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‘Dhun (Dadra and Fast Teental)’, A Study of Ravi Shankar the Sitar

By: Ishan Sharma

Student Number: 500347453

Term Paper

Course: MUS 101

Section: 4

Instructor: Dr. Gillian Turnbull

Note: This essay italicized terms related with Indian Classical Music to prevent confusion

In ‘Sitar and sarod in the 18th and 19th centuries’ by A. Miner (1993), the author claims

that classical music in India originally paid tribute to Divinity. Lord Siva, a Hindu deity, is

believed to be the creator of sound, rhythm and dance. It is said in many Hindu folk tales that the

primary steps towards attaining absolute bliss are to realize humility before art and devotion. For

this reason, Indian Classical Music is held very sacred in Hinduism. Saraswati, the daughter of

Siva and the goddess of learning, is often depicted playing the ancient Indian instrument called

the veena. The veena much resembles the modern sitar, a chordophone largely used in Indian

Classical Music. This paper will discuss the history and construction of the sitar. It will also

discuss the role Ravi Shankar played in popularizing Indian Classical Music in the Western

World along with a musical analysis of his work, specifically the artistic master piece ‘Dhun

(Dadra and Fast Teental)’.

According to Miner (1993), historians claim the first sighting of a sitar was around 1740

in Delhi. It largely resembled the Persian chordophone, the setar. Through the 18th and 19th

century the sitar underwent many physical changes. One of these changes was the addition of the

tarab, the sympathetic strings that aren’t played. Sympathetic strings were scarce in sitars of the

1800’s but are more common in today’s sitars. The sitar underwent many changes as time

passed to present us with the modern day sitar.

‘Types of Sitar’ (n.d.) describes the two types of modern sitars as sharing common

features but also varying. The two modern sitars are often referred to as the ‘Vilayat Khan

Sitars’(VKS) and the ‘Ravi Shankar Sitars’ (RSS), named after Vilayat Khan and Ravi Shankar,

two prominent sitar players of their age. RSS are constructed with bass strings, producing a bass-

filled sound while VKS contain none. RSS also contain more sympathetic strings than VKS,

which make up for the lack of sympathetic and bass strings with rhythmic strings, called the


chickari. Chickari strings and sympathetic strings provide a drone, producing a more full chordal

sound. Sympathetic strings vibrate in sympathy to the strings already being played. They

resonate at their fundamental frequency and are not actually plucked. They usually lay under the

frets, keeping them out of the way. On the other hand, chickari strings are like melodic strings,

playable, thus running over the frets. A fret is a raised portion of the neck of the instrument;

strings vibrate at a different pitch when different frets are pressed. Frets in sitars are moveable in

order to allow fine tuning. The sitar has two bridges (a bridge supports strings, strings are

usually stretched over them), a large bridge for playable strings, and a small bridge for

sympathetic strings. Both styles of sitars have gourds at the large bridge to provide resonance,

but the RKS have a small gourd attached to the top of the neck of the sitar, providing resonance

for the sympathetic strings as well. RKS contain beautiful carvings, whereas VKS are usually

minimally decorated. Often cotton strings are placed under the strings at the large bridge, thus

affecting how the strings interact with the bridge. This process is called jawari. Jiva, means ‘to

give life to’, and the phenomenon of jawari ‘gives life’ to the instrument. This results in the

buzzing timbre of the sitar, which can be customized through jawari. The overall construction of

a sitar can be customized to the players need and level of mastery. There are sitars that contain a

combination of the features from the RKS and the VKS.

In ‘The "senia" style of sitar playing in contemporary India’ G. Farrell (2002) says

gharana is translated to ‘household’ and refers to a form of a stylistic musical organization, often

changing as styles of music evolve. Instrumentalists often belong to a certain gharana, thus

representing a lineage of musicians. The oldest lineage of North India is the Senia gharana,

whom Ravi Shankar is associated with. Music is taught aurally in a gharana based on the guru-

sisya principle (guru means ‘teacher’, and sisya means ‘disciple’). The guru is highly respected,


and not only a musical teacher but a spiritual teacher. Through ‘Two "gat" forms for the "sitar":

A case study in the rhythmic analysis of north indian music’ M. Clayton (1993) claims that when

Ravi Shankar went to Maihar to learn Indian classical music and studied under Ustad Allauddin

Khan, a well-respected guru and founder of the Maihar gharana. It was here that Shankar

learned the basics of Indian Classical Music, which according to Farrell (1988) are rag and tal.

