Offering a broad perspective of the philosophy, theory, and aesthetics of early Indian music and musical ideology, this study makes a unique contribution to our knowledge of the ancient foundations of India's musical culture. Lewis Rowell reconstructs the tunings, scales, modes, rhythms, gestures, formal patterns, and genres of Indian music from Vedic times to the thirteenth century, presenting not so much a history as a thematic analysis and interpretation of India's magnificent musical heritage. In Indian culture, music forms an integral part of a broad framework of ideas that includes philosophy, cosmology, religion, literature, and science. Rowell works with the known theoretical treatises and the oral tradition in an effort to place the technical details of musical practice in their full cultural context. Many quotations from the original Sanskrit appear here in English translation for the first time, and the necessary technical information is presented in terms accessible to the nonspecialist. These features, combined with Rowell's glossary of Sanskrit terms and extensive bibliography, make Music and Musical Thought in Early India an excellent introduction for the general reader and an indispensable reference for ethnomusicologists, historical musicologists, music theorists, and Indologists.

The book opens with a short introduction to Indian music, in particular classical Hindustani music, followed by a chapter on the role of statistics in computational musicology. The authors then show how to analyze musical structure using Rubato, the music software package for statistical analysis, in particular addressing modeling, melodic similarity and lengths, and entropy analysis; they then show how to analyze musical performance. Finally, they explain how the concept of seminatural composition can help a music composer to obtain the opening line of a raga-based song using Monte Carlo simulation. The book will be of interest to musicians and musicologists, particularly those engaged with Indian music.

Colonialist, nationalist, and regionalist ideologies have profoundly influenced folk music and related musical practices among the Garhwali and Kumaoni of Uttarakhand. Stefan Fiol blends historical and ethnographic approaches to unlock these influences and explore a paradox: how the œfolk designation can alternately identify a universal stage of humanity, or denote alterity and subordination. Fiol explores the lives and work of Gahrwali artists who produce folk music. These musicians create art as both a discursive idea and as a set of expressive practices across strikingly different historical and cultural settings. Juxtaposing performance contexts in Himalayan villages with Delhi recording studios, Fiol shows how the practices have emerged within and between sites of contrasting values and expectations. Throughout, Fiol presents the varying perspectives and complex lives of the upper-caste, upper-class, male performers spearheading the processes of folklorization. But he also charts their resonance with, and collision against, the perspectives of the women and hereditary musicians most affected by the processes. Expertly observed, Recasting Folk in the Himalayas offers an engaging immersion in a little-studied musical milieu.

The idea of a global history of music may be traced back to the Enlightenment, and today, the question of a conceptual framework for a history of music that pays due attention to global relationships in music is often raised. But how might a historical interpretation of those relationships proceed? How should it position, or justify, itself? What would 'Western music' look like in an account of music history that aspires to be truly global? The studies presented in this volume aim to promote post-European historical thinking. They are based on the idea that a global history of music cannot be one single, hegemonic history. They rather explore the paradigms and terminologies that might describe a history of many different voices. The chapters address historical practices and interpretations of music in different parts of the world, from Japan to Argentina and from Mexico to India. Many of these narratives are about relations between these cultures and the Western tradition; several also consider socio-political and historical circumstances that have affected music in the various regions. The book addresses aspects that Western musical historiography has tended to neglect even when looking at its own culture: performance, dance, nostalgia, topicality, enlightenment, the relationships between traditional, classical, and pop musics, and the regards croisés between European, Asian, or Latin American interpretations of each other’s musical traditions. These studies have been derived from the Balzan Musicology Project Towards a Global History of Music (2013–2016), which was funded by the International Balzan Foundation through the award of the Balzan Prize in Musicology to the editor, and designed by music historians and ethnomusicologists together. A global history of music may never be written in its entirety, but will rather be realised through interaction, practice, and discussion, in all parts of the world.

This book tells a fascinating story of how music traveled with mankind through history. Features little known facts, personal and professional bits of interesting information.

Elements of Indian Music introduces the Indian melodic system in an accessible manner within the realm of Western music theory. It demonstrates a new archetype in music composition for composers of any genre, as well as composition teachers and anyone interested in ethnomusicology.This book contains a set of 12 etudes for piano and transcriptions for classical guitar. Each etude is about one minute in length and utilizes notes from a particular Indian scale. An intermediate to advanced skill level is required to perform each etude. Practicing and performing these studies is an excellent way to expand ones musical perspective beyond traditional diatonic scales.Indian music has intrigued the West for a long time, but hasnt always been accessible because of the absence of a systematic approach to theory and repertoire. Just as the Western harmonic system is well developed, the Indian melodic system is very advanced and equally established. The intermingling of these two worlds can inspire new, exceptional sonic landscapes.Useful literature on the evolution of the Indian melodic system is also included, with notes on how it can be used as a modus operandi by Western musicians who wish to apply Indian scales in Western compositions and improvisations.Includes access to online audio