In the video clip we will watch in class, Ravi Shankar  states.
"Our tradition teaches us that "Sound is God" (Nada Brahma).

That is, musical sound and the musical experience are steps to the realization of the self. We (Hindus) view music as a kind of spiritual discipline that raises one’s inner being to divine peacefulness and bliss. We are taught that one of the fundamental goals of a Hindu works toward in his lifetime is a knowledge of the true meaning of the universe -it’s unchanging, eternal essence-  and this is realized first by a complete knowledge of one’s self and one’s own nature. The highest aim of our music is to reveal the essence of the universe it reflects, and the ragas are among the means by which this essence can be apprehended. Thus, through music, one can reach God."

                                                                                                                                                    - Ravi Shankar, Raga: An Autobiography

The fundamental goal of all forms of Hinduism is the reintegration of the individual with the Universal Spirit. You may be more familiar with the word "God" or "Essence", but essentially  one strives toward God through the expansion and development of individual consciousness.  In Hindu belief, music is  a spiritual bridge over the gulf between our exterior form of existence and the formless world of Spirit. Some Hindus even refer to music as "the food of the soul". In ancient India, music began and developed as a spiritual technology. It was considered another form of yoga (Nada Yoga), which was based on the belief that all reality resides in sound vibrations, the end result of the original manifest sound. The physical world is a manifestation  of different frequencies of this root vibration energy. Human beings, as part of that world, are also essentially vibration, and subject to the laws of sound. In the language of Hindi, the word "svar" means "light", and the word "svara" refers  to sound. In a strictly musical context, the word "svara" is the word used to describe a musical scale.

The sound of Om  or Aum is the gathering in and centering of vibrational energies within the body. When this "Om" is chanted by a group, it is the sound of many becoming one, the Unison. Music created from the study of Nada Yoga principles harmonizes everything in it's presence. In humans, it achieves this by vibrating the matrix of the brain and the nervous system. 

The most powerful and developed Indian musicians are the "conduit" of this "awakening or awareness", and can virtually open the inner psychic centers of the listener and create a spiritual awakening. Indian classical music is based on ancient traditional rhythmic patterns that reflect the relationship of sound to time-not clock time, but the eternal cycles of birth, growth, fruition, dissolution, and death. Indian's rhythmic system is considered to be the most highly developed in the world, in particular for it's extensive and logical treatment of the various principles of movement in time, known as tala. Tala refers to a recurring dynamic rhythmic sequence that comes to an end by finishing on the first beat of the cycle. The tala moves one into a timeless rhythmic awareness of cyclical existence. 

In Indian culture, music, or Sangita, refers not only to the art of sound, but also to dancing, singing, and playing a musical instrument. Sangita is also closely identified with myth, religion, and philosophy. The special position held by music in Hindu philosophy is based on the belief that sound had an important role in the creation of the world. Shiva, the god of the male creative force, is closely associated with music and dance. One of his best known images is as Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance.

                                                     Dancing Shiva

 In his right hand Shiva traditionally holds a drum, which is both the symbol of creation and the instrument through which the end of the cosmic age is announced. Shiva danced his dance of creation to the rhythmic sound of the drum. Thus, rhythm, one of the most important parts of both music and dance, is seen as having paramount importance. Hindus speak of two types of "sound", one audible, and the other "inadudible", thus, an abstract concept like Pythagoris' "Music of the Spheres" in Greek thought. Accordingly, they speak of "struck" or audible sound (Ahata), and "unstruck", inaudible sound (Anahata). The unstruck sound can only be heard by those who have achieved consciousness to such a level that they become one with the cosmos. They can hear the unchangeable numero-musical patterns which are the basis of all existence itself.  (See the diagram at the top of the page)

