Cuyamaca College Hindustani Culture and Carnatic Culture Discussion

What are the major differences between North Indian Hindustani culture and South Indian Carnatic culture?  Address topics such as musical transmission, instruments and musical practices.  Why do these differences exist today? How does religion relate to this cultural gap between North and South India?

Choose an AUDIO example (not video clip) from Unit 2: India and write a 150 word journal about it. Please utilize the listening guides in your textbook for this assignment.  Include information about the audio example including the genre or style, instruments and form.  What culture creates this music?  What behaviors or activities are associated with this music?  Also include your personal thoughts or feelings about your chosen audio example.  Do you like it/dislike it?  Why did you choose this particular example?

Your Journal should be around 150 words Study Guide: India

1. A major style of North Indian dance is called ______________, and is generally either abstract, called
_______________, or a pantomime of a story, called ____________________________.
2. Indian dancers and drummers speak to each other using a special set of syllables called __________.
3. Sangita, which generally translates as “music” more accurately means the embodiment of:
___________________________________________________________________________________.
4. Vilambit lay means _________________________, while drut lay means______________________.
5. __________________ is the major vocal style of Hindustani music, generally starting off very slowly
and ending up very fast, lasting up to ___________________ minutes.
6. Alap is a raga improvisation in ________________ rhythm. It generally starts off in a ____________
range and slowly works higher, setting each pitch in its particular ____________________ to the others.
7. ___________________ is the section of Hindustani instrumental performance that follow alap and
introduces a pulse. The concluding section of improvisation is called ____________________, when the
performer makes lively and fast rhythmic patterns on the drone strings of an instrument.
8. Much of Indian classical music focuses on solo performance accompanied by a ______________ and
the support of a ___________________.
9. What is tihai?
10. The Vedas were the sacred texts of which people?
11. How many varnas are there in Hindu society?
12. What was the purpose of the long and intensive education of the Brahmins?
13. An early treatise on the performing arts, the ________________________, was written sometime
before the fifth century C.E.

14. Music from North India is referred to as ___________________________, while music of South India
is called _____________________________.
15. Divergence in musical culture can be attributed to the political/cultural influence of what group of
people?
16. Who was Tansen?
17. Who was Tyagaraja?
18. What is a devadasi?
19. The classical style of Carnatic dance is called________________________.
20. The major song type of Carnatic music is called ___________________, and is divided into three
parts:
1) __________________________, 2) ________________________ and 3) ______________________.
21. The vocalist in Carnatic music is generally accompanied by a _______________ who tries to imitate
the vocal melody.
22. Describe the two different types of improvisation in Carnatic singing:
23. Who is Lata Mangeshkar, and what is her importance in India’s film industry?
24. Listen to the Ghazal audio track. What instruments/sound sources can you hear?
25. Bhangra is a type of _____________________ pop music combining aspects of hip-hop, trance, and
remix techniques with a folk music and dance style from the state of ___________________.