Rag means ‘colour’ and a rag is the melodic exploration of a scale. Tal is the metric

organization system of Indian music. Clayton (1993) stated that Khan established a three-part

principle, which can be heard in many of Shankar’s songs. The first part of the song is called

alap-jor. The alap is a free metered improvisation of the sitar. The jor is an introduction of a

pulse; this section is sometimes left out and the first part is simply an alap. This is followed by a

gat, the introduction of a meter through use of the tabla, an Indian drum. The final part is the

jhalla, which is a fast improvisation between the tabla and the sitar, ending with a fast

acceleration and climactic end.

Farrell (2002) points out that as times change, gharanas adapt to keep up with society.

For this reason the Maihar gharana is not a pure representation of the Senia gharana, and has its

own features such as this three-part principle. Shankar is not a pure representation of the Maihar

gharana as he developed his own style. Farrell (2002) speaks of how Shankar was influenced by

South Indian music. Taking inspiration from South Indian rags, Shankar established the saval-

javab (saval means ‘question’, and javab means ‘answer’) style of performance between the sitar

and the tabla. This is heard as the two instruments swap complex rhythms back and forth. His

transfigured style of the Maihar gharana would go on to influence Western music and continue

evolving.


In ‘Sitars and bossas: World music influences’ P. van der Lee (1998) recalls that Ravi

Shankar was touring Europe and the USA causing a stir of North Indian music in the West

during the 1950’s and 1960’s. He would perform at concerts in Paris in 1958 and at the

Edinburgh Festival in 1963. The Beatles were one of the more popular bands in rock n’ roll at

this time (the 1960’s) and had achieved international success. Reck (1985) speaks of the term

‘beatlemania’, coined to describe the intense craze demonstrated by the fans of The Beatles in

the 1960’s. The Beatles had an influence on young people, as well as many musicians in the

West. Ravi Shankar went on to have a positive influence on The Beatles. The 1960’s was a good

decade for him, due to his affiliation with the Beatles and consequent discovery of his music by

the younger generation.

In ‘Beatles Orientalis: Influences from Asia in a Popular Song Tradition’ D.R. Reck

(1985) discusses the great curiosity The Beatles developed towards eastern culture. While

filming a movie, guitarist George Harrison found a sitar on set and took a liking to it. The sitar

was not actually used in a song until ‘Norwegian Wood’. This was the first pop song to use a

sitar, but its use was purely experimental. Its use was kept simple, similar to a lead guitar but

with function of simply providing a nasal timbre. George Harrison had heard an album by Ravi

Shankar, and developed a connection with Indian music. It is to no surprise that when the two

later met, George showed great interest in learning the sitar, and Ravi Shankar accepted him as a

sisya (disciple). Shankar travelled to Harrison’s home to give him a few basic lessons. Indian

Classical Music was slowly beginning to influence Western music.

Reck (1985) describes the spiritual quest The Beatles went on through India in 1966 as

highly influential. While exploring Indian culture, George Harrison also met with his guru Ravi

Shankar for sitar lessons. This journey had a great impact on their music as their 1966 album


‘Revolve’ would contain ‘Love You To’, the first legitimate attempt at imitating an Indian rag.

According to ‘Reflecting surfaces: The use of elements from Indian music in popular music and

jazz’ G. Farrell (1988), compared to ‘Norwegian Wood’, ‘Love You To’ is a much better

representation of Indian Classical Music. ‘Love You To’ begins with a free rhythm alap with a

sitar and a tambura (a chordophone used to provide a drone in Classical Indian Music). The

tabla establishes a four beat unit pulse in the gat. The song accelerates at the end and this is the

jhalla. The display of the three-part influence shows the direct influence of Ravi Shankar, and

hence Ustad Allauddin Khan, the founder of the Maihar gharana. This song is based on the

Dorian mode, or the kafi that of North Indian music. Though only a novice with limited

knowledge, this was a successful attempt on Harrison’s part at condensing Indian Classical

Music into a three minute pop song.

