Introduction to Indian classical music with eminent singer Neela Bhagwat

Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme organised a one-day workshop on June 11 to introduce Lingnanians and members of the public to Indian classical music sung in the North Indian or Hindustani style.

 
About 20 musicians, theatre professionals, dancers, and Lingnan students and faculty took part in the workshop, which aimed to explore the relationship between the concrete and the abstract by showing how to appreciate Indian music, both through its melodic structure and an actual composition.  The instructor Ms Neela Bhagwat was a famous musician from Mumbai, India, whose career spans nearly five decades.
 
In the first session, participants were introduced to a melody of 7 notes similar to the pure notes in the Western scale.  Participants learned how this melody is to be produced, and then learned how to sing it themselves.  Next, a short composition in the Hindi language was discussed, with written and oral translation and interpretation.  Participants then learned to sing this composition together.  In the second session, elements of voice culture specific to Hindustani music were explored.  Participants were taught exercises which would help improve their enunciation of vowels and consonants.  Ms Bhagwat explained that although these techniques are based on Indian classical music, they can be used by anyone interested in better voice production in performance.  By the end of the workshop, participants had learned to sing three different compositions in Hindustani style and practised voice modulation, followed by a discussion session.