It is said that music is a universal language and languages, over time, do tend to develop and change from one form to another. Similarly, in India, the differences and changes between traditional and contemporary music have become as unambiguous as night and day. Although the genres of music may differ, every genre can be further split into traditional and contemporary. This topic is particularly interesting because both of us coming from Indian families, we can see the differences between generations (our parents and ourselves) music-wise.
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Caption: Shown above are musicians from a traditional folk music school in India. The popularity of traditional music now has to compete with new remixes used by more modern Indian musicians.
Traditional Indian music was created during the times of the Vedas and was admired for its messages of religion and tradition. Typically, the instruments which are used are the sitar,tablaand the harmonium (all pictured below). Today, most of India’s youth looks at traditional Indian music to be quite slow and lackluster. This has widely contributed to the fall in popularity of traditional Indian music. Although many young people today are still learning traditional Indian music in classes, the number of students in both India and the world has decreased dramatically with the introduction of more contemporary music forms. Below is a clip of what traditional, Indian music sounds like.
—Remixes: Oldtunes are blended with faster beats making them popular amongst the younger generation.
—Fusion: A typeof music where Indian classical music is combined with western music to create a musical mix of east and west. Nowadays, there are several concerts in the United States for Indian Fusion music because it is one of those music types which is agreed upon by both the older and new generations. This is due to the fact that fusion encompasses the classical music enjoyed by elders and contemporary beats which is enjoyed by the younger population.
—Film music: This isin fact very popular amongst people of all age groups. In fact, an Indian film is considered incomplete without songs with the heroes and heroines dancing. Film music makes Bollywood what it is today!
—Indi pop: This genreis basically the Indian version of the western pop music.
Unlike traditional Indian music, modern Indian music is primarily enjoyed due to its beats and tune rather than the lyrics or message of the song.
Many modern Indian artists have been able to bring their music to America. One of the greatest contemporary gurus of joining Western and Indian music is A.R. Rahman, music director of the multi-Oscar winning film "Slumdog Millionaire." Above is a clip of his performance on "Oprah."
Works Cited
"India - Traditional (Classic) Music, Modern Music."AsianInfo.org. Apr. 2006.
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