To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/11/21 13:52
Subject: [K-list] Indian music / The coordinated brain
From: Mhortling
On 1999/11/21 13:52, Mhortling posted thus to the K-list:
Amanda wrote:
>Mantra is sound and so are ragas.
I have read that the tonal systems of Indian
ragas is said to reflect the original source
like light can be broken down into colors in
a prism.
Is it not highly possible that parts of the
Western tonality / musical scale(s) also reflects this
"pattern" of energy but with a somewhat different
skew of the energy filter, like a prism cut
with different angles ? <
Yes, I would definitely say that the energy pattern is different - Indian
music is more subtle and offers more emotional possibilities even though it
might sound unmusical to many Western ears. In Western music, the octave
(the part of the frequency spectrum in which the lowest note has exactly half
the frequency of the highest note) contains basically just 12 semi-tones (all
the keys on the piano between a given "c" note and the next higher "c" for
instance, and most music is derived from combinations of these 12 semi-tones.
Indian music divides the octave into 22 notes with a large number of "in-betwe
en" ornamental and grace notes as well, so there's a larger number of notes
to choose from and the music contains more subtle shadings. (I know this is a
very crude way of describing the divine art of composing....)
Also Indian musical tradition has probably been more in tune with the
psychological and psycho-acoustic effect of melody and harmony, i.e what
musical elements are needed to evoke a specific emotional response from the
listener. Ragas are also linked to be played at specific times of the day and
the seasons and Indian classical musicians take this very seriously - play a
morning raga at night and the karmic hammer is sure to come down
>Want to expand your spatial awareness and physical >grounding in one
exercise?
> Take up a musical instrument! Just a thought ;-)
>Yes, the combination of reading music
>(mainly left brain activity) and playing the music
>trying to express the emotions in them
>(mainly right brain activity) and
>putting it all together with the physical movement
>of the fingers / arms necessary to play the instrument
>is highly integrative activity. :))<
What really works well in this respect are tablas (Indian percussion
instrument).
Each tabla stroke has a specific sound and the player vocalizes the sound as
he/she plays. A typical tabla sequence could be something like:
"Dha Dhin Dhin Dha - DhaNa Take Dhin Dha - DhaNa TiRiKiTe Tin Na -TaKe Dhin
Dhin Dha"
(it looks a bit silly written down, I know...) - Anyway, this sequence is
vocalized (silently mostly) while the fingers play the strokes and thus the
sounds on the instrument. The effect is very meditative, the vocalizing has
the effect of a mantra, the ears, hands and fingers are coordinated with the
mantra and one can actually sense the brain waves and the two cerebral
hemispheres becoming harmonized...
Unfortunately it is also a rather difficult instrument (understatement of the
day...) to play, I've been struggling for over a year and I'm still a total
beginner. (My teacher has been playing for over 10 years at a rate of 5 hours
a day and I think he considers himself to be something of a beginner too
compared with HIS teacher...)
Greetings
Michael
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