What is Hindustani Vocal Music?

Series Summary

Hindustani music is an Indian classical music tradition whose roots go back to the 13th century. With the permeation on Indian culture to the Western World, Hindustani vocal music is a tradition that most people have been exposed to, whether they realize it or not. In this video series, you will learn about some of the history and traditions behind Hindustani music, as well as some tips for training your voice to perform these sacred melodies.

Unlike most Western music that is based upon the singing of words, Hindustani vocal music is based upon the practice of singing notes. These notes make up Ragas, which are the basis for Hindustani music. These videos will show you some of the more popular Ragas that are often sung in Hindustani vocal music, as well as teach you some of the different techniques that performers use to spice up these Ragas.

Video Transcript

"Hello! I'm Amy Matushevsky and this lesson is the introduction to a Hindustani voice or Hindustani vocal music. In the music of India, we believe that vocal music is the source of anything else that you might play. It all begins with the voice and the voice connects with the nod which is the cosmic sound of the universe which is a mystical phenomenon. So when we sing sa or ohm, we are actually becoming one with a force that is much greater than we are. Sa, ohm. Many singers begin their performance with ohm for sa or the first note. Sa is like doh in the western scale. What I have just done is sing for you something like a major scale which is there in India music as well and you may have noticed that the difference is in the voice production and the connectiveness of the note. They are all flowing from one to another and we sing in a slightly more nasal way and we use our voice in a way that is quite close to our spoken voice. "