Modal Jazz and Hindustani Classical Music
An IB Music Musical Links Investigation
Though separated in time and place, Modal Jazz, from the USA and Hindustani music, from India, have many similarities. My interest in jazz and living in India converged, sparking my desire to bring these two musical styles together.
I will be exploring these similarities through 2 main links and one minor link. My first link I identified was improvisation based on a single mode. The second major link is cross ensemble interplay. I also found a minor link in that they both have limited harmonic movement.
Introducing the Styles
Modal Jazz
Modal Jazz originated in the late 1950s in response to traditional Jazz, which focused on virtuosic improvisation over complex chord progressions. Its major characteristics include single modality, Further, as it is part of the Cool Jazz era, modal jazz originally had an implied sense of relaxed yet deliberate bravado. To create convey such a mood as well as deliver interesting solos given their harmonic limitations, performers often explore expression through the musical elements of rhythm, tone color, and melody. Miles Davis is widely regarded as the figurehead of the movement.
There is no set instrumentation in Modal Jazz, but common instruments include Drums, Piano, Double Bass, and a variety of horns (trumpet, saxophone, etc.). Generally, in contrast to Big Band/Swing Jazz, Modal Jazz ensembles are typically “combos”, with around 3–6 members — a characteristic that it shares with Hindustani Classical Music.
Hindustani Classical Music
Hindustani Classical Music is a style native to North India which has origins in Vedic rituals from at least the 12th Century, making it one of the oldest forms of music still performed today. Hindustani Music comes in two major forms, vocal and instrumental. At its base, Hindustani Music’s purpose is to explore the expressive potential of different raags, or scales/modes with distinctive tonalities which convey particular feelings. In a sense, raags to a Hindustani musician are what color schemes are to a painter.
Performances of Hindustani Classical Music usually begin with an extended, nonmetric introductory improvisation (known as alap) which is then followed by jor, improvisation accompanied by a pulse, and then finally end with jhala, or fast, explosive improvisation.
Introducing the Works
‘So What’
Released in 1959 on Miles Davis’ legendary Kind of Blue, So What is a seminal piece in Modal Jazz. It features only two chords (D minor and E♭ minor), and remains in Dorian tonality throughout. The instrumentation of the piece is Trumpet (Miles Davis), Alto Saxophone (Cannonball Adderley, Tenor Saxophone (John Coltrane), Piano (Bill Evans), Bass (Paul Chambers), and Drums (Jimmy Cobb).
‘Dhun Kafi’
One of three tracks on Ravi Shankar’s 1964 album ‘In London’, this piece is a Dhun, or light instrumental piece in raag (or scale) Kafi (which corresponds to the western Dorian) which is played in traditional Hindustani style. It features sitar, tabla, and tambura, which is quite a minimal instrumentation for this style. It follows the traditional Hindustani structure of alap (0:00–3:28), jor (3:28-~6:30), and jhala (6:30-end). It lasts for 12 minutes, 34 seconds.
Link #1 : Mode Based Improvisation
The most well known and loved element of Jazz is improvisation. Like Jazz, Hindustani music is largely improvised. In traditional Jazz, performers improvise based on the “changes”, or the chord progression and the scales that they imply. However, this is not the case in Modal Jazz, where performers improvise off of a single mode. The aim of this type of improvisation is not to navigate through the chords, but to evoke certain moods and expressions given the limitations of the tonality.In this regard, Modal Jazz is similar to Hindustani Music, where entire pieces are improvised based on single raags, save for some refrains, which provide structure to the pieces.
Both pieces begin with an ‘exposition’ of the scale. In So What, this is the piano and bass intro, which is rubato and atmospheric. It “sets the stage” for the modality of the song. In Dhun Kafi, this occurs very immediately at the beginning of the recording as a descending sweep of the scale (common in Hindustani music), as well as in the form of an extended rubato introduction which lasts for several minutes.
Afterwards, in So What, the melody is played over the form of the piece. Once the melody is finished being played, the performers take turns soloing over the form of the piece before returning back to the melody and fading out.
Because of the limited harmony in Modal Jazz, the improvisation is based on the prevailing mode (in this case, D Dorian). Therefore, the solo must both reinforce and depart from the harmony. This is seen very clearly in the first few phrases of Miles Davis’s solo. All of the notes he chooses are from the mode, and he plays the root (D) many more times than any note. The next used notes are A, the 5th, and F, the minor 3rd. This enforces the minor tonality of the piece, and shows that the improvisation stems from the mode.
