1. Introduction to music
Music is both an art (kala) and a science (sasthra) .The word music comes from the Greek mousikê (tekhnê) by way of the Latin musica. It is ultimately derived from mousa, the Greek word for muse. Music is the closest art form for expression to human beings. The evolution of music has its roots in the most primitive time and it evolved through countless processes. According to Plato “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Music has been defined by musicologists as “the art of expression in sound, in melody and harmony, including both composition and execution”. It is the art of sound in time, which expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, and harmony. Man has been found to pick up natural sounds such as the gush of water, the whistle of the wind, the hiss of the flames, the rumble of the earth and the thunder of the sky. What man needs is to express and to share his feelings, ideas, thoughts and experiences. Man was inspired by the natural sounds and rhythms, and his imagination led him to evolve the concepts of Swara and Laya, gradually established in the form of art – Music.
According to the Indian Philosophy of Vedanta, the word for sound is ‘Nada Brahma’ or ‘Shabada Brahma’. Kallinath, the annotator of Sangeet Ratnakar, has described the Nada as the energy of Brahma. ‘Sharangdev’ in Sangeet Ratnakar , describes ‘Nada’; ‘Na’ is the indicator of Prana (or life) and ‘Da’ of Agni (or energy). According to Vedic literature, music originated from nada or sound, which is the product of akash or ether. There are two types of sound, the ahat nada or struck sound is audible whereas the anahata nada or unstruck sound is inaudible. Music is thus found to be a universal language; one can express his innermost feelings, and, communicate with others.
The word Sangeet (music) according to the Shastras includes three categories:
1) vocal music; 2) instrumental music; and 3) dancing. But popularly understood, Sangeet does not include dancing. Dancing differs from music, both in form and the medium of expression. It has an independent science of it’s own.