Table Of ContentMusical Education in India and its Future
(with ParticularStress on Notation)
ANTSHERLOBO
Untilaboutafewdecades ago.thecontinuityand spreadofmusicaleducationinIndia
had been admirably maintained by reputed music exponents and other devoted
individuals under the traditionalunitary systemof 'teacher-pupil"basis.
The training being essentially through the practice of oral instruction, this highly
individualistic systemofclose contact between teacher and pupil undoubtedly hadsome
definiteadvantagesonthe practicalside,but atthe same timecertaindrawbacks tooon
the theoretical side.
Duetolackofscholarshipand asenseofhistoricalperspective,theseunacademic units
tendedtowardsconfusedinterpretationsandevenabandonmentofBharataMuni'sgramas
andSharngadeva's shrutis--the very acoustic fundamentalsoftwo of themostscientific
scalicsystemsever invented inthe world historyofmusic.
Therefore, in the absence ofa standard and scientificsystemof notationas also of a
libraryofnotated musicof thepasttofall back upon.eachoftheseteachingunitsdiffered
initsstyle,rendering. methodology andconventions.
Province-wise,each suchunitaryschoolorgharanaestablisheditsownstyleandmethod.
stronglydominatedbythepersonalityofitsfounder;andthedescendantsofthesegharanas
intheir turn further intensified and accentuated thesedifferences.
Despiteallthisdissimilarityofdetail,however,thebasicrudimentsandterminologyof
Indianmusicaltheoryhaveremainedtothisdayfairlyconstant,empirically.Thisessential
unitystillpersistseveninthetwo mainHindustaniandCarnaticsystemsofIndia,despite
theirdiversityof no~enclature. standards.and classificatory schemes.
Evidently, an educational system that served the purpose of a semi-feudal society of
pre-industrialdays wasinadequate tomeettherequirementsofmodemcollectivistsociety.
So,during thelastfiftyyears.organizedmusicinstitutionswereestablished,notablyinthe
bigindustrialized cities.under the impactofnew socialforces.
Numerous schoolsand colleges introduced classeswith regular music curriculawhile
variousIndianuniversitiesprescribedsyllabifortheirfacultiesoffinearts.Inthewakeof
AllIndiaRadio broadcastingprogrammesofclassical.light,andfolk musictothehomes
ofIndianpeople,there sprang upregionalmusicacademieseverywhereinthecountry.
From the beginning of this century, pioneering work had been done notably by two
enlightenededucationistsontheirowninitiativefortherevivalof Hindustanimusic.One
ofthem was Pandir Vishnu Digarnbar, the renowned vocalist, stylist and teacher. who
$QngrnNata! Vol.XU,No..a.2007
14 ANTSIIERLOBO
almost withamissionary zealdevotedhisentirelifeforthe upliftofHindustanimusic.He
founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and was mainly responsible for retrieving Indian
music from thechaoticstate into which ithad fallen.
TheotherwasPanditV.N.Bhatkhande,theeminentscholar.pedagogueandmusicologist,
whodedicatedhislifetountiringresearchandinvestigation.Heinventedanotationsystem
and tabulated the thaths and ragas into a classificatory system. Pandit Bhatkhande also
published the Hindustani Sangit Paddhatl. containing a great variety of ragas. some of
whichare simplified in the form ofIakshana geeta.
Educationists owe a great debt ofgratitudeto Pandit Bhatkhande for his monumental
works which as textbooks have proved a great boon to present-day students. However
much one maydisagree with the theoretical portion of his work.and for whatever valid
reasons, hisgreat servicetothecauseofHindustani music must beduly recognized.
Like all pioneering reformers and revolutionaries. Pandit Bhatkhande melwith fierce
opposition fromhiscriticson variousgrounds.Whetherhefell forthe faciletemptationof
adoptingtheWestern scale or whether he waspressed by the urgencyofreform,hisover
simplificationofthe scale intotwelve divisionscan now beeasily rectified.
On lines somewhat parallel to Hindustani Paddhati, A. Chinaswami Mudaliar had
already giventhe lead in Madrasfor the revivalofCarnaticmusictowards theendofthe
nineteenthcentury.Hepublished in 1892whatmusthavebeen averyenterprising venture
inthosedays,hisperiodicalOrientalMusic,explainingthe72 metakartas andillustrating
the ragas withextensive examples inWestern notation with the words inEnglish.Telugu
andTamil characters.
