As a student, humble practitioner and researcher of Hindustani Classical music for the most part of my life I am wont to see innovation in art from the axis of a performing and teaching vocalist.

Hindustani Classical music, as I understand it, is essentially ‘period’ or ‘old world’ music based on certain principles which formalise its two basic components, viz, melody and rhythm into the ubiquitous ‘Raga’ and the cyclical ‘Tala’ respectively, providing an unshakeable frame work or given for music making. A number of musical compositions of varying tempi are used in the process of delineation of the raga but unlike Western Classical music or even Karnatak music Hindustani art music is not composition based. The raga is supreme and its gradual unfolding the subject of classical Hindustani music presentation. Compositions or bandishes and gats are based upon the twin concept of raga & tala, Indian music’s unique gift to the world. And, it is this very property which provides a great deal of individual freedom to the performer and paves the way and scope for creativity .

This was a brief introduction to the basis of creativity and innovation in Hindustani classical music and its basic principles.

But before proceeding any further let us first try to understand the term ‘classical’ as it is used in the field of music making.

DEFINITION OF CLASSICAL MUSIC:

The Chambers College dictionary thus defines the term ‘classical’ in the context “of music and arts related to it: having an established, traditional and somewhat formal style and form”.

How then does the concept of innovation fit into the scheme of things vis-a-vis Hindustani classical music? Does such a thing already exist to any extent? How does it relate or co-exist with the firm foundation of tradition that is the backbone of Hindustani art music? Perhaps there aren’t final answers in black and white as is mostly in the case of art, but even examining the available data in old and contemporary practices could definitely throw useful light on the subject and may even help derive certain conclusions, partial though these might be.

TRADITION:

Before we set about the business of examining the possibilities of innovation or introducing innovative dimensions and aspects in keeping with the psycho-cultural needs of our times we also need to take a brief but clear look at the roots of this music and the basis of its development over the centuries.

Hindustani art music, as it stands today is best represented by the form khayal which came into its own by mid eighteenth century when the popularity of the dhrupad form began to wane steadily after having enjoyed the status of the primary form of mainstay vocal classical music for over three hundred years. Prof. B. R. Deodhar writes in the foreword of ‘Indian Musical Tradition’ by Vamanrao H. Deshpande, “Intelligent and forward looking musicians at the beginning of the eighteenth century, therefore, began to think of introducing innovations into the dhrupad form and it was this tendency which found its nature expression in the rise of the khayal…..”. It is here that the raga is truly delineated in a stepwise manner with the composition text serving a far secondary purpose of letting its syllables turn into vehicles for note (swar) articulation and also lending some literary meaning or emotion.

However, in the over two hundred year span that khayal has been in vogue it too could not escape transformation from the dhrupad like entity that it originally was to the more lyrical, slower as also faster, intricately imaginative song-form it is now as a result of changing listener response and patronage. Says the eminent thinking vocalist, Dr. Prabha Atre. “It must be remembered that what was sung as ‘traditional’ by the previous generation had itself evolved through the centuries.” Therefore, even though steeped in tradition Hindustani art music has, nevertheless, been a ‘living’ form that has shaped itself over the centuries imbibing the aesthetic sensibilities of the changing times.

INNOVATION:

(a) GHARANA BASED: Vamanrao Deshpande observes that a gharana ( school or style of khayal singing) “flourishes by combining tradition with innovation.” Introduction of new ideas accounts for innovation in art and music. Thus are born newer styles so important to the introduction of variety crucial to breaking monotony and the developmental growth of the art itself. Vamanrao rightly suggests, “….. a gharana fades out of existence it its followers do not make new additions to it ….” and goes on to write a whole chapter entitled, “Possibilities of New Gharanas” in his book, “Indian Musical Traditions”. Here he has discussed the possibilities of a happy blending of established styles which is already become the order of the day. So we have a judicious combination of Jaipur and Kirana, Agra and Jaipur and Gwalior and Kirana to name just a few possibilities. These ecclectic styles could combine the most appealing features of even more than two gharanas and synthesise them into a homogenous whole. Infact, the possibilities are endless as each individual is capable of founding his or her unique style through assimilation of existing styles and making individual inputs to invent a new one.

