The Influence That Music Has on My Life.

According to Ravi Shankar, an Indian musician who became the guru (spiritual guide) of George Harrison (lead guitarist for the Beatles) in the 1960’s, Indian classical music has “an unbroken history of development, and above all it is a living tradition that still is in the process of evolution (Indian Classical Music).” As a student of Indian music for ten years now, I can attest to this statement. Just as learning in general is a continuous process for everyone, the same idea applies to learning music. It is a process that takes many years of dedicated practice and devotion to master. I am now a teacher at the East Indian Music Academy in South Ozone Park, Queens. One thing I see that happens frequently is when parents register their child into the school to learn music, many of them believe the child will learn every thing over-night. As mentioned before, it takes time because learning, in all forms, is an incessant process and we can never know every single thing possible.

Indian music is rooted in the Vedas, one of the main scriptures of Hinduism. “Indian classical music has one of the most complicated and complete musical systems ever developed (Indian Classical Music-Wikipedia).” Similar to Western classical music, which has eight principal notes, Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do, Indian music also has eight major notes, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa. Originally, all Indian music was sung in Sanskrit. “The two main traditions of classical music have been Carnatic music, found predominantly in the peninsular regions and Hindustani music, found in the northern and central parts. While both traditions claim Vedic origin, history indicates that the two traditions diverged from a common musical root since c. 13th century (Music of India-Wikipedia).” Hindustani music is based on the language of Hindi, while Carnatic music is based on the languages of Telegu and Tamil.

According to Wikipedia, “[t]he classical music of India has its origin as a meditation tool to attain self realization. All the different forms of these melodies (ra[a]gas) affect various “chakras” (energy centers, or “moods”) in the path of the “Kundalini.” There are specific physical, mental, biological and spiritual results associated with activation of these centers (Indian Classical Music-Wikipedia).” Classical music is the main component of Indian music. When listening or playing classical Indian music, the person becomes a changed human being. “The heart of Indian classical music - of both the Hindustani and the Carnatic system - is the ra[a]ga: the melodic form upon which the musician improvises and which may take hours to develop. The raaga framework is established by tradition and nurtured by the leading musicians of the past and present, composer and sitar player Ravi Shankar being one of them (Indian Classical Music).” A raaga is composed based upon many emotions, the time of day, and even the season.

Personally, I believe that by learning to play Indian instruments (the Harmonium and Sitar), singing, and also learning Hindi, I have been shaped into a better person. Indian music has influenced my life in many ways, such as enabling me to become closer to my religion and inspiring me to always want to learn more and more about my Indian culture and about the music of other cultures as well. Also, I would consider my music school as my second home. My music teacher, who is originally from Trinidad but obtained his Masters Degree in Music in India, along with his wife and two sons, are like my second parents and brothers. Any student that is a part of the East Indian Music Academy knows that these people are more than just teachers. Their simplicity is something that I admire very much. If ever I have a personal problem, I know for a fact that I can go to them for help.

I don’t consider myself as a great musician. I think it is important to give back what I learn to the community. As a teacher now, I look forward to sharing what I have learned with the younger kids and also adults. Think about it, we don’t live forever and in order to keep my religion alive and prosperous, I feel it is important to let the younger generations learn from an early age and help to improve the religious and musical beliefs.

Learning Indian music has numerous benefits. As I mentioned before, it has improved my whole life. During this process, I also met other students that would remain my life long friends, not only because we all have so much in common, but also because we can share our talents with one another. When playing an instrument, I feel very relaxed. For instance, if I am upset at someone or something, I go straight to my instruments and just start playing anything that comes to my mind. While doing this, it helps me to become much calmer. In a way, this technique doesn’t only help to release my stress, but I can also create new tunes and melodies based on what comes to my mind. Referring back to these raagas, playing classical music helps one to attain self-realization. Music brings me to another place, something which is difficult to explain. It helps me to grow spiritually and enables me to feel content with everything I have in my life.

I believe this concept is similar to that of yoga and meditation, where one can experience life based on another level. It is said that we cannot physically see God, but those of us who are religious, believe that there is some form of God. I think that by playing music and being devoted to my culture, I am able to become directly closer to God. According to the book, Awareness – The Center of Being, “...God can be proven: indirectly through circumstantial evidence and directly through personal experience.” I consider this statement true based upon my own experiences. This idea ties into the concept of faith, where people can become truly closer to God if they have steadfast commitment and devotion in their lives.