Iftheneed wasalwaysthere,it hasnowbecome imperative-theneedforcoordinating
thetheoreticaldataandpedagogicalmethods. andmostofallforstandardizingthenotation
system in the new contextofnationalmusic.
Regionalvariationsofstylewillalwaysbethereanditisevendesirablethattheyshould
bethere. Progressive musical interpretations should be encouraged. But the time has
definitely come for the establishment of a sound educational policy thaiwill unifonnize,
to begin with. the very medium through which music may be taught and written with
efficiency and economy.
Inorder that it may beeasily adaptable. such a standard medium ofnational notation
will have 10possessthe followingprerequisites:
(a) IIwillhave10 preserve the continuity ofthe usageofphonetic syllables;
(b) itwillhave tobeefficient andaccurate,andyetsimple. practicaland inconformity
with the traditional sa-ri-ga-me syllables used so far-albeitwith slight variations
ofvowel-endings to indicate the exact shadeof intonation;and
(c) it will have to beconsistentwith (hetheoretical legacy we have inherited from the
past.i.e.•based onthe system ofgramas and slzrutis~not because it is Indian but
because itconformsto acoustic principles and isscientific.
MUSICALEDUCATIONININDIA:STRESSO~NOTATIOS 15
ThusweshallhavedemonstratedthatIndiawasnotonlythefirstandearliesttoformulate
thesystem intheory butalso the lastto perfectitphoneticallyinpractice.
The principaldefect inthecurrent sa-ri-ga-rnasystemof Hindustanimusicisthatitis
syllabic; thesame sevensyllablesare used tointonethesevenshuddhasvaras, aswellas
the 15other shadesofthe vikrita svaras.
Thevarietiesofthathsandragasinthecurrentsystemarecommitted tomemory bythe
long and laborious process of memory-training,involving yearsofunnecessary waste of
timeandenergy.Thecircuitousprocessofteachingmusicundulytaxesthementalfaculties
ofastudentand.inthecaseofachild.itisdefinitelyacruelinflictiononitstendermemory.
Comparatively.theoldermurchhanasystemofclassifyingthejatisintosadhji,rtshabhi.
gandhari, etc., was a much more efficient method of teaching music. But now that the
conventionoftakingthefirstnoteofascaleasshadja hascometostay.theonlysolution
out of the illogical system is to convert it into a phonetic notation utilizing the existing
syllables unchanged intheir logical places.
TheleachingofthathsandragasIhroughtheoldsyllabicsystemabsorbssomuchofrbe
initial training period that the student takes a long rime before he reaches the stage of
wieldingtheactualtechniqueof music-making.
Ofcourse. oral instruction and memory-training are indispensable for reachingan art
likemusic, butitmustbethrough theefficientandlogicalmethodofassociatingtheearto
thephonologyoftonalintervals.And ifmusicistobeintroducedinschoolsasanoptional
subjectin thegeneralsyllabus.itcanonlybethroughthephoneticsystem.
All Indian languages are phonetic and hence theirsuperiorefficiencyinspelling over
thenon-phoneticEnglishlanguage,forinstance.ThefirstthreeyearsofastudentofEnglis-h
languagearespent ingellingoverthehurdleofitsillogicalorthography:andevenadvanced
studentsin lateryearscanneverreally mastertheuncertaintiesandabsurditiesofEnglish
spelling;whereasthe spellingandreadingofaphoneticlanguagelikeItaliancaneasilybe
mastered withinabout three months.
ItisoftenbelievedthatonesyllabicnotationlikethepresentIndiansystemissufficient
bothforthepurposeofsingingmusicandwritingit.Itishardlyrealizedthattwoormore
subsidiary typesofnotation are simultaneouslynecessary foroneandthesamesystem.
Onephonetic notationat least is required for vocalizing the intonation. as insinging.
and another symbolic code of it for instrumentation. The notes may have long syllabic
namesfor vocalization.butatthe sametimetheymusthaveashortsymboliccode,justas
wehave longhandand shorthandinlanguage-writing.Thesamephoneticnotation, ifused
bothfor singingand instrumentation,can be unwieldy,slow.and inefficientforthe latter
purpose, atleastin advanced instrumental music.
For instance, the following four forms of complementary types are used for different
purposes in the Western system of notation: (1) the alphabetic. (2) the syllabic, (3) the
phoneric,and (./) the graphic.
