Elements of Indian Music: The Melakarta System
About this ebook
This book contains a set of 12 etudes for piano and transcriptions for classical guitar. Each etude is about one minute in length and utilizes notes from a particular Indian scale. An intermediate to advanced skill level is required to perform each etude. Practicing and performing these studies is an excellent way to expand one’s musical perspective beyond traditional diatonic scales.
Indian music has intrigued the West for a long time, but hasn’t always been accessible because of the absence of a systematic approach to theory and repertoire. Just as the Western harmonic system is well developed, the Indian melodic system is very advanced and equally established. The intermingling of these two worlds can inspire new, exceptional sonic landscapes.
Useful literature on the evolution of the Indian melodic system is also included, with notes on how it can be used as a modus operandi by Western musicians who wish to apply Indian scales in Western compositions and improvisations.
Includes access to online audio
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About the author
RADHIKA IYER is an Indian author, violinist, songwriter, session musician and record producer. She writes and produces music released as solo productions under her name and also records for other producers. Radhika is a proponent of both Indian classical and Western contemporary styles. With an established Indian classical music background, her solo productions exude an extraordinary reification of new aesthetic standards. Her solo album The Voyage demonstrates her contemporized approach to progressive music where she elegantly combines eclectic Indian scales and exemplary articulations in her compositions which reveal her musical aptitude for blending Indian elements with Western genres in ways that are subtle, yet fascinating and novel.
Radhika plays a custom 7-string fretted electric violin tuned to Western standard tuning, and has completely revolutionized the art of playing Indian classical music on it; switching seamlessly between various styles. She envisions a future where music from the West and music from India can interact and co-exist as one unified entity.
This book is the first of a larger body of work Radhika will be authoring in the future. Her subsequent books will continue to analyze basic and advanced harmony in the Indian melodic system, and musical works for Western instrumental players with focus on orchestral and ethnomusicology studies.