(b) GIVE AND TAKE BETWEEN FORMS: Overlapping between existing genres too has become fairly common. Thus we have thumri-like and bhajan-like khayals, khayal-like ghazals and folksy styles of khayal, thumri and bhajan. Many popular charismatic classical music artistes have made this the hallmark of their styles. The late Kumar Gandharva who synthesized a great deal of folk element into his classical renditions is a burning example. Although the exchange of stylistic material between existing forms is a continuous process yet to what extent it is desirable is debatable indeed.

(c) WESTERN MUSIC: A major onslaught on the music market in India has been that of Western music both as a global phenomenon and the fallout of colonisation by the British. Although lighter forms like geet, ghazal and even Rabindrasangeet have been considerably influenced by it, film music has really adopted it in a big way, primarily due to its need of orchestral compositions for background music as well as songs. However, it has had little effect on Indian classical music except for the employment of broken chords such as S G P, N. m N of G M D played or sung in succession, which produces an interesting effect. But this is mere illusion of harmony. In fact, the concept of harmony is completely alien to classical Indian music which essentially stands on a single sound source melodic line accompanied by percussion and imitative melodic accompaniment. Perhaps, the only Western music influence is the adoption of the harmonium and the violin (more so it Carnatic music ) for accompaniment but that too is used in typical Indian melodic fashion.

(d) TECHNOLOGY AND THE MICROPHONE: The onset of the twentieth century also ushered in an era of technological evolution. By the time we had moved into the twenty first century the world market of music was replete with technological wonders that took complete hold of our lives. Various media such as the ubiquitous radio, television, films, theatre, audio and video cassettes and CDs made all kinds of music readily available to all and especially to those who had interest and the means to procure. While the microphone revolutionized sound production by heightening the level of artistic communication, the advent of television, video and DVD etc. further transformed music into an audio-visual art. With even a whisper becoming audible at will the hitherto unfamiliar to Indian music, dynamics or volume control also crept in. Thus the mike could be effectively used to engineer sound by manipulating its texture, timbre and volume us a result of which musicians could produce a wide range of sounds be they broad and bold, rounded or pointed, open, guttural whispery, husky, very low and very soft.

(e) INFLUENCE & FUSION OF VARIOUS MUSIC TYPES OF THE COUNTRY :

FOLK MUSIC: Widely regarded as the natural expression of the human spirit, folk music has existed and developed as ‘desi’ or regional music practiced in the village along side the ‘abhijat’ or the ‘exalted’ Art music formalized by rules and practiced in the temples of urban township, from ancient times in this country. This is the reason why there has always been a steady reciprocity of musical material between the folk and the classical genres and we have countless ragas based on folk tunes and vice-versa. Folk instruments like the flute and the santoor got pride of place amid the classical instruments, dhuns like Mand and Pahadi become ragas. The simplicity, spontaneity, free expression of folk music, its rhythmic excitement, day to day themes, intoxicating abandon have all caught the fancy of a large section of classical musicians too. Hence it has become the order of the day for classical instrumentalists to conclude their recitals with ‘dhuns’ and the vocalists with folksy bhajans, kajaris or chaitis. Ethnic music is an important section of today’s music market not to space of its free amalgamation with almost every king of music conceivable.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC : Vocal music has always held supremacy over instrumental music all over the world. Perhaps more so in India as the instruments always imitated what the voice sang. However, over the past few decades instrumental music has made rapid advancement developing for itself a strikingly distinct style which taps the inherent capabilities of the instrument concerned to great advantage. The use of staccato sargam, sitar and sarod-like swings of notes and tihais; very speedy jhala like tanas etc. in vocal music is fairly common these days and clearly denote the vocalist’s eagerness to cash in on the magic of the instrumental musician’s new wizardry.

CARNATIC MUSIC: We all know that Indian music has two main systems, the Hindustani classical one which is practiced all over the country and the Carnatic one which is followed in the four southern states, viz. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karanataka. The common thread between the two systems is the concept of raga and tala but there is a significant difference in approach, technique, expression and presentation. The exchange of ragas and certain tool of embellishment, such as gamaks and sargam started long with stalwarts like Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan visiting south India and getting influenced by certain aspects of Carnatic music and their musicians doing the same. But now with the mutual acceptance of certain compositions and even stylistic peculiarities the two systems are seen complementing and enriching each other. Jugalbandi of two vocalists, two instrumentalists, a single vocalist and an instrumentalist, not counting their respective accompanists, are now becoming increasingly common. And the results are mostly happy since there are basic commonalities between these two types of Indian music even though one must admit that they are not as satisfying as a jugalbandi of two Hindustani or two Carnatic musicians who are then working towards a more homogenous, common musical philosophy.

