I teach a music appreciation course Musical Traditions of India – an Introduction at Ahmedabad University. The course introduces the students to a wide range of musical genres from across India such as bhajans, bhakthi, classical, folk, ghazal to popular film music. In addition to Indian music the students learn about music from other traditions and their influence—both historical and current. The role of musical instruments and various languages in shaping distinctive regional identities even while creating a pan-Indian tradition through common themes is explored. The course encourages students to examine how music can be an agent for social and cultural change. Recently I spoke to Ranjani Govind for The Critical Mirror about this course. To read the article click here.
Here is a short introduction video that I share with my students at the beginning of each semester.
In the first semester I’d invited some amazing guest speakers, well known practitioners in the field, to my class. They covered an immense breadth of musical topics and imparted many life lessons to my students. Do check out these blog posts following their presentations.
Chitra Srikrishna 