Introduction

Today, Indian music has a very sophisticated melodic and rhythmic structure. But it wasn’t always this way. So, how did we reach here? Since ancient times, Indians have had a strong history of oral teaching. Indian traditions (Vedas, Ayurveda, Science, Mathematics, Music) were taught to heirs/successors almost exclusively by oral tradition with written documentation following much later. So what we have available to us today, is in some part by oral tradition, and in some part by documentation from well-meaning students and scholars. Based on available documentation and my own understanding, here is a glimpse into the evolution of Indian music.

From early Vedic periods, music has been recognised as a powerful means of expressing and stimulating emotions. As humans, we intrinsically respond to music and rhythm, regardless of the form and genre of music. Scientific research has shown that even plants and animals respond to music ¹. The first significant step in the development of Indian music happened with the Saama Veda. Taking the ritualistic, introspective and philosophical chants from the Rig Veda, Saama Veda added an element of singing to Vedic recitation. Listen to this chant from Rig Veda.

Rig Veda chants already incorporated the concept of intonations. The intonations are called Svarita (neutral drone), Udaatta (higher note) and Anudaatta (lower note). As you can hear from the example above, it is not a monotone chant, but there are accents to syllables which create a three note chant, called Gaathik chant. These early chant intonations are used in Indian music even today. Now, listen to this chant from Saama Veda.

As you can see, in Saama Veda singing, the number of notes has expanded beyond Rig Veda chants. If you are familiar with Indian music, you may notice early examples of musical characteristics like Meend (glides), Gamakam (note oscillation), Hrasva (short note) and Deergha (long note) which continue to be an integral part of Indian Music today.

Notice how even this small step of adding musical notes and phrases, already makes a big difference in the feeling evoked by Saama Veda singing, as compared to Rig Veda chants. Over time, the musical rules and principles evolved to take their own form and identity separate from Saama Veda, and came to be classified as an Upaveda (a subsidiary Vedic text) called the Gandharva Veda. It was the Gandharva Veda which first laid down the framework of Indian music. And from Gandharva Veda came the methods, structure and grammar to learn, practise and perform music - the first seeds of structured Indian Music.

Excerpts from original post published at https://www.chandraveena.com