16 ANTSHER LOBO
The Alphabetic
This isthefixedA-B-Csystem usedinEnglandandAmerica.Thestaff-notationisreckoned
bythese alphabeticletters asonatypewriter,butnotnecessarilyintoned.Itisefficientand
suitableforsight-playingmusic of keyboardinstrumentslike the pianoforteandthe organ.
Vikrita notes like komol Riand tivra Ma are indicated asDflat and F sharp.
The Syllabic
Similartothefixed alphabetic,this isanimmovableDo-Re-Misystemwidely used in the
Continent of Europe.As in the present Indian syllabic system, komal Ri and tivra Ma
would be Re bemol and Fa diese, It is useful for reckoning staff-notationof instrumental
music. The names ofnotes do not change intransposition.
The Phonetic
This is a moveable syllabo-phonetic Do-Re-Mi system, otherwise known as the Solfa
Tonic system, whereinintonationchanges of vikritanotes are indicatedby corresponding
changes in vowel endings. Thus Fa, Fe would correspond to the new Indian phonetic
syllables Ma, Me-Komal and tivra madhyam respectively. This system is also used for
transpositionandmodulation,aswhenthetonic Do(Sa) shifts ontoanew pitch-level.Itis
excellent for singing purposes and very efficient for sight-singing and sight-reading of
melodies.
The Graphic
This international staff-notationsystem, wherein notes are indicatedby graphic symbols,
automaticallypicturizesthe pitch-levelof high and low notes as well as theirtime-values.
This is a great advantage particularly in perpendicular chord writing. This system is
universally used today by all nations.
In the West, these four types of notation are usedconcurrently in connection with the
staffnotation.Thealphabeticandthesyllabic,whicharesynonymous,areusedintheoretical
music, the phonetic in vocal music, and the graphic staff-notationin instrumentalas well
as vocal and theoretical music.
The only drawbackinthefourconcurrenttypes ofnotationdescribedaboveisthat they
indicate correctly (through unscientifically) only 12 out of the 22 shrutis of the Indian
system. They indicate theoretically, besides the 7 diatonic (shuddha) notes of the Bitaval
scale (scale ofZarlino), the tivra madhyam and the kama/ varieties ofrishabh, gandhar
dhaivat, and nlshad.
As a matter offact, the only true 12-shrutichromatic scale of the West is absolutely
identical with the Indian 12-shruti limited scale in which Sa and Pa remain achal, and
besides the remaining five shuddha notes, madhyam becomes tivra and the rest komal,
The commonly held belief that the 12 notes of the Western chromatic scale cannot
MUSICALEDUCATIO~DlINDIA,STRESSO~NOTATIO~ 17
renderintruepitchthenotesusedinIndianmusiciserroneous.Becausethiswouldamount
tosayingthatWestern musicisnotbasedonacousticprinciplesofconsonance.Thisview
istrue,however,onlysofarasitreferstothetemperedscaleofkeyboardinstrumentsJike
thepianoforte.the organ,and theharmonium.wherein allthe 12shrutisareout ofpitch,
exceptthetonicShadja. Butthisisadmittedby\Vestemersthemselveswhousekeyboard
instrumentsmerely for theconvenienceofeasymodulation.Forthepurposeofvocaland
symphonic music,however,Western musicstrictlyadherestothe 12-shruti systemofthe
true chromatic scale.
Though. in theory, Western musicians leach only the 12-shruti scale equating koma!
withatikomalandtivra withtar-rivra,inpracticetheyinadvertentlyuseallthe22shrutis
intheirperformances.
IImustberemembered,however,that22shrutisareneitheranidealnumbernoraretheythe
maximumpossible.butthey areonlyapracticalminimumusedinunmodulatedmusic.The
doublesharpsanddoubleflatsusedinWesternmusicarenottakenintoconsiderationhere,as
theyoccuronlyinmodulatoryshiftsoftheIonic-level.Doublesbarpsandflatsarenotthesame
thingastar-tivraandatikomalassometheoristshavemistakenlyequatedthem.
Again, theWestern stringinstrumentsaresoconstructedinperfectfifthsupwardsthat
they can modulate and play best in sharp keys. whereas military band instruments can
modulateeasilydownwards andplaycorrectlyinflatkeys.Thereisnomusicalinstrument
yetinventedthatcandothiseasilyeitherway,exceptthehumanvoice.BharataMuniwas
the earliest in history Co have foreseen this when he established the twin fundamental
necessityofthecomplementarySaandAlagramas,i.e.,inmodemtimesthetwinnecessity
ofthetivradhaivatof Bilavaland thetar-tivradhatvatofBehag.
