Daily Times

The greatest Muslim mystic, Jalal Uddin Rumi said, “There are many ways to the divine, but I have chosen the ways of song, dance and laughter.”

On the contrary, the greatest exponent of atheism and intellectualism, a radical German philosopher and composer, Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

Music is a precious gift from nature and it is the only catharsis of humans ever and nowadays in clinical psychology music has become credible psychotherapy. Music is the language of the universe and it is the only thing, which can never be eliminated from any aspect of life. It can also never be unrecognisable for any creature of this universe, even animals can understand the language of music. Music has the same value and importance in all cultures across the globe and no civilisation has ever existed without the colour of music, but the music of subcontinent is more ancient and more adorable than other civilisations of the world. That is sad to us, After partition, we have intentionally sidelined all kinds of fine arts, particularly music. We have perished the value of fine arts. Rather, we have destroyed the image of those people who were directly related to fine arts, particularly musicians. We didn’t give the real respect to the greatest musician of the Kasur Gharana, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib. That’s why he left Pakistan after partition and settled in India. We always degrade musicians and all types of artists. Music is a divine sound and is directly related to our metaphysical core. The Sufi mystic of our region, Hazrat Ali Hujwiri alias Data Gaj Baksh, said in his book, “Kashf-ul-Mahjoob,” “Except hypocrite, every person understands the language of music.”

Music is the language of the universe

The music of subcontinent is technically called “Shastri Sangeet” or Hindustani classical music. It is the first and very ancient music in the world. The music of subcontinent dates back to more than 1500 BCE and it is first time written as literature in Hindu religious scripture “Samaveda.”

Our first musical instrument was Veena, Sarangi and Tanpura. Veena is the very classical and ancient form of Sitar, which is no longer used today. Shatria Sangeet or Hindustani Classical music is purely based on melody. Like western music, we do not use notations and scales. We utterly emphasise on vocal techniques and give chance to a learner that he can use the natural strength of his vocal range. So on the base of that rule, in Hindustani music, the particular vocal techniques have discovered. Later on, it was called “Gharana,” i.e. singing school. Our music is based on Layakari. Layakari means vocals following the rhythmic cycles. The most prominent Gharanas in Pakistan are Patiala Gharana, Qawwal Bachon Ka Gharana, Shamchurasi Gharana and those in India are Mewati Gharana, Gwalior Gharana, Agra Gharana, Kirana Gharana, Bhendi Bazaar Gharana, Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana and Indore Gharana. Gharana is a style of singing, which is a specific recognition of the musicians.

The Sufi singing style is called Qawwali and it is specifically performed by Qawwal Bachon Ka Gharana. In Pakistan, the most prominent members of Qawwal Bachon Ka Gharana were Ustad Iftekhar Ahmed Nizami and Ustad Munshi Razi Uddinuddin. Similarly, the Patiala Gharana is the most influential musical school in subcontinent music, It was founded by Fateh Ali Khan and Ali Baksh Khan and was initially sponsored by the Maharaja of Patiala, Punjab. It was known for Ghazal, Thumri and Khayal styles of singing. The most influential Patiala singers are Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan and Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan.

This Gharana tends to favour pentatonic ragas for their ornamentation and execution of intricate taans. Ektaal (12 beats rhythmic cycles) and Teentaal (16 beats rhythmic cycles) are the most common taals chosen by members of this Gharana. Besides, Khayal exponents sing the Punjab-Ang thumri. The special feature of Patiala Gharana is its rendering of taans. Taan is the singing of very rapid melodic passages using vowels. These are very rhythmic, vakra (complicated) and phirat (wandering) taans, and are not bound by the rhythmic cycle. Taans with clear aakaar are presented not through the throat but the naavi (navel).

This Gharana has been criticised for neglecting basic raga characteristics such as the primary development octave and for overusing ornaments and graces (thumri style) without considering the nature and mood of the raga. The music of subcontinent is the music of nature, like western music our musicians do not emphasise on falsetto. The musicians of these Gharans do not use any scale or orchestral arrangement like western musicians rather they use a melodic pattern which is recognised as raga. Raga is the essence of subcontinent music. Without a melodic pattern, the style of singing becomes light or pop music. Raga, alap, aakaar, taan, murki, khatka, gamak, meend and kan are the specifications of Hindustani music.

The writer is a psychologist and a polymath