Indian classical music: traits and trends in a changing world

India claims a rich musical heritage, recognized around the world. Among its many forms and genres, classical music holds the highest esteem. It sets an exemplary standard built on principles and styles refined over extensive periods. As noted by Moro (2004), this music partly derives its authority from the elevation and broad dissemination of elite music within nations during the last century or more. Yet shifting socio-economic realities, the spread of Indian classical music in the West over half a century, and emerging critical voices among contemporary Indian students have created new conditions. These challenge a system originally anchored in court patronage, as Schippers (2007) observed. In an era of global integration, open trade, advanced communication, internationalized finance, and increased mobility of people, goods, capital, data, and ideas, almost every aspect of life has been restructured (Vedabala, 2016). Music is no exception. Rapid technological upgrades over the past one or two decades have given Indian music a new shape.

Parentage and Legacy

Continuity across generations has long strengthened the tradition of Indian classical music. Music served wealthy patrons or prestigious rituals and ceremonies, and was often restricted by heredity, making the musician's role an ascribed status (Rice, 2003). Musicians inherited the traditional repertoire and style of their ancestors and were called khandani musicians. Compositions were so valued that they were shared only with outsiders on rare occasions. Pieces called khaz cheez were given as dowry or as gifts on special occasions. Musical works were treasures of the ustads, best kept within the family.

With the loss of patronage and the mediation of government, music freed itself from the hold of a few and reached the common masses, moving from elite circles to the middle class. It is now nobody’s exclusive legacy; anyone with talent or inspiration can aspire to classical music. Followers without any musical family background excel in the field, and a good number of foreigners perform Indian classical music globally as Indians do. Nevertheless, some hierarchical populations—who consider themselves proprietors of the tradition—express vexation and confusion about the quality or purity of the music. As Rice (2003) noted, while music may be available to all in some ways, access to parts of the total repertoire remains associated with class, race, ethnicity, age, gender, occupational background, and aesthetic preference.

Despite the division between khandani and non-khandani groups, the tradition remains optimistic. It continues through firm and eager musicians who engage in learning (taalim), listening (sunna), and practice (riaz). Easy access to recordings of old compositions by various artists, combined with guidance from a guru, gives seekers a wide vision. Many beautiful new compositions are emerging. As Prof. Mehta explained: “Our profound and just respect for the traditional chijas need not blind us to believe that there is no need for new compositions. If it were so, late Khansaheb Fayaz Khan, to take only one example, would not have taken any trouble to compose new cijas. The values given to the traditional cijas are not in any way undermined by new compositions. Different artistes have different susceptibility to words and hence a vocal artiste would like to use those, those phrases, those sentiments, those infections contained in words, which fulfil his artistic demands” (Mehta, 2011).

Richard D. Wetzel’s words on the patronage of traditional Western musical forms are appropriate here: “Indicative of the prevailing confusion is the issue of patronage, without which art of any kind cannot flourish. It has changed largely because of technology, and it would be unwise to attempt to predict how the democratization and open market that it brought into being will ultimately become stabilized, how copyright issues will be resolved around the world, and how traditional institutions like orchestra and choral societies will be sustained” (Wetzel, 2012).

Guru-Shishya Relationship

Indian classical music rests on the foundation of the old guru-shishya (teacher-disciple) tradition, where knowledge passes orally from generation to generation. This learning process demands active participation from both guru and disciple in gurukul. As Nivedita Singh (2004) described, the focus of Indian music tradition is “totally centered on guru and he has a gigantic role to play covering almost every sphere of learning, i.e. from learning music to being a musician.” A guru’s influence and responsibility extended beyond music teaching to shaping the disciple’s character, personality, life philosophies, and social responsibilities. The guru even kept disciples free from economic worries, as they lived together. Over time, students gradually managed their own earnings while carrying the tradition forward. Followers of Indian classical music still believe in this tradition and continue it.

