John McLaughlin

I think it’s safe to say that before The Beatles, not many people in the Western world paid very much attention to the rich cultural offerings of one of the world’s most populous countries — India. To this day you can practically throw a rock in any direction and hit a yoga studio or Indo-Pak grocery store, yet many of us still have not taken the time to embrace the brilliant music they have given to us. Their influence has certainly crept in, especially in the fusion music genre, but more can be done. My goal for today is to give you a short primer to whet your appetite; with Derek Trucks, John McLaughlin, Scott McGill, and Carlos Santana championing the cause, you no longer have an excuse to ignore what’s going on across the ocean.

Musical Form

Most indian music is directly related to the spiritual nature of their culture. A “raga” (pronounced ‘rahg’) is a series of musical notes arranged in modes and played during certain times of the year and certain times of the day in order to elicit spiritual and emotional connectedness. There are two classifications/systems of Indian raga – Carnatic and Hindustani.

What is most interesting about raga are their use of microtones, which fall outside the scope of Western music intervals. (More like falling in between the cracks, actually, but hopefully you get my point.) Here is an example of a raga — Raga Anandi Kalyan — performed by India’s most famous musical export, Ravi Shankar.

Indian Rhythm

Indian music also has a very distinct and complex rhythmic structure comprising of many variations on beat subdivisions and accents. Although this is a “guitar” blog I thought you would all enjoy seeing table master Zakir Hussain performing:

In 2007, McLaughlin and Indian percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram produced a DVD called John McLaughlin: The Gateway to Rhythm, which was specifically designed to teach guitarists about how they can integrate Indian music rhythms into their playing. (Admittedly, I have not seen the DVD yet, but it’s been on my Amazon wish list since it came out; so, if anyone wants to buy it for me so I can review it…)

Where To Start?

If you have even the smallest curiosity about Indian music and how it might open up your ears as musicians and guitar players, here are a few recommendations for CDs and other products to get you started:

Players

U. Srinivas (fretless electric mandolin player)
Debashish Bhattacharya (Indian slide guitar)
Shakti and Remember Shakti (McLaughlin’s Indian music inspired project with Zakir Hussain)
Nikhil Banerjee (fantastic sitar player)

Books

The Raga Guide: Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas
Ragopedia: Exotic Scales of North India

I’ll leave you with one more clip for good measure. Enjoy!