“When you go this way, you can go on forever. You don’t have to worry about changes and you can do more with the [melody] line. It becomes a challenge to see how melodically inventive you can be. When you’re based on chords, you know at the end of 32 bars that the chords have run out and there’s nothing to do but repeat what you’ve just done — with variations.” — Miles Davis on Modal Improvisation
After the intro in Dhun Kafi, the Tabla joins the sitar, and the main refrain is played. After it is repeated, Ravi Shankar begins to improvise melodies off of the scale for the rest of the piece until -1:15, where the tabla and sitar begin to ‘trade solos’.
In Dhun Kafi, Ravi Shankar’s improvisation seems to focus on the 5th (G#) rather than the root as in ‘So What’. This may be because of the heavy emphasis that is placed on C# from the drone. Though this gives a unique sound, all of the notes used are still from the mode, and the most played note is the 2nd most important note in the mode, the 5th.
Link #2: Cross Ensemble Interplay (Call and Response)
After improvisation, one of the key elements of Jazz is interplay and call and response across the ensemble — so much so that it has moved beyond performance practice and ingrained itself as an important musical element in the genre. This is a characteristic that it shares with Hindustani Classical Music.
So What
In So What, this is less obvious as it is done throughout the track. The musicians are constantly listening to each other and responding accordingly.
During the solos, the piano comping by Bill Evans is the best example of this interplay. Bill Evans is constantly listening to the soloist and responding rhythmically and in his choice of chord voicing.
To begin with, the entire melody is based off of a call in the bass, and a response by piano (and horns later on):
If we take a closer look at Bill Evan’s comping beyond the melody and throughout the solos, we can further see the interaction between the musicians.
In his book “Interaction, Improvisation, and Interplay in Jazz”, Robert Hodson further highlights the communication and listening between Davis and Evans:
“Three measures before the beginning of this second chorus, Bill Evans plays a chord voicing containing C, E, and G as it’s top three pitches. Since this is the first time in the performance that he plays this voicing, it is possible that Davis’s subsequent emphasis on these three pitches is a response to Evans.”
It seems as though Bill Evans ‘suggested’ the tonality of the C-E-G, and Miles Davis replied to his suggestion by repeating these tones. A great example of the interaction between the players that is characteristic of this style.
Dhun Kafi
Throughout the entire piece, the tabla and sitar in Dhun Kafi seem to be constantly responding to each other — so much so that it is difficult to break down. However, there is one section in particular that highlights the interaction between the instruments.
In the last section of Dhun Kafi, there is an exchange where the Sitar and Tabla trade 1 measure ‘solos’ of melodic and rhythmic ideas. This example of call and response shows the interaction and listening between the musicians of the ensemble.
Link #3: Limited Harmonic Movement
As you probably know, most modern music is harmony based, featuring a tonic and dominant, and thus feature a large amount of harmonic movement. One unique characteristic that Modal Jazz and Hindustani Music share is a lack of harmonic movement. Most Modal Jazz compositions only feature a handful of chords, which usually last for multiple measures, and Hindustani songs generally remain in a single key with a single tonality throughout.
Here is the harmonic structure of both pieces.
Compared to most forms of western music, both of these pieces, representative of their respective genres, have very little harmonic movement.
Another element that furthers this concept of limited harmonic movement is drone, is a musical device prominent to a very large extent in Hindustani music. It functions to provide the harmonic foundation, or modality, of a piece. The drone is usually played by the Tambura or Shruti Box. Drone’s counterpoint in Modal Jazz is the firm and harmonically static accompaniment of the Bass (walking line outlining D Dorian) and Piano (comping).
The similarity can be highlighted by inserting a Hindustani style drone under the melody of So What, which is exactly what I’ve done here:
The fact that these two styles blend seamlessly in this way indicate that this is a strong link between them.
Conclusion
Through this investigation, it is clear to me that these distant styles share many similarities. Even though they developed differently, they are connected through their mode based improvisation and their cross ensemble interplay, as well as their limited harmonic movement. It’s no surprise that in the late 1960s, Indian Classical music caught the attention of Jazz musicians such as John Coltrane and John Mclaughlin, and employed by many of these musicians to influence a new jazz fusion sound throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Bibliography
“Modal Jazz.” Jazz Standards. Web. 02 Mar. 2016. <http://www.jazzstandards.com/theory/modal-jazz.htm>.
“Introduction to Indian Classical Music.” Sadhana’s Raag-Hindustani. Web. 02 Mar. 2016. <http://raag-hindustani.com/Introduction.html>.
Hodson, Robert. Interaction, Improvisation, and Interplay in Jazz. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
THE NORTH INDIAN SYSTEM OF MUSIC. The North Indian System of Music (Hindustani Hindusthani, Sangeet). N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2016. <http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/hindustani_sangeet.html>.
“Hindustani Music.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266470/Hindustani-music>.