It isimportant that ourstudentsacquirea senseofhistoricalperspectiveandacquaint
themselveswith the momentouscontributionsIndianmusicologistshadmadeinthepast.
ThegreatesthistoricalsignificanceoftheNatyaShastra liesinthefactthatBharataMuni
in hismadnyom grama had tabulated the universalscaleforalltimesabout 15centuries
beforeitwasdiscovered intheWestbyZarlinoin1560.ThisscaleofZarlinocorresponds
tothe Bilaval'hath ofIndian music.
The prevalent beliefamong musicologists isthatthereis nosuchthingasa universal
scale since different countries use different standardscales.Itisagreatmistaketo think
so.Both in the East and the West, different countriesat differentperiodsof history had
abandoned thefundamentalscale as being vulgarandonthe borderoferoticism.andhad
adoptedinsteadothermurchhanasofthe samebasic scaleasthestandardthaths.
Thus Kafi and Bhairavi were selected as being nobler and holier in expression. No
matter whatmurcbhana ormode ischosenasthestandard scare.thefactremainsthatall
thesemurchhanas are derivedfromthesamecircleofthebasicuniversalscale-theonly
scientific scale harmonicallypossible,beingbasedon the two fundamentalconsonances
ofswavambhupancham andswayambhugandhar.
Thewholemusicalcivilizationofmankindmaybesaidto havebelongedtotwodistinct
periods:
18 Al'ITSHERLOBO
(I) The pre-Buddhist Pancham period. and
(2) The posl-Buddhisl Gandhar period.
To the first. Pancham, period belong the Chinese pentatonic scales, the Pythagorean
scalesofGreece. andourown Odavascales ofBhoopali variety.
To the second. Gandhar; period belong most of the advanced musical systems of the
world today.These are, in fact. built on thePancham-Gandharcombination.
The swoycmbhu gandhar was first discovered in India, as it is mentioned in
Rukpratisbokyaand intheNaradiyashikshaatleastacoupleofcenturiesbeforeArisroxenus,
theGreek musician,introduced itinhisscalein400BC.
There is only one universal scale,and that is Bharata MUDi'5. Other thaths or parent
scales are either murchhana-derivativcs or modifications of the basic scale.And, finally,
Sharngadeva'sshrutisystemisnothingbuttheresultofsuperimpositionofthe murchhanas
ofjatis-all takenasstaning from the same pitch-point.
The third stage of civilization would be the swayambhu nishad period. It is a post
Sharngadeva development in which India has again given the lead. The relativity and
ratios in the scale are mostly septimal.Thisgives rise to new consonances which are not
used in any other musical system anywhere. The dissonant diminished fifth interval is
thereby turnedintoaconsonant one.TheTodiragasungbyAbdul KarimKhanandothers
of his gharana belongs to this saprakomal variety.This has aroused great interest in the
West,for it is indeedanother great contributionof India.
Since India invented the mathematical number zero, there has been no greater
contribution by India to the rest of the world than Bharata Muni's universal scale and
Sbamgadeva'sshrutisystem,whichisnow beingrecognizedastheworld's mostscientific
scalic system.
Whilethe Westiseagerto Jearnand profitby the findings ofEasterncountries, Indian
musiciansshouldadmitandassimilate theprinciplesofharmonization,whichisone ofthe
greatest musicalachievements ofthe \Vest.
Hannonyisbasedonlawsofconsonancewhichareuniversal.Thetheoryofconsonance,
samvaditva, isdescribed inthe Mahabharata.while thesame wasappliedin Europefrom
the 14thcentury AD.
Indian musicemploysthese lawsinlinearharmony, droneorpedalharmony,and vadi
harmony.Havingalwaysbeenintenselyindividualistic,Indianmusic hadsofarnotapplied
these lawsofconsonance to multiple-horizontal and perpendicularharmony,
ThefourconcurrenttypesofWesternnotationdescribedabove,someofwhichareredundant.
couldbecondensedintoonlytwo principaltypesforthepurposeofIndianmusic:
(1) The syllabo-phoneticnotation.embodyingthe22shrutisforvocaland theoretical
music;and
(2) thealteredstaff-notation forconcertedinstrumentaJand vocal music,bothIndian
and foreign.