Vedic Tradition                                                                                                                                                                            
                       In ancient India, two distinct types of literature developed in the wisdom traditions (Vedic texts of ancient India): the Sruti and the Smriti. The word Sruti literally means "hearing" or "that which is heard", and describes the eternal knowledge revealed to Hindu seers (Rishis), and passed on through time by brahmin priests. The most important Sruti texts include the Vedas (written between 1500-800 B.C.), the Brahamanas, the Upanashads, and the Aranyakas. The term Smriti ("that which is remembered")  refers to traditional knowledge passed on through historically based epics such as the Bhagavadad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the  Code of Manu, and the Puranas. The Vedas are sacred knowledge, ultimate knowledge, for which humans have had limited access throughout history. The Brahmin class (highest in the Indian caste system), made up of the educated, and sometimes wealthy people of India, had control of this written knowledge (because they could read), and therefore, had power over the other castes. For other castes, it was "Sruti" knowledge (that which is heard). Therefore, if you heard the Vedas, as recited by the Brahmins, you accepted the power and authority of the Brahmin class.

The Vedas consist of four collections: the Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Yagur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda. The Vedas also include about a thousand hymns to various gods, rhythmic chants, and descriptions of sacrificial rituals, magical spells, kingly duties, incantations, and other ritualistic practices. Vedic scriptures comprise a body of four collections of ancient poetry that were originally chanted as hymns by the early descendants of Aryan peoples that settled the Indus Valley thousands of years ago. Eventually, these poems of the Rig Veda came to be the special responsibility of the Brahmin caste, along with supernatural and intellectual matters. The Brahmins were well educated from early childhood, and entrusted to upholding the correct transmission and pronunciation of the Vedic hymns, Particular care had to be taken because the very "sounds" of the Sanskrit language were considered to be the necessary means of coercing the gods to provide for the needs of the people. To preserve the accent patterns of the ancient language, the Brahmins adopted the practice of associating the three types of spoken accent with a relative pitch level, giving the Vedic texts the character of chanting, a chant whose melodic contour depends precisely upon the succession of accent in the sung syllables. Another attribute (frequently mistaken as a musical characteristic) is duration (time) of the various tones or pitches. The sounds depended on the length of syllabic and vowel sounds. Still today, one finds young Brahmin boys who have memorized the Vedas as a preserved oral tradition done through chanting.

Regarding Indian music, let me first make a general comparison between India and the West. As a body of music, Indian music appeals to and is patronized by a small, well educated Indian population. Exhibiting two regional sub-styles or traditions (Hindustani and Karnatic), Indian music is heard through public concerts for which there is a similar notion of programmatic order (as in the West). Here our differences begin to appear. 

In any performance in the Hindustani or Karnatic styles, there are always three layers of musical activity: melody, rhythm, and a constantly sounding drone instrument. Indian compositions may be pre-composed, or a mixture of pre-composed and improvisational segments.  In the West we consider, melody and harmony as taking a dominant role in terms of creating the structure of music, rhythm is more of a decorative item. In Indian music, harmony is almost completely absent. Melody and rhythm functions operate in tandem to determine the overall structure. Unlike much of our music in the West, Indian music is not for selling, nor is it made for commercial purposes. To the Indian musician, music is like worshiping, and through music you worship God. Though it is difficult for a professional musician to follow this doctrine, it is true that you feel godliness music more quickly through music than any other medium, whether it is saying a mantra or doing yoga; ,these are very long process for obtaining some state or feeling of divinity. Music is the fastest vehicle, if one listens to the age-old saying 'Nada Brahma" - Sound is God.".

For an Indian musician, one must submit to a lifestyle of mental discipline and spiritual evolvement. "The guru-shishya (teacher-disciple) relationship is an exceptionally powerful one, at the center of which is the one to one oral teaching method. In order to gain the benefits of the received wisdom of the ages, the student must yield completely to the demands of the guru in a submission of the ego, must accept without question what he is taught. Even more important than achieving technical proficiency (though that is vital as well) is the process of imbibing direct from the guru the essence of each raga, and the essence of the music as a whole; without the feeling for these, his potential for authentic improvisation will always be limited. The relationship is as much spiritual as it is worldly, for the guru leads the pupil into the euphoria that results from true master of the music and appreciation of its transcendental potential. Teaching is done orally and aurally, from teacher to student. It is vitally important for the student to learn all the nuances of a raga from the "sounds" of the teacher, the essence of the raga itself must be learned in this way, one cannot learn improvisation from a musical score, as in the West.

