitar player. Born on 7th April, 1920 in Banaras, his family was a Bengali Brahmin family who named him Ravindra Shankar. Shyam Shankar, his father, was a barrister. He had an elder brother Uday Shankar who was a famous Indian classical dancer. In his younger years, Ravi played Sitar the dance troupe of Uday Shankar, especially with Anna Pavlova. In 1938, he studied under his guru, Allaudin Khan. The dedication and determination shows in the fact that Ravi Shankar's career span extends over six decades and has been recorded in the Guinness World Record as the longest international career. An account of his fascinating life history is given here as the biography of Pt. Ravi Shankar.

Ustad Bismillah Khan

Ustad Bismillah Khan was undoubtedly a gem that India is proud of. This Shehnai maestro of India was a Bharat Ratna awardee and also has been awarded all the top four civilian awards namely Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan along with the Bharat Ratna. Born on 21st March, 1916 in Dumraon, Bihar, he was the second son of Paigambar Khan and Mitthan. His family had a musical background and his ancestors were musicians in the court of the princely states of Bhojpur. Read about the life history of this blessed soul in this short biography of Bismillah Khan.

Bismillah Khan was named Qamaruddin to sound like his elder brother's name Shamsuddin. However,

Shayari

Shayari or rhyming poetry basically comprises of a couplet known as Sher. This is the way that this unique and beautiful form of poetry derives the name Sher O Shayari. Most of the forms of Shayari are found in the Urdu language. However, one may find Shero Shayari in Hindi, Punjabi, etc. It is the most outstanding fields of poetry that is dominant even today. Sher o Shayari is an inseparable part of the culture of India.

Sher o Shayari has been prevalent since a long time in our country. Though the exact time of its origin is not known, it was much prevalent during the time Emperors ruled the land. The poetry is usually very emotional in nature and the right kind of couplet can set the right atmosphere for a poetic evening. There are many such connoisseurs of Shero Shayari who collect different kinds of couplets and Sher to add to their rich collection.

Folk Music of India

India is a land of cultural diversities. Every region in India has its own form of folk music. This rich tradition of folk music is very much alive in not just rural India, but also in some metros. Though one may say that music has acquired a totally different definition with the arrival of pop culture and new age cinema, there are many who would beg to differ. The realm of traditional folk music in India is very large and it is basically a countryside representation of the urban Indian society. Many people tend to mix up Indian folk music with tribal music. There is a huge difference between thee two genres of music. Read on to know about folk music of India.

Folk music is very different from classical music as well. To begin with, it is not taught in the same way as classical music is taught. Classical music usually requires a student devoting their entire life perfecting the

Ghazals

Ghazal is a common and popular form of music in Indian and Pakistan. Strictly speaking, it is not a musical form at all but a poetic recitation. However, today it is commonly conceived of as an Urdu song whose prime importance is given to the lyrics. Ghazal traces its roots in classical Arabic poetry. Ghazal grew from the Persian qasida (a verse form that had come to Iran from Arabia around the 10th century A.D).The qasida was usually a eulogy composed in praise of the emperors or their noblemen. Many a times the Qasida often had 100 couplets or more.

With the coming of the Muslims, Ghazal got introduced in the 12th century. Thus Ghazal was imported into India from the 12th to the 18th centuries. Slowly and gradually Ghazal acquired local color and form. The most notable contributor to Ghazal music in India was the famous poet Amir Khusro. Soon Ghazal came to enjoy widespread popularity among Indian Muslims and rulers for many centuries.

Indian Fusion Music

Fusion is not a very old trend in Indian music. Fusion trend is said to have begun with Ali Akbar Khan's 1955 performance in the United States. Indian fusion music came into being with rock and roll fusions with Indian music in the 1960s and 1970s. But it was limited to Europe and Europe and North America. For some time the stage of Indian fusion music was taken by Pt Ravi Shankar, the Sitar maestro.

