Western Classical Music and Indian Classical Music (some comparisons and contrasts)

The following essay was prepared for our Hindu temple's annual Nadopasana (2011) event.

Music is an artistic expression that brings great fulfillment to all human beings across the globe. Traditional European music, referred to as Western Classical Music (WCM) and the music originated from the Vedic Hindu tradition, know as Indian Classical Music (ICM) are two important classical music traditions. In ICM, there are two primary styles, Hindustani classical music, popular in north India and Carnatic music, popular in south India. In this essay, I shall use the aspects of music such as tone, pitch, tempo, rhythm, tradition and scale to compare and contrast WCM and ICM.

Tone: ICM is predominantly monophonic. This means that a single note or a set of notes are expanded or improvised upon. In raga Mayamalavagowla for example, a musician will elaborate on a set of specific notes such as S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S and S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S. However, WCM is usually polyphonic. This means several notes are played and sung together as chords. This gives way to harmony. ICM does not use the major/minor tonal system and therefore may sound very different to a Westerner.

Pitch: All music is set to relative loudness or softness referred to as pitch. In ICM, the musicians use a drone (or Shruti) on a stringed instrument called tanpura. In WCM, a given set of notes is set to a particular pitch

The next aspect I shall discuss is tempo or speed. There are 3 major tempos in ICM such as vilambit (very slow), madhyamam (medium speed) and dhruti (fast speed). Most Indian Classical musicians present in the madhyamam (medium) speed. In WCM, the tempo is normally set by the composer of the music. But the conductor can change the given tempo to their liking. Therefore there is a similarity between the two traditions with respect to tempo.

Rhythm: The rhythm for a given music piece is preset in both ICM and WCM. In ICM, musicians use a cyclic beat known as tala. Some examples are 8 beat tala (Aadi) and 6 beat tala (Rupakam). In WCM, the preset rhythm can be maintained by using a metronome.

Tradition: The roots and tradition of ICM and WCM are similar and different in some aspects. WCM has roots from church or devotional music. Similarly, ICM has its origins in the study of Vedas and Hindu religion. ICM is primarily based on the mood of devotion (bhakti). The Nadopasana (prayer through music) event that we are celebrating today is a great example for this. ICM is passed through a teacher-student (guru-sishya) tradition. This allows for a lot of individual variations. WCM, however, is typically taught the way it was originally composed and does not encourage major variations. In this aspect they are different.

Lastly, the most significant difference I would like to discuss is with respect to scales. WCM uses an equal tempered scale and is chromatic. WCM has major and minor scales. ICM does not use the major and minor classification. An ICM piece is set to a specific raga (combination of individual notes). ICM has 72 primary ragas and infinite derived or janya ragas. An interesting find in the research was that both traditions use a circular
schema to represent the scales. The WCM uses the Circle of Fifths and the ICM uses the Mela Chakra as represented below:




However, despite all differences, both traditions derive their limitless music from 7 basic notes Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si (WCM) and SRGMPDN (ICM). This is an amazing fact that is a proof that though there are certain technical differences, both music traditions have some universal similarities. The research and reading done for this essay has helped me understand and appreciate the WCM and ICM in more detail. Music transcends geographical boundaries. A listener with an open mind can greatly enjoy both traditions.

Several Internet sources, lessons from my violin teacher and input from my parents were used for this essay.