Yet the essence has changed significantly—or perhaps dramatically. The tradition, once exclusively under royal patronage, has entered the middle class. Unless a guru is extremely wealthy or funded by an organization, supporting disciples is impossible. Talim has been limited to weekend classes or just two to three sessions a week. Gurus spend considerable time traveling for performances, staying abroad for months, which squeezes time with students. Gurus must perform and survive in their freelance careers. Government facilities for artists remain scarce. Meanwhile, students must balance various life responsibilities in a fast-moving world and often fail to give adequate time to music. As Ustad Imrat Khan expressed in an interview: “…now what is happening is that there is much more material knowledge. For performers performing, art or music is much more available to them, usually in recordings. But what is not available is this deep foundation. What is available is the constructions on the top, not the foundation” (Khan, 1992).

Students not from musical families often start music quite late and lack enough time for talim and riaz. They must manage both earning and music simultaneously. Among these challenges, the age-old tradition of guru-shishya relationship suffers the worst. Students tend to choose gurus who meet their conditions, while gurus pay less attention to disciples. The concept of ganda-band has become merely a ritual. In fact, the tradition is now obsolete. In a highly digitized and notated world, online music availability is replacing the guru’s importance in students’ lives, questioning the authenticity of guru-shishya culture in contemporary music. It hardly fulfills the conditions of a guru-shishya tradition except one condition—someone follows a single guru from a particular gharana. But how many students stick to one guru or a certain gharana? For various reasons, learning from one guru or one gharana is practically not maintained. In this highly communicative world, no one is devoid of influence from different gharanas. Where is the purity of gharana then?

The efficiency of gurus is also a concern. Rather than blaming the generation, new teaching strategies should emerge to help students learn music while balancing tradition and modernity. Critical reflections on gurus are virtually nonexistent in Indian sources because they are socially unacceptable within music circles. Although it is common to think of a guru as a person who naturally generates divine musicianship in pupils, most gurus find it understandably difficult to live up to this profile.

In public and in writing, students generally exalt the source of their musical skills. From private oral reports, however, one learns that many gurus may act like demi-gods, but they have changing moods, weaknesses, and oversights. They are human beings as well as sublime musicians. Many gurus live in the twenty-first century, jet-setting with electronic toys, but expect their students to live in the nineteenth century (Schippers, 2007).

Additionally, good performers are often not good teachers, and teachers are not always good performers. Performance and teaching are two sides of the same coin. In institutionalized settings, the essence of music teaching and learning often fails to maintain such balance.

The approach and effort of gurus is therefore a vital factor. Those gurus who step out of the shell, model their teaching process, and maintain a balance between traditional values and the needs of changing times make a visible impact in society. They experiment with new teaching methods while keeping equilibrium between time, technicalities, and music.

Institutionalized Music

The journey of music from gurukul to classrooms has been a conscientious contention, as it evidently compromises its ethos under institutionalized obligations. The problem lies in a society where music or any art form remains a lower priority than other subjects. Except for a few families with musical background or interest, most parents do not encourage their children to pursue a career in music. The educational pattern also fails to support music education. Students who aspire to music face limited encouragement and support. A lack of knowledge about future prospects leaves children confused about whether to take music as a career option. Wai-chung Ho (2009) studied perceptions of music learning among parents and students and found that music education is not confined to the school context, nor does learning stop after school hours. Results showed: (i) although parents and their children have different musical experiences, parents influence concert attendance and offer financial support for children’s participation in music; (ii) while instrumental learning is common, parents often question the value of persistent learning; (iii) school music education is highly regarded by most parents, though they do not expect their children to aspire to further development of musical abilities in the future.

