Elementary North Indian Vocal [Spiral-bound]

David Courtney (Author), David R. Courtney (Author), Chandrakantha N. Courtney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1995

This book provides a firm introduction to the music of India, specifically the vocal music of India. It provides an overview of the musical system, it discusses rag (raga), tal (tala) and a number of compositions that represent them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Courtney, Ph.D. has been performing on the tabla since 1972. He first studied pakhawaj (an ancient barrel shaped drum) under the famous Zakir Hussain at the Ali Akbar College of Music. He then moved to India and spent a number of years learning tabla under the late Ustad Shaik Dawood Khan of Hyderabad. He has performed extensively on stage, TV, disk, and radio, in India, Europe and the United States. He has performed extensively on stage, radio, TV and film.

Chandrakantha Courtney was born in Macchalipatnam on Feb 2, 1954. She began to sing professionally as a child. She was a regular contributor to Balala Karyakramam in All India Radio,Vijaywada, and was attached to Suvartha Vani, Bhavana Kala Samiti, Rasana Samaikhya. In 1971 she enrolled in the Govt. College of Music and Dance (Vijaywada), and trained under J.V. Subba Rao until 1975 when she moved to Hyderabad. She then became an artist with AIR (Hyderabad) and Swara Tharangini. When the TV station was established she then became a regular artist in Doordarshan (Hyderabad). In 1977 she was an artist in the Om International troupe which toured South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius. In 1978 she married David Courtney, who brought her to the United States in 1980. She has been teaching Indian classical vocal in the Houston area since this time.

Together they have many musical activities. They are bothe artists with "Young Audiences". They are in the fusion group Vani, and have several CDs to their credit. Recently they composed and performed music for the film "Dancing in Twilight", a film staring Erick Avari, Louise Fletcher, Mimi Rogers, Kal Penn, Sheetal Shet. They are also producers of world music in KPFT's "Music Beyond Borders.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 174 pages
• Publisher: Sur Sangeet Services; Enlarged 5th edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963444743
• ISBN-13: 978-0963444745
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,427,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not for total beginners, March 31, 2000

By 

Mr L J Counter (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elementary North Indian Vocal (Spiral-bound)

I got this because I liked the Fundamentals of Tabla by David Courtney so much. The book is very much in the same format with much of the same basic material on general Indian music theory, different instruments and glossary all of which is excellent.

The rest of the book is split in to two parts. Firstly a breakdown of different aspects of Indian vocal music, Druphad, Kyhal and the types of ornimentation used in singing and secondly a good listing of a large number of ragas in all of the different thats with examples in different Tals.

As with Tabla playing vocal music is something that should be taught teacher to student rather than from a book. This book would no doubt be very useful to someone who has a either a good grounding in Hindustani music or has had a couple of lessons and wants to push themselves a bit futher however I wouldn't go for it if you are a total novice. Generally though the book is well put together and has some great material and appendixes.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Anthology, July 3, 2010

By 

Michael C. Wheeler "KinderRealitySearch" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Elementary North Indian Vocal (Spiral-bound)

Frankly, I don't understand the 3 and 4 star reviews for this text. The book itself makes no claims about being a self-study course, that being said, for the astute individual learner; one can work through this on their own, it would just be difficult. But imagine if piano method books were being judged on whether or not they could be studied on their own.

As far as the book itself is concerned, I think it is an incredible resource for those of us who don't speak Hindi/Sanskrit but want to play/sing songs from India. It is organized by thaat with raga-s that belong to that thaat along with a very straight forward history/theory section. I play dilruba and have found it very useful.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book if you have a teacher, February 28, 2010

By 

R. Mathews (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Elementary North Indian Vocal (Spiral-bound)

I was hoping to learn about North Indian vocal music. This would make a wonderful classroom textbook at a college, but only if you have an experienced teacher. It's not self-help at all. There is no DVD or CD to hear what the notation indicates.

In short, not that it's a bad book, it's actually well-written. I just wish it had either been labeled as a classroom textbook or had come with a DVD or CD examples.