Pt Ravi Shankar began fusing jazz with Indian traditions along with Bud Shank, a jazz musician. Soon the trend was imitated by many popular European and American music exponents. In the year 1965, George Harrison played the song, "Norwegian wood" on the Sitar. Another famous Jazz expert, Miles Davis recorded and performed with the likes of Khalil Bal Krishna, Bihari Sharma, and Badal Roy. Some other prominent Western artists like the Grateful Dead, Incredible String Band, the Rolling Stones, the Move and Traffic soon integrated Indian influences and instruments and developed the trend of fusion.

Indian Film Music

One of the most popular Indian music forms is the Filmi music. Hindi film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, along with Indian regional film industries, produces thousands of films a year, most of which are musicals and feature elaborate song and dance numbers. It is interesting to note that some of the movies become successful because of their music only. Movie soundtracks are released as tapes and CDs much before the movie is released. Earlier, radio was the main media of Film music but with the coming of satellite TV and FM radio the scenario has completely changed.

It is because of the huge popularity of the Indian film music that a large number of talented music directors, singers, composers and lyricists are attracted to the Indian Film industry. India is a land of great musical heritage. It is mainly because of the same reason that almost all our means of entertainment are inspired by music. The Indian film music has given a number of great music talents over the years. Some of the notable are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, K L Sehgal, Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, R D Burman, S D Burman, A R Rehman, Khaiyyam and many others.

Carnatic Music

Carnatic music or Carnatic sangeet is the south Indian classical music. Carnatic music has a rich history and tradition and is one of the gems of world music. Carnatic Sangeet has developed in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. These states are known for their strong presentation of Dravidian culture. Purandardas (1480-1564) is considered to be the father of Carnatic music. To him goes the credit of codification of the method of Carnatic music. He is also credited with creation of several thousand songs. Another great name associated with Carnatic music is that of Venkat Mukhi Swami. He is regarded as the grand theorist of Carnatic music. He also developed "Melankara", the system for classifying south Indian ragas.

Indian Music Instruments

Sitar
Sitar is of the most popular music instruments of North India. The Sitar has a long neck with twenty metal frets and six to seven main cords. Below the frets of Sitar are thirteen sympathetic strings which are tuned to the notes of the Raga. A gourd, which acts as a resonator for the strings is at the lower end of the neck of the Sitar. The frets are moved up and down to adjust the notes. Some famous Sitar players are Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt. Ravishankar, Ustad Imrat Khan, Ustad Abdul Halim Zaffar Khan, Ustad Rais Khan and Pt Debu Chowdhury.

Indian Music Glossary

Achal - Achal Swaras are the fixed swaras of the seven musical notes. Sa and Pa are the achal swaras of the Indian classical music.
Arohi - The term Arohi, also known as Arohana and Aroh, is used to define the ascending melody in music.
Avirbhav - Avirbhav is that technique of presenting the raga, in which the raga is noticeably expanded and exhibited
Abhoga - The last stage of a musical composition, especially in the Drupad music.
Alaap - Alaap is the free flow of the Raga, in which there are no words and no fixed rhythm. It is the purest from of melody.
Andolan - Andolan refers to a slow alternation between the notes and shrutis that are next to each other.
Ang - The term 'Ang' refers to the root to which a particular raga belongs. For example, Tantrakari Ang (instrumental style of music)

Hindustani Music

Hindustani classical music is an Indian classical music tradition. It originated in North India around 13th and 14th centuries. In contrast to Carnatic music, the other main Indian classical music tradition from South India, the Hindustani classical music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions and Vedic philosophy but also by the Persian elements. Hindustani classical music is the most popular stream of Indian music.

Hindustani music is based on the raga system. The Raga is a melodic scale, comprising of notes from the basic seven- Sa, Re, Ga, Ma Pa, Dha and Ni. On the basis of notes included in it, each raga attains a different character. The form of the raga is also determined by the particular pattern of ascent and descent of the notes, which may not be strictly linear.