Teachers in music education represent an additional setback. No artist aspires to be a music teacher in school. Teaching in school is the last option for a music professional, as everyone in music aspires to be a performer. Only when the performing career is unfavorable do they turn to school-level teaching. Dealing with the conflict between music learning methods and classroom teaching, Brendan Drummond, with reference to Northern Ireland, considered influences behind music teachers’ original career choices and identified factors that predispose them to self-doubt. He pointed out: (i) the persistent conflict between the classical ethos of classroom music and other ethoi; (ii) the disappointingly low status of music teachers in most schools, with lower pay scales—music teachers are generally more distressed, burnt out, and negatively affected by work stresses and attitudes of others; (iii) musical satisfaction becomes a secondary choice, while teachers are concerned about a lack of career goals (Drummond, 2001). This holds true for India as well. A similar study by Susan Hallam, Andrea Creech, and Hilary McQueen on perceptions of non-music staff and senior management about implementing the Musical Futures approach found that most staff indicated positive impacts on students’ motivation, well-being, self-esteem, and confidence, and that it encouraged students to work together. However, there was less agreement that it improved concentration, organization, attitudes toward learning, or academic progression (Hallam, 2016).

With very limited direction in schools, when a student decides to pursue music education at a higher level, he or she is already too late. Over a five-year course duration, students must master music—far too short a time for anyone seriously aspiring to learn classical music. Moderation by administration, syllabus limitations, and examinations bound the scope of intense learning in institutionalized setups.

Written and Recorded Music

As Widdess discussed: “Indian music is dependent to a large extent on oral transmission, memorization and improvisation; and although these processes may be assisted by various systems of ‘oral notation’, for drums, dance and melody, these oral systems serve a mnemonic function, and are seldom written down. Scholars of Indian music rarely consider them as falling into the category of ‘notation’, or meriting serious consideration as such.” He further expressed that the Western belief that memory is short-term, limited in capacity, and treacherously fallible, whereas writing is comparatively long-term and reliable, is reversed in India: there, collective memory can transmit a complex tradition with astonishing accuracy over centuries, while writing is perishable and leads to corruption, forgetfulness, or misuse (Widdess, 1996).

The need to preserve traditional compositions of great ustads during politically unstable times, along with Western influence, gave rise to writing down and recording music in Indian classical music. Less popular compositions of exponents live on in texts and are sung by present musicians. Repertoire that might have been lost in history has been retrieved for ages. As Brian Q. Silver (2000) discussed: “Recordings have served as invaluable tools to musicians for self-assessment and the improvement of their own musical skills. They have also provided precise documentation of the traditions of the past masters, as well as a source of new ideas for the musicians to study the techniques and approaches of others (often competing) musicians, allowing them to incorporate such techniques into their own performance styles. Certain classical artists have been able virtually to duplicate styles of other musical traditions without any direct study within those traditions, even identifying themselves explicitly as exponents of the traditions (the disciples of the late vocalist Amir Khan, for example).” The notable contributions of Pt. Vishnunarayan Bhatkhande (1860–1936), Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931), Sourindra Mohan Tagore (1840–1914), and other scholars have given a different dimension to music. Rarest old compositions remain available today because of their efforts, carrying the legacy forward through generations. All India Radio (AIR), and later the Sangeet Natak Academy (SNA), have also done appreciable work. However, as R.C. Mehta expressed regarding AIR, the quality of recording, storage, maintenance, transfer, and cataloguing shows considerable (though unintended) disrespect to the musical treasures they hold. With SNA, the search is not for a comprehensive coverage of master musicians’ music—the sole purpose of preservation. The SNA archive is built mostly on its own recordings; artists were called for such recordings on occasions like SNA awards. Apart from these recordings, SNA should act as a “Central Archive of Indian Classical Music,” inviting contributions of recorded music of entire concerts of master musicians (wherever they remain) or of music available with other institutions and individuals—or it could even “purchase” such recordings (R.C. Mehta, 2011).

Innovations and efforts continue to make the notation system more accurate through the changing times, getting better day by day. Various systems for displaying and rendering staff notation on computers have been developed, such as Swara Shala. Research continues to develop appropriate software that does justice to the intricacies of Indian classical music. Institutions like the Sangeet Research Academy (SRA), Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE) in New Delhi, and the Archive of North Indian Classical Music at Jadavpur University are putting good effort into safeguarding music with modern and sensible archiving techniques.

Still, one question remains: can a system replace the importance of oral tradition and face-to-face learning from a guru? Can notated documents capture the complexity of the music? Can Rishav of Bhairav be shown with any symbol? That can only be understood through taalim and self-realization.

