Hindustani Music

The first thing I notice in this specific Hindustani song is the use of chordophones. The chordophones act primarily as a background to the singing, and in a sense feel almost like a drone behind the singer. In specific, the chordophones appear to be sitars – an instrument typical of traditional Indian music.

The singer’s voice then “floats” over this background music and draws attention to itself by utilizing a similar tone, but contrasting style. While both the singer and the instruments utilize conjunct motion, the chordophones stay on the tonal center the majority of the time, while the singer plays around the tonal center much more. In a sense, the singer is imitating the sounds of the instruments, yet varying the melody through the frequent changes of pitch. It is important to note that although the singer is varying the melody, she is improvising the variations she sings – she is not reading off sheet music or reciting a specific song. It is also important to note that there is only one singer performing, acting as the soloist for the performance. This is an important aspect of this performance, because soloists are frequently found in all Hindustani music.

While the sitars and the soloist are the most prominent in the piece, if you listen closely to the piece you can hear a membranophone – most likely a tabla. The tabla works closely in conjunction with the soloist to compliment the soloists improvisations and at times to bring a sense of meter to the song.

All in all, the performers of this Hindustani piece work closely together to bring all of the musical elements of this song together – the drone, the soloist, and the tabla – and to improvise upon a basic melody and to bring to life classical Hindustani music.