FUSION MUSIC : Band and fusion ensembles that combine or blend different types of music, say Western folk and Indian folk, Western pop, jazz with African and Indian melodic and / or percussive music have suddenly become very visible in our metroes and big cities. Indian classical music in both vocal and instrumental forms is also being freely used in them, but mostly sans its conventional context and grammar and therefore has to be appreciated as a new form separate from formal classical music. This makes it easy to enjoy for the lay audience and listener who does not have the exposure and grooming to appreciate serious classical music. Experimentation is rife and the possibilities are endless in this genre However, it remains to be seen how it weathers the test of time in the years to come.

SOME FUTURISTIC IDEAS : Even though some amount of harmonisation has crept into the use of classical music pieces used in fusion, band and film genres which have no real distinctive formula or grammar and depend out and out upon the creative blending of various forms and genres, I do not see it encroaching upon the pure classical performance for the very reason that harmonization is detrimental to the concept of raga which relies heavily on shruti, gamak and meend (microtone, oscillation and glissando respectively) based application of notes and note phrases. I am afraid that if so done the raga will be reduced to mere scale. However, certain novelties in recent trends are perhaps in the offing and also inevitable. How acceptable these will be in the long run remains to be seen as also their impact upon the future development of Indian art music.

Let us take a look at some of the possibilities the future might hold for it.

(1) Thickening the background sound screen : Traditionally the background sound screen provided for Indian classical music is pretty bare and consists of the ‘drone’ of the tanpura providing the tonic (S) with a single samvadi (sympathetic) note of the tetrachord, e.g. M or P. The other notes prominently used in the raga are sometimes also incorporated by using the harp-like multistringed swarmandal or by tuning another tanpura to these notes. This often thickens or enriches the background sound screen to which the accompanying melodic instrument such as the harmonium, sarangi or violin adds substantially. The final effect would be pleasing to ears of the listener conditioned to orchestra based film music and eventually help in increasing the mass appeal of Hindustani art music.

(2) Perhaps the introduction of new intelligently composed bandishes on hitherto unexplored themes could be an attraction for the audience who feel the need for variety in the song text and composition. This is already being done for quite a few decades by modern composer-musicians like Pt. Balvantrai Bhat of Banaras, Pt. Ramashraya Jha of Allahabad and Dr. Prabha Atre of Bombay, not counting many many more such vaggeyakars.

(3) More compact, well edited and less time consuming presentations considering the lack of free time in today’s fast world. This will also help avoid unnecessary repetition and make the recitals neater. However, there is a section of listeners who tend to think that lengthy, ponderous delineations alone do justice to a raga without realizing that not every raga is meant for or capable of such treatment.

(4) Now this is a relatively uncharted region and many an orthodox listener might find it unacceptable for its potential to interfere with the abstract nature of Hindustani art music. But owing to the need of the present situation where it is forced to compete with all sorts of catchy, audio visually stimulating musics classical Hindustani musicians, I am afraid, just might have to think about newer presentation techniques without interfering with its philosophical ethos.

Perhaps the use of effect lighting and introducing with the help of a projecter, visuals in keeping with the mood of the items presented while they are in progress could add to the enjoyment of the piece being performed. However, a much bolder and controversial experiment would be the reversal of the role classical Indian music, especially instrumental music, is playing in many a today’s fashion show where models and dancers in dazzling finery and attractive swishing attire float about gracefully on stage or the ramp to perfectly choreographed classical temporally accentuated music pieces. But, the point is, can such a thing benefit or help in popularising classical music? What negative effects could it eventually have on Indian music in the long run? And so on.

However, my contention is that even though Indian classical music has over the decades and centuries, withstood many onslaughts and encroachments, be they from film music, pop, folk, Western, Carnatic, instrumental music or science and technology, these encroachments have only been peripheral or at a superficial level. Innovation in classical Hindustani Music in today’s context lies in trying out things relevant to present day conditions without deviating from the ethos, the true sprit of this great living tradition.