MUSICALEDUCATION ININDIA:STRESSONNOTAnO~ 19
The Syllabo-Phonetic Notation
Ashort description of this phonetic system of Indian music will now be given. Though
simpleandpractical,itembodies allthelinernuancesofshruti-intonationandcanincrease
hundredfold theteaching efficiency ofIndian music institutions.
In this notation,Sa and Pa are fixed (achal).The remaining five vikrita notes ofthe
saptok, namely.Rishabh,Gandhar,Madliyam,DhaivatandNishad,havefourvarietiesof
intonation each. and these are denoted in their increasing degree of sharpness by
incorporating orsuffixingthevowels 0,A,E,I inthe root-nameofthenote.
The four shades ofintonation ofRishabh, for instance, would be Ro, Ra,Re,Ri.The
phoneticsyllables would represent the atikomal. komal, tivra andtar-tivra places ofthat
note. and they will be between them, starting from Sa, the following shruti intervals
expressed in cents:
Sa 90 Ro 22 Ro 70 Re 22 Ri
(Tonic) (Atikomal) (Komal) (lhra) (Tar-lil'ra)
Likewise,the four varieties of Gandhar would beGo,Ga,Ge, Gi.
The intervalof22centsisthe sameas thepramanashrutiofBharataor theCommaof
Dydimus.
Thus the dwishruti syllable Ra, standing atthe distance of adiatonic semitone or 112
cents from Sa, or bearing a vibration ratio of 16/15 with it, would represent the komal
Rishabh oftheHindustani syslem or theshuddhaRishabhoftheCarnaticsystem,
Similarly,thesyllableRiwould bethesameasShudhRishabhorchaturshrutiRishabh
ofthe Hindustaniand Camaticsystems respectively.
The four vowels in their increasing degrees of sharpness areverified andjustified by
electronicgraphsofthesevowels.Whilethevowel '0' gives asmoothandevengraph,the
vowel 'I' givesasharpand serrateone.
Thetwoshrutis immediately before and afterthe aehalSa,andthetwoshrutisbefore
andafterthe aehalPa,sometimessufferaslightchangeas inthecaseofMarvathachand
the septirnal Todl.The syllabi-phonetic notation provides for these rare and exceptional
cases.
In transitional and modulatory Western music. the notes Ri.Dhi, etc., often take the
place ofanewmadhyam.The phoneticnotationalsoprovidesfortheultra-sharpvarieties
ofthese notes by using the syllablesRII,Dhu,etc.
TheAlteredStaff-notation
Asthe staff-notation perfectlyserves thepurpose of 12 outofthe 22 shrutis, theAltered
Staff-notation provides athicker-type flatandsharp fortheatikomaland tar-nora notes.
Another diacritical sign in the key.signature. such as is used 10 indicate an angle in
geometry, alters the shuddha note byapramanashruti.
20 ANTSHERLOBO
ruTVR[ OF MUSICALEDUCATIOS
Thefutureofmusical education in Indiawill depend upon how teaching methods and
schoolsyllabiare oriented.This orientation willhave to beregulated bydirectives given
eitherbysomecentralizedinstitutionorbyeducationiststhemselvesthroughwell-organized
seminars and conferences. Only a pooling of the knowledge and experience of school
principalscan coordinate asound and uniform educational policy.
Acomprehensiveandintegratedcourseofmusicalstudyshouldbewell balanced.soas
to include all existing categories of practical music: (I) Folk Music, (2) Light Music,
(3)Devotional Music, (4) Popular Music, (5) Modern Music, (6) Operatic Music, (7)
ClassicalMusic,and (8) OldClassicalMusic,
Separate subjects in graded courses should includethe following:
(a) TheoryofMusic;
(b) Rhythm and Percussion;
(c) History ofMusic;
(d) FormandCompositionofMusic;
(e) Aesthetic ofMusic;and
(I) ArtofTeaching.
Instrumentaltechniqueandvoiceproductionwouldbespecialsubjectsforinstrumental
and vocalstudentsrespectively.
All this presupposes, ofcourse,that a mastery of Indian phonetic notation and/or the
InternationalStaffNotation,both forreadingand writingmusic.hasalreadybeenobtained
by students atthe primary stages ofeducation. It also presupposes that music textbooks
withprinted notationcontainingspecimensofall thesevencategories ofmusicmentioned
abovewill have beenmade available by then.