The state of technology in music today is a moving target: anything said about it becomes incomplete, outdated, or irrelevant soon after it is articulated. Storage and reproduction technology, once initiated, have advanced rapidly, and competition between production and marketing companies worldwide is fierce (Wetzel, 2012).

Beyond recording, listening, and archiving, electronic and digitized gadgets have extended to the availability of instruments and accessories on Amazon, eBay, Snapdeal, and other websites at relatively reasonable prices. A wide range of instruments is now easily delivered to one’s doorstep, offering a new inspiring dimension to the accessibility of instruments at affordable costs.

In music-making processes, including learning and practice, gadgets like tuners, electronic nagma machines, and electronic tanpura have become necessities of musical life. Over a hundred mobile applications for tabla, tanpura, and tuners are available with a single click. Electronic tabla and mobile applications represent a significant innovation in Indian classical music, as they have replaced the manual tabla for practice purposes at least. The tabla is a fundamental necessity for any musician.

Having a tabla player available at all times is practically impossible, and the electronic instrument serves as a useful substitute. Therefore, riaz with tabla is no longer time-bound. Since it is a machine featuring almost all taals at different tempos, it aids in maintaining laya better than a manual counterpart. These reasons have made the instrument highly popular within five years.

The growing popularity of the electronic sitar worldwide seems quite strange, at least to traditional sitar players. Pt. Ravi Shankar began using the electronic sitar in his old age, as seating properly for long periods had become difficult; he would sit on a chair and use an electronic jack for amplification. The instrument gradually became popular in the music market. Due to its smaller size and light weight, it is easily transportable for travel and is allowed in airplane cabins. From that development to robotic versions, the instrument has become fully digitized. With due respect to the technologies and engineering techniques involved, the question of whether replacing the manual sitar with various robotic and other devices is desirable remains unanswered.

How can an electronic instrument do justice to the sound produced by a manual sitar, given its inherent limitations? Simply amplifying the instrument with an electronic jack can increase loudness, but what about the technical intricacies of sitar playing? The right-hand and left-hand bol patterns, gamaks, and other nuances cannot be replicated. Such an instrument merely imitates the electronic guitar. Many artists even play it standing up. These playing techniques were not developed arbitrarily; they were formulated for specific reasons after long periods of research. If the sitar’s sound is not reproduced, the instrument should not be called a sitar, electronic or otherwise. While these creations may satisfy an engineer’s ambition, how much musical satisfaction they provide remains an open question, accepting the fact that such inventions may mislead younger generations. In India, youth are often more attracted to anything with a Western touch than to traditional Indian creations.

IV. CONCLUSION

Music, as an inseparable aspect of society, cannot isolate itself from the changing realities of time. Throughout its evolution, it has accepted the undesirable and rejected the desirable through various phases. This contradiction can be managed by maintaining a balance between trends and tradition. Technology combined with traditional values can offer an absolute advantage to the aged institution of music. Whether notation, modern instruments, or musical styles, all have emerged as needs of the time and will continue to evolve with developments. As Rajeev S. Patke explains, “On the positive side, art gets disseminated widely because of technology. The elitist and exclusive aspects of its pre-technological subsistence are gradually removed, and the masses are given access to what they had previously known only as the cultic. But art has its origins in local and specific factors. Its democratization might raise the culture of the masses and ameliorate the life of the artist and musicians. The process also risks diluting the local roots from which all art springs. There is thus both loss and gain. There is also the recognition that the gain is built on loss; contrariwise, the loss is the price entailed in a principle that remains socially desirable” (Patke, 2007). What is needed is a proper balance. Some measures that could prove practical include:

a. Completely westernizing music teaching in the conservatory system will worsen the consequences. Notations, however, can be used for memorization and as study materials, provided they accompany proper guidance from the guru.

b. Universities offering music programs should place equal emphasis on both practice and research.

c. Along with traditional learning, young musicians should be well equipped with modern technologies so that music can reach the masses.

d. Competition in this era necessitates erudite thoughts, subsequently adding legitimate discernment to the culture.