Reck (1998) points out that this was often noted by George Harrison, who wasn’t

pretending to create authentic Indian music, but rather trying to represent the Indian culture in

pop songs. The Beatles would make another piece influenced by Indian music in their song

‘Within You Without You’. This song was released a year later in 1967, and showed Harrison’s

growing interest and knowledge in Indian Classical Music. Farrell (1988) described its

complexity. This song explored more tals (jhaptal: sixteen beats, and teental: ten beats) hence

more complex meters than those of ‘Love You To’. It played with the concept of saval-javab,

something that ‘Love You To’ did not do. The instruments it included were a tambura, sitar, and

tabla as in ‘Love You To’ but also a dilruba (a bowed instrument), a sarangi (another bowed

instrument), and a svarmandal (a plucked zither-like instrument). According to Reck (1998) it

still was not Indian Classical Music. The original recording was over 30 minutes, and the final

mix was simplified and Westernized down to a four minute pop song. ‘Within You Without


You’ was on their critically acclaimed album ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’, released

just prior to 1967’s ‘Summer of Love’. The Summer of Love saw hippies across America come

together in San Francisco, the center of the hippie revolution and counterculture. During the

Summer of Love, the legendary Monterey Pop Festival took place and was where Ravi Shankar

introduced the Western world to the sound of legitimate Indian Classical Music.

Shankar performed the classical rag called ‘Pancham se Gara’ at the Monterey Pop

Festival, which prominently features the sitar. His performance was recorded and is available on

the album ‘Live at Monterey’, where he performs with Allah Rakha on the tabla and Kala

Chakravarty playing the tambura. The third piece on the album is called ‘Dhun (Dadra and and

Fast Teental)’ and is the piece that will be analyzed. Shankar introduces the piece, explaining it

is the classical rag ‘Pancham se Gara’. ‘Deepak Raja’s world of Hindustani music’ explains that

there are seven notes to an Indian musical scale and in ascending pitch are; Sa, Re (Ri in South

Indian music), Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. The tone of Sa is not associated to any pitch and can be

moved depending on the scale. In the scale chosen, the Sa and Pa are fixed. ‘Pancham se Gara’,

means a gara of pa, so rather than the base of the scale being sa, the scale of this rag is pa. The

rest of the notes can be moved, and that is what decides the mode, known as that. Gara is a rag

that is influenced from folk songs also known as thumri; instrumentals based on these folk songs

are often called dhun, hence the title of the song, ‘Dhun (Dadra and and Fast Teental)’. Gara

belongs to a family of rags, and it is up to the musician to decide which that (mode) he or she

will perform in. It often uses a mixture of many modes such as the piloo that, khamaj that, kafi

that, barwa that, to name a few. The combination of many modes allows many melodies to be

produced. A rag is a series of notes that produces a melody, and dhun means ‘melody’ in Hindi.

Shankar in the beginning of his performance explains that dadra and teental are forms of tal, and


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper's_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band

the meters in which this rag is performed. Simply the name of the song ‘Dhun (Dadra and and

Fast Teental)’ and Shankar’s introduction tell us a lot about the piece.

Ravi Shankar stays true to the three-part principle of the Maihar gharana. The rag begins

with an alap, which is played with free rhythm. The sitar then improvises at a slow tempo with a

tambura providing a drone. They both demonstrate a buzzing timbre right from the beginning. In

the alap, the sitar explores pitches and notes that will be later used in this rag. At this point, the

piece demonstrates biphony. This fits the definition of biphony according to Turnbull (2011) as

the tambura that provides a drone underneath, while the sitar plays an elaborate melody over it.

The tabla uses a crescendo to slowly make its way into the piece and we have the moderate

paced gat. Once the tabla enters, this piece demonstrates homophony, according to Turnbull

(2011), with textures of the tabla and sitar playing different pitches with the same rhythm. The

tabla helps develop a rhythm, settling into dadra (a tal), a meter of 6 beats divided into two parts

of three beats. The melody is constructed around this tal, with ascending and descending phrases.