In classical Indian performance, there are three main musical roles or functions to be performed:

A raga is performed ("discovered") by the melodic instrument, and this performer must also convey the primary feeling or mood of the raga, called a rasa.

The melodic instrument (responsible for rendering the raga) must first get at the essence of the raga in an exploratory opening section (called an alap) played by the melodic instrument alone. This alap is followed by a section called jhor, in which the melodic instrument must now strictly adhere to the tala. The concluding section, jhali, generally finds all instruments rushing toward the conclusion, a path that can become musically intense, followed by complete calm and total release. 

Here is what the famous Indian sitarist, Ravi Shankar has to say about setting up the mood for a raga performance:

"When I myself start to perform a raga, the first thing I dos is shut out the world around me and try to go down deep within myself.... When, with control and concentration, I have cut myself off from the outside world, I step onto the threshold of the raga with feelings of humility, reverence, and awe."        - Ravi Shankar

For an Indian musician, playing a raga means following an extraordinary set of rules regarding pacing (tempo), mood, accentuation, adhering to the tala (rhythmic framework) in a style of performance that mostly improvisatory. Nevertheless, Indian musicians see their playing of a raga as a form of "discovery" (like a biologist discovering a new species). In Indian music and philosophy, ragas are "eternal", and exist as large "sound streams" or conduits which can be accessed by Indian performance, by chanting the Vedas, or by yogis in deep meditation.  A deeply spiritual musician may, on occasion, tap into the heart of one of these streams, producing three major affects (goals of Indian music), all articulated in ancient Vedic texts.

The sitar is perhaps the most well known of the Indian instruments. Artists such as Ravi Shankar have popularized this instrument around the world. The Sitar is a long necked instrument with an interesting construction. It has a varying number of strings but 17is   usual. It has three to four playing strings and three to four drone strings. These strings are plucked with a wire finger plectrum called a mizrab. There are also a series of sympathetic   strings lying under the frets. These strings are almost never played but they vibrate whenever the corresponding note is sounded. The frets are metal rods which have been bent into crescents. The main resonator is usually made of a gourd and there is sometimes an additional resonator attached to the neck.
 

The Sitar is used in a variety of music and dance genres. It is played in North Indian classical music (Hindustani Sangeet), film music, and western fusion music. It is not commonly found in South Indian classical performances or folk music.

The Tabla

The Tabla is not a single drum, but a pair of drums consisting of a small right hand drum called dayan and a larger metal one called bayan. The dayan (right hand drum) is almost always made of wood. The diameter at the membrane may run from just under five inches to over six inches. The bayan (left hand drum) may be made of iron, aluminum, copper, steel, or   clay; yet brass with a nickel or chrome plate is the most common material.  Undoubtedly the most striking characteristic of the tabla is the large black spot on each of the playing surfaces. These black spots are a mixture of gum, soot, and iron filings. Their function is to create the bell-like timbre that is characteristic of the instrument. Although the origin of tabla is somewhat obscure, it is generally believed that it evolved about two hundred years ago from the barrel shaped drum called a pakhawaj. 

Tanpura or Tambura

The Tambura or Tanpura is a drone instrument that resembles the sitar except it has no frets. It has four strings tuned to the fundamental tonic, or basic tone. The word "tanpura" (tanpoora) is common in the north, but in south India it is called "tambura", "thamboora", "thambura", or "tamboora". The tanpura is known for its very rich sound. There are three main styles; the Miraj style, the Tanjore style and the small instrumental version sometimes called tamburi.  The Miraj style of Tambura playing is the typical north Indian tanpura (tambura), the favorite of Hindustani musicians. The Tambura measures between 3 to 5 feet in length., is characterized by a pear shaped, well rounded tabali (resonator face) and non-tapering neck. It usually has a resonator made of a gourd, but rarely one may find resonators made of wood. This style is shown at the top of this page.

Hint: One could interpret melody and rhythm as  manifestations of  the ego (s) sounding above the constancy of the drone (the universal One - non-dual awareness). In our Western-style dualistic thinking, we tend to focus on the intricacies of melody and rhythm (manifestations of individuality) as more important than the constancy of a single sound.