The Music of Hindostan c17.103

c17.103

The 'central' note is F#; and there is a skill in the way in which it is made central without being monotonous. It is central both because of the frequency of its use, and because, though the tune lies mainly above them, this is balanced by the dramatic drop to A at the climax. But it is not monotonous because (leaving aside repetitions of phrase, which are not strictly repetitions of note) it is never treated twice exactly in the same way although it occurs eight times; either the note is on a different beat of the bar, or of a different length, or it is an ascending instead of a descending phrase. And these are exactly the principles—position of central note, variety of metre, and contrast of ascent and descent—which India says are at the bottom of good melody.