The fifth music therapy session: Hindustani classical music and its therapeutic value

doi:10.15406/mojbm.2023.08.00206

MOJ

eISSN: 2574-9722

Biology and Medicine

Short Communication Volume 8 Issue 4

The fifth music therapy session: Hindustani classical music and its therapeutic value

Apoorva Chakraborty,¹ Soubhik Chakraborty²

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¹Sangeet Visharad and PG Diploma in Music Therapy, Former Student, NADA Centre for Music Therapy, India
²Department of Mathematics, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India

Correspondence: Soubhik Chakraborty, Department of Mathematics, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India

Received: November 20, 2023 | Published: December 7, 2023

Citation: Chakraborty A, Chakraborty S. The fifth music therapy session: Hindustani classical music and its therapeutic value. MOJ Biol Med. 2023;8(4):177-178. DOI: 10.15406/mojbm.2023.08.00206

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Abstract

We hereby present a brief report on the fifth and final music therapy session in connection with our ongoing research project titled Hindustani Raga Analysis Using Statistical Musicology with Therapeutic Applications for Stress Management sponsored by IDEAS: Technology Innovation Hub @ Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Details of the first four music therapy sessions have been published and the interested reader is referred to Chakraborty S et al.^1–4

Keywords: music therapy, hindustani classical music, raga

Introduction

We hereby present a brief report on the fifth and final music therapy session in connection with our ongoing research project titled Hindustani Raga Analysis Using Statistical Musicology with Therapeutic Applications for Stress Management sponsored by IDEAS: Technology Innovation Hub @ Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Readers interested in the first four music therapy sessions are referred to Chakraborty S et al.^1–4 respectively.

Report on the fifth music therapy session

The fifth and final music therapy session was held on 4th May, 2023 in the music room of BIT Mesra, Ranchi, India. To begin the proceedings, the music therapist played the singing bowl, also called the Tibetan bowl, and the participants were asked to close their eyes, sit in sukh asana and meditate. Mainly Buddhists use these bowls for meditation purpose. It is still debated as to where these bowls originated from but there are some evidences which reveal that it could possibly be China around the 16th century B.C. Traditional bowls were made up of a variety of metals including mercury, lead, silver, iron, gold and copper. They started gaining popularity in the United States in the 1970s and became very popular in 1990s as a complementary and alternative treatment for a variety of ailments.

Next the participants did some self-breathing exercises with counting. This was followed by deep breathing, ujjayi pranayama, humming, Ohm (Aum) chanting, chanting of Mahamrityunjaya mantra and shanti mantra which evoked a peaceful environment. Thereafter the musical session started with Ganesh stuti, namely, Vakratunda Maha Kaya…which is sung for the success of any event. Chanting of this mantra opens the blockages of the mind and helps the person to become more focused, creative and wiser. The music therapist then sang a beautiful thaat geet in which the representative ragas of each of the ten thaats (in Hindustani classical music, a thaat is a raga group according to scale and notes used; a raga is a melodic structure with fixed notes and a set of rules characterizing a particular mood conveyed by performance;⁵ the idea of grouping the ragas into ten thaats is credited to Pt. V.N. Bhatkhande) were established one by one by singing melodies containing the name of these ten representative ragas in the lyrics and their emotional content (rasa) embedded in the tune.

This was followed by some pure Hindustani classical Khayals, semi classical dadra and bhajan (devotional song). The first khayal rendition was performed by Dr. Purnima Chakraborty, D.Mus. BHU(Banaras Hindu University) who is a disciple of Dr. Vanamala Parvatkar, eminent Hindustani classical vocalist of the Banaras Gharana and ex Head, Faculty of Performing Arts at BHU. Dr. Purnima opened with a vilambit (slow tempo) composition in raga Bihag followed by a drut (fast tempo) composition. She then performed a bhajan in raga Gauri. Finally, on request, she concluded her recital with a Chota Khayal in raga Hansdhwani.

The music therapist herself then sang a dadra in raga Mishra Pilu originally sung by Girija Devi, a veteran thumri and tappa singer of the Banaras Gharana. She also elaborated the therapeutic benefits of this raga in combating stress.

The last vocal recital of the day was performed by Manish Kumar Sharma, who is an assistant professor of music at Ranchi University. He is also actively involved in music research leading to a PhD in Music under the guidance of Dr. Jaya Shahi, Faculty of Performing Arts (vocal) at Central University of Jharkhand. His musical training is credited to M. Kumar, S. Pathak (Dhrupad singer, Gaya Gharana) and K. A. Chanchal (BHU). He presented an enthralling performance in raga Bairagi (also called Bairagi Bhairav) comprising of two Chota Khayal compositions.

The principal investigator (PI, second author) briefly talked about the therapeutic benefits of some of the ragas and concluded the session thanking all the artists and the participants. Further literature on the terms and genres in Hindustani classical music can be found in chapter two of Chakraborty S et al.⁶ Readers interested in therapeutic benefits on western and non-western (Indian) music are referred to Singh SB et al.⁷ For further literature on the ragas Bihag, Pilu and Bairagi, the reader is referred to Mahabharati S et al.⁸

Concluding remarks

Given the non-musical background of some of the participants, the fifth music therapy session emphasizing on Hindustani classical music was a big success, as per the positive feedback received from the participants. This session gave the participants the exposure to the great Indian raga tradition which is a potential musical genre for therapeutic intervention.

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to IDEAS: Technology Innovation Hub @ Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata for sponsoring this research. They would also like to thank the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Indranil Manna for encouraging and supporting this research. We thank all the artists Dr. Purnima Chakraborty, Mr. Manish Kumar Sharma, Mr. Abhishek Kumar (who provided the harmonium and tabla accompaniment as per requirement) and Ms. Apoorva Chakraborty for their valuable contributions. Special thanks go to Mrs. Sushmita Mukherjee for coordinating this music therapy session and giving vocal support to the music therapist.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

The authors are thankful to IDEAS: Technology Innovation Hub @ Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata for sponsoring this research (Ref: Letter no. DRIE/RDC/NM-ICPS/ISI Kolkata/2022-2023/3971 dated 23rd September, 2022).