The ‘Gharana or Musical Gene Effect’

A New Theory of Music:

Creation or Composition (11)

The ‘Gharana or Musical Gene Effect’

Please try to understand a little bit of genetics and the law of heredity in the context of music. Every human child is born with the ability to differentiate between what is MUSIC (that is, sound that is organised, melodious, nice and sweet to listen) and what is NOT MUSIC. This, let me call, MUSICAL PERCEPTION. Next comes, MUSICAL ABILITY – the ability to sing (vocal) and/or to play a musical instrument (instrumental). Almost every child can play a drum; and it is a good way to develop in a small child the ‘Sense of Rhythm’. When I used to run my ‘Winning Child’ clinic, I would recommend this drum drill to be incorporated into an autistic or hyperactive child’s daily life. This, nevertheless, is a SKILL and it can be inherited from either of the parents. Then we have, MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE – the ability to understand the musical grammar and also to write musical notes. There is no data available on this. I can say only this much that there is an increasing research that demonstrates mother’s role in her children’s intelligence – including mathematical intelligence (See Reference 1). Finally, I come to MUSICAL CREATIVITY (the ability to compose original music, not by copy-pasting) which is certainly genetic with a heritability estimate of 84 percent (See Reference 2).

Let us go backward to a few hundred years ago from now when the era of court musicians in ICM (Indian Classical Music) was almost coming to an end. If I were a musician coming from a musical lineage and music was my sole means of livelihood, (assuming I had passed on musical genes to my next gen), I would impart to my sons (daughters by exception) whatever musical knowledge & skill I had. And, they had every right, being my biological offspring, to inherit my musical assets. I would also teach and share my music with my disciples whosoever came under my tutelage. The ‘Nature-Nurture’ principle will work here. My children would have inherited the musical genes from me and my wife, and my disciples would have inherited theirs from their parents. That is the NATURE. Now, being trained in the same manner by the same Guru (that’s me), they will pick up the CULTURAL GENES (related to ‘Music’) [and the Gurukul’s ‘Microbial Vibrations’ in case they are trained in the ‘Gurukul’ system] also. That input is provided by the environment – this is the NURTURE part. ‘Cultural Genes’ were given a separate identity by the Godfather of Evolutionary Biology & Genetics, Prof. Richard Dawkins (formerly of the University of Oxford, UK) as he called them ‘MEMEs’ rhyming with ‘GENEs’.

Now, the aspect that I’d like to highlight here is that both my sons and my disciples would be mentored to protect and promote the MUTATED MUSICAL GENES that they have got from me through years of relentless training & practice. In straight & simple terms, without going in so much of a roundabout way, it is my STYLE OF MUSIC. This is how the GHARANA concept came in ICM. In terms of modern ‘Marketing Management’, the GHARANA is the MUSICAL BRAND and for each ‘Gharana’, its style of music is its USP: ‘Unique Selling Proposition’, which has to be highlighted for BRAND PROMOTION.

In terms of SYSTEMS THEORY, a ‘Gharana’ which follows very strictly a particular style is a CLOSED SYSTEM. From this point of view a rigid ‘Gharana’ is ANTI-GENIUS. It does not permit any CREATIVITY to be expressed on the part of the musician, barring a few IMPROVISATIONs keeping the structure of the original Raga intact. But with change in the environment and change in the taste and requirements of the music patrons, even the ‘Closed Systems’ had to OPEN UP. One striking example is that of the Bangash Gharana of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. While he has made both his sons, Ayan & Aman, sarod players by making them his musical heirs, he has involved them in CREATIVE MUSIC PLAYING also. Please listen to their recital in the ‘Raga for Peace’ at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo where Kailash Satyarthi from India and Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan were the Nobel Peace Prize recipients (link provided).

The second example is that of young sitar player Adhiraj Chaudhuri, grandson of Late Pt. Debu Chaudhuri (1935 – 2021) and son of Late Prateek Chaudhuri (1971 – 2021). Prateek had his training under his father and also his father’s guru Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan (1911 – 1989) of the Senia gharana. Most interestingly, Mushtaq Ali Khan Sahab was extremely puritan in his musical approach and since he refused to use his CREATIVITY to adapt to the changing taste of the patrons, Ravi Shankar and Vilayat who improvised a lot and developed new, more attractive and appealing styles, his popularity declined and he started losing business although he had reigned supreme as the topmost and best sitarist in India during the 1940s and early 1950s. I distinctly remember when I was studying as a senior school student in 1953-54, one of my close friends from an aristocratic zamindar family Ashoke Ghosh (now deceased) used to learn sitar from Mushtaq Sir along with Jaya Biswas (who moved over to Pt. Ravi Shankar and rose to fame eventually) and I used to attend their practice and concert sessions regularly. Mushtaq Sir was a MUSICIAN, in the true sense of the term, but not a MUSICAL GENIUS like Pt. Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan. Young Adhiraj, in his early teens, is the 3rd generation sitarist in the Chaudhuri family and is expected to fly the Senia Gharana flag as his late father and late grandfather were the last two great artists to protect the Senia Gharana brand and the UMAK (Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan) Foundation. (Listen to Adhiraj – link provided).

Last example is that of Ishan Leonard Rao de Haas who is the teenage son of Pt. Subhendra Rao, renowned sitarist (Pt. Ravi Shankar’s disciple) and his wife Saskia Rao de Haas, reputed cellist who is originally from The Netherlands. This is an example of an OPEN SYSTEM, where having been trained by Pt. Ravi Shankar, Subhendra has got a slice of Ravi’s wide-open mind and does not stick to rote sitar playing always. And, son Ishan has neither followed his father nor his mother – he has gone for playing the piano. One example of the music that they have adapted from Ludwig von Beethoven (Ode to Joy) and played is the European national anthem (link provided).

https://youtu.be/w1nCQ3vA3Jc

https://fb.watch/v/1osWAcfos/

https://youtu.be/OElwcihqS7M

[References:

1. “5 Traits That Babies Get from Their Mothers Only”, Sneak Peak, June 8, 2021.

2. Yi Ting Tan et al, “The genetic basis of music ability”, Frontiers in Psychology, 27 June 2014.

3. “Gharana”, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

4. Jahnavi Harrison, “The Gharana system: lineage in Indian Classical Music”. Darbar. ]