indian western music

The Indian classical music system is horizontal; one note follows the other, while the Western music is vertical; many notes played at a time. Yehudi Menuhin, the noted musician, highlights the differentiates both systems by describing Indian music as: "for appreciating Indian music one has to adopt totally a different set of values... one must orientate oneself and at least for the concerned period, forget the passing of time and just sink into a kind of thematic, almost hypnotic trance. The rhythmic and melodic features of Indian music that are repetitive, acquires an extraordinary charm and fascination... despite the domination of this hypnotic mood's domination, which is an Indian music characteristic, actively frees the mind."

The place of "composition" in these two systems is notably different. In Western music, the music is first composed by the composer and arranges it in notation: then the musicians play this composition under the guidance of a music conductor. Here improvisation hardly takes place, and the performance value lies in the uniformity and the pre-determined conduct of tone and music speed (tempo). In Indian music, while the melody grammar and rhythm is fixed, the ingenuity and skill of the musician lies in his creativity and improvisation, especially in mood evocation and rasa of a particular raga.

In this context, an international musicologist has written: "In the West, solid blocks of music are constructed. After carving out like building stones, the seven degrees of diatonic scale, lined up and placed on top of each other with cleverly worked out harmony and counterpoint. In this way fantastic edifices in sound are erected.

In Indian classical music, no one can think of dividing sound into blocks; instead it is refined into a wire-thin thread. The sound is stretched out to refine it to an extreme point of delicacy... No standard materials, no building of three or five floors, but just like silk thread which unfold and rises and falls and evokes a world of sensations and feelings."In music of India, melody and rhythm offer a variety of subtleties, which is not possible in Western music. Indian notes are divided into units called shruties (22 microtones), whereas Western music consist of 12 semitones. The microtones are more subtle than semitones. These microtones adorned with gracetones (gamakas) create a magical effect.