Shruti:a Listener's Guide To Hindustani Music

Shruti is written with a view to familiarize music lovers with the essential features of the classical music of north India. This musical tradition, known as Hindustani music, has a long history, going back about fifteen centuries. It has been kept alive, and continues to grow in popularity because of very talented exponents of this art who have maintained its classical lineage and yet modified and renewed it afresh, for every generation. It explains, in simple terms, the distinction between khayal, thumri, and other forms of vocal singing. It describes how the main instruments are constructed and have evolved over time. For the lay listener, it outlines the various movements and nuances through which a classical raga is developed, in both its vocal and instrumental genres, and the various gharanas or traditions of style that have emerged as a consequence of the guru-shishya method of learning this art.


Sandeep Bagchee studied at the Doon School and St. Stephen's College and later joined the Indian Administrative Service. Besides music, his other passions include mountaineering and riding.