SimplespecimensofDhrupad,Thumriand eventheKhayalstyle,which issupposedto
belongtotheclassofextemporeimprovisation.shouldbemadeavailableinprintednotation
for critical analysis and study by future students. Specialized and advanced graduation
courseswillhavetoincludeHarmony,Counterpoint.OrchestrationandComparativeStudy
ofMusical Systems,
Itiscontended thatclassicalIndian music ofthe Khayal styleisunnotarable.This isa
misconception.Itisacaseofmixingupcausesandeffects.AsobtaininginIndia. thisstyle
is undoubtedly a unique type of musical development wherein an ideation of mood is
soughttobeexpressedbymeansofasetscaleandsetconventionsofextemporizedmelody
within a set metre. It is a musical heritage that India mayjustly be proud of. It must be
preserved and cultivated.
Butitisdifficultatthis stageto analyzewhatset ofcircumstances,historical. social.or
MUSICALEDUCATION ININOLA:SlRESSONNOTATION 21
cultural, might have occasionedthis style. Onemightaswellpostulate thethesisthatthis
intensedevelopmentofextemporizedmusicwas itselfcaused bytheabsenceofnotation.
Itwouldbeidletospeculatetodayhowlimitedorhowadvancedtheimprovisingeffortsof
ancient poets would have been, if the subsequent invention of thealphabet hadnotmade
literary epics possible.
Notated specimens of contemporarymusic arenotintended topreserve andrecord the
music of a period, so that it may serve as areference guide for future students.Western
classical music, whetherpolyphonic,contrapuntal, orhomophonic, isavailable atpresent
innotatedformrightfromthe15thcenturyonwards.Thoughthemodemsmaynotcompose
inthesame idiomany more, all those old stylesarestillcultivated andperformed.
Itisbeyondthescopeofthispapertodelineateaneducationalplan.Thesyllabiprescribed
at various schools and colleges in India are adequate as far as they go. This paper has,
therefore, only attempted to clearcertain misconceptions and other uncritical prejudices
that have impeded in the past the implementation of a sound educational policy and are
likelyto withholdthe potential progress ofIndian music inthefuture.
The whole future of Indian music will depend upon the notation system, which will
havetobeacombinationofthephonetic andthestaffnotation.Thephoneticnotation,like
thesolfa-tonicsystem, isintended primarilytotunetheearandthevoice,andtoenablethe
student to sing and write simple melodies correctly.But thecomplex fabric ofthefuture
Indian music tocome can only bepossiblethrough theinternational staffnotation.
However differently a syllable may be written or spelt by different nations,
intercontinentaltransmissionofitcanonlybethrough theinternationaltelegraphicMorse
code.
During the last five hundred years sinceadopting thestaffnotation,Westernmusichas
made tremendous progress in building up its gigantic musical structure. One can safely
makethe assertionthat noteven one-millionthofthatprogress wouldhavebeenpossible
wereitnot for the staffnotation.
Pressed by the exigencies of modern times, the Indian broadcasting, film, and
gramophonecompaniesarealreadyhavingmusicofpredeterminedlength,forrn,andtexture
composed and notatedfor concertedperformances. There isnoreason whyIndianmusic
schools should not train their students to meet this growing contingency. Further, the
characterand style ofIndian music cannot beaffected bythe adoption of moreeffective
foreigninstrumentslikethemicrophoneandtheviolin,because,afterall,theyareonlythe
media through which the music isconveyed.
Theargument that Indian music is unnotatable can easily bedismissed. Itmustnotbe
forgotten that a musical notation, like all literary scripts, can at best be only skeletonic,
lifelessand meaninglesswithout theteacher andtradition toguide thestudentintheearly
stagesinassociating andarticulating thesoundsofthewrittencode.There-interpretation
andre-creation will always belong totheperformer.
Once the two concurrent systems of phonetic notation and staff notation are firmly
22 ANTSILERLOBO
rooted.a scientificmedium forteaching and composing music willhave been found.
whatformthefuture nationalmusicofIndiawilltakeorwhatstyleit willdevelop.itis
difficult atthis stage to prophecy. Overzealous parents are known 10 have crippled the
creative initiativeof theirchildrenbydictating to them their own pet notions.The future
Indian musicians and composers who will react to the social. historical. and cultural
influencesofthetimes tocome willalonedecide the issue.
Meanwhile. educationists, grammarians. musicologists. anthologists. theoreticians.
publishers. authors and critics will only tabulate the musical data. provide the notation
media. andcanalize the educational facilities.They will teach the student only the music
ofthe past and thepresent so thathe may learn and decide for himselfhow to make the
musicof thefuture.