There is often a crescendo as the melody ascends to higher pitches, and descends to lower

pitches. The piece also often plays with terraced dynamics (Turnbull, 2011), suddenly playing

dissonant notes a lot louder than the melody. The meter changes as the tempo picks up as the

tabla settles into teental (a tal), a faster meter of 16 beats divided into 4’s. Now the melody of

the gat is around this tal. The piece continues to play with terraced dynamics, playing dissonant

notes a lot louder. Ravi Shankar demonstrates his authentic saval-javab style between the sitar

and the tabla as they exchange complex rhythms back and forth in an impressive contest. During

this saval-javab, there is changing textures; with just the tabla and tambura playing then with

just the sitar and tambura playing. The tempo continues to get faster almost as if it is a legitimate

contest and the piece arrives at the jhalla. The piece begins accelerating to a climactic end and


the tabla and sitar go from mimicking each other to playing together. The piece ends with much

deserved applause.

Ravi Shankar earned much praise for his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The

Beatles ‘Within You Without You’ legitimized the sound of the sitar in rock. Bellman (1997)

claims that Shankar undeniably influenced The Beatles who in turn influenced other bands to

experiment with the rich sounds of Indian music, giving birth to a new genre of rock: raga rock.

At the Monterey Pop Festival, Shankar’s incredible performance was ended by ‘Dhun (Dadra

and Fast Teental)”, which would function to popularize Classical Indian Music amongst the

West. He was later invited to Woodstock in 1969, making the 60’s quite a decade for Ravi

Shankar. Ravi Shankar maintained his relationship with George Harrison, who went on to

develop a great connection with Indian culture and Hinduism and later produced Shankar’s

album, ‘Chants of India’, an album with religious chants and bhajans. Ravi Shankar brought

exotic sounds from a rich tradition and the Maihar gharana to the West. With his sitar he

inspired young artists of his time. As Indian Music had changed amidst Indian society, it evolved

in Western society, producing fresh sounds in rock n’ roll inspiring curiosity amongst future

generations towards Indian culture and Classical Indian Music.


References

Bellman, J. (1997). Indian resonances in the British Invasion, 1965-1968. Journal of Musicology, 15(1), 116-136. doi:10.1525/jm.1997.15.1.03a00060

Chatterji, P. (1958). Classical Indian Music. East and West , 8. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from http://www.jstor.org/pss/29753940

Clayton, M. (1993). Two "gat" forms for the "sitar": A case study in the rhythmic analysis of north indian music. British Journal of Ethnomusicology, 2, 75-80.

Farrell, G. (1988). Reflecting surfaces: The use of elements from Indian music in popular music and jazz. Popular Music,7(2), 189-205. doi:10.1017/S0261143000002750

Farrell, G. (2002). The "senia" style of sitar playing in contemporary India. British Journal of Ethnomusicology, 11(2), 29-60.

Miner, A. (1993). Sitar and sarod in the 18th and 19th centuries. Wilhelmshaven: F. Noetzel .

Raja, D. (n.d.). Deepak Raja's world of Hindustani Music: Raga Gara – The raga and the fragrance. Deepak Raja's world of Hindustani Music. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from http://swaratala.blogspot.com/2007/05/raga-gara-raga-and-fragrance.html

Reck, D. R. (1985). Beatles Orientalis: Influences from Asia in a Popular Song Tradition. Asian Music,16(1), 83-149.

Turnbull, G. (2011). Week 1: Introduction to Materials of Music [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://my.ryerson.ca

Turnbull, G. (2011). Week 2: Materials of Music World Music [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://my.ryerson.ca

Turnbull, G. (2011). Week 3: Materials of Music World Music Early European Music [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://my.ryerson.ca

Types of Sitar - Traditional Sitar, Electric Sitar, Bass Sitar also known as Surbahar are well-known sitar forms | Sitar.Net. (n.d.). Sitar | Indian music instruments used by Ravi Shankar | Information on the sitar | Sitars.net. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from http://www.sitars.net/types_of_sitars.html

van der Lee, P. (1998). Sitars and bossas: World music influences. Popular Music, 17(1), 45-70. doi:10.1017/S0261143000000489


Discography

Ravi Shankar

Live at Monterey

Released: October 20, 1998 Format: CD Label: Angel Records Tracks: Dhun (Dadra and Fast Teental)

The Beatles

Revolver [Enhanced]

Released: January 1, 1990 Format: CD Label: EMI Tracks: Love You To

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Enhanced]

Released: September 9, 2009 Format: CD Label: Apple/EMI Tracks: Within You Without You


