Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan - Teaching Raag Des

[josephithink]

in indian classical music how much is improvisation if any? i am solely an improvisor myself and am curious about such things because i love this music!!! is there a melody that gets reinterpreted over and over?

[RChakravarti]

@josephithink : About 95% here is improv. The one line refrain which the artiste returns too is only meant as a baseline melody (usually the composition itself seldom exceeds 4 pre-composed melodic lines). Everything else is extempore, revealing the creativity, the comfort with the raaga, and mathematical dexterity. Hope that helps.

[xxlightwinds]

@RChakravarti thats incredible! you mean that the lines are mathematically produced?

[RChakravarti]

@xxlightwinds : Mathematics has much to do with coming to the refrain at a particular beat (often the 1st beat in a time cycle, but changes) -- Different patterns of notes (vocal or instrumental) or patterns of beats (percussion), some pre-composed, but a lot improvised add to the richness of our music. To get a feeling for the mathematics involved, you may want to look for clips on percussion to start -- try Henrik Anderson/pete lockett/konakkol (to get western perspectives). Good luck.

[shabaash]

What a beautiful slow gat!