What Are the Different Scales of Indian Music?

What are the different scales of Indian music? It has been said that Indian music evolved from the influences of many instruments, but only some of them have been mentioned. There are several scales of India music including the major scale, which is the Indian scale that is used in most traditional music of the subcontinent. There are other scales as well that are used by the modern musicians of India.

THE SCALES OF MUSIC CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO TWO MAIN GROUPS:

A musical scale in music is a diagram of an instrument or a melody that can be heard in the musical composition. In this case, we will be using the major and the minor scales. Most musical forms in India share a common musical theme, which can be related to a story or a narration. The use of a musical theme in a piece of music makes it more interesting and it draws the listener’s attention in the same direction.

USES OF SCALES IN INDIAN MUSIC

The use of scales in Indian music has changed over the years. Earlier, when the melodies were sung, they used to have the same rhythm. This meant that each and every member of the group had to do the same thing. They did not sing in their own voices and this forced them to work as a team. After some time, these groups started changing the rhythm of their melodias and razors.

MUSICAL EVOLUTION IN INDIA

Another musical evolution that took place in India happened with the use of the tabla. In fact, the use of tabla was one of the key elements in classical music of India. This type of musical instrument was widely used during the time of Mughal and Rajput cultures. The modern version of the tabla was made famous by the great players like Harminder Singh and Jaswant Thapar. Tablature is considered to be an important part of Indian music and people pay much attention to it.

CLASSICAL FORMS OF MUSIC

Today, scales are also used in the classical forms of music. These days, people are interested in musical innovations. They are trying to make their mark in the world of music. Music has been formative for India. It has given us some wonderful musicians like J. S. Bach, Karamangala and many others. Today, we can see a lot of youngsters flocking to auditions to get a chance to play music on the instruments of different scales.

POPULAR TYPE OF MUSIC FROM THE WESTERN

Some of the popular types of music from the west include jazz, blues and rock. Today, you can hear many examples of this in the American radio program “American Idol.” Jazz music is a fusion of western and eastern musical concepts. Most commonly, jazz uses brass instruments along with drums and piano.

RAGA FORM

Another interesting type of music is the Raga form. In this type of music, the main melody is played by using scales that include major and relative minor chords. There are many other types of scales that have been used in Indian musical instruments and these include ragtime, bhangra, adabhasa, talan, kikli and many more. Some of these scales were even used in rock and pop.

CHANGES IN MUSICAL HISTORY

Musical instruments and the various techniques used in music making have evolved over the years. Today, music theory is being taught in schools across India as a part of the curriculum. If you want to learn more about music theory, check out the Indian Music History website today.