Hindustani Classical Music is traditional music of northern areas of the Indian subcontinent, including the modern states of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It may also be called North Indian classical musicor Shastriya Sangt. Its origins date from the 12th CE, when it diverged from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of southern parts of the subcontinent.
Hindustani classical music has strongly influenced Indonesian classical music and Dangdut popular music, especially in instrumentation, melody, and beat. Besides vocal music, which is considered to be of primary importance, its main instruments are the sitar and sarod.
Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from what eventually came to be identified as Carnatic classical music. Hindustani music places more emphasis on improvisation and exploring all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic music is primarily composition-based. The central notion in both these systems is that of a melodic mode or raga, sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala. These principles were refined in the musical treatises Natya Shastra, by Bharata (2nd–3rd century CE), and Dattilam (probably 3rd–4th century
Principles of Hindustani music
The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called tala. The melodic foundations are called ragas. One possible classification of ragas is into “melodic modes” or “parent scales”, known as thaats, under which most ragas can be classified based on the notes they use.
Hindustani classical
