Music Masters Contemporary Practice

For thousands of year’s music has played a pivotal role in human cultures, rhythm being a primordial means through which music is expressed. This study is an exploration into the source codes or building blocks that commonly enable rhythmic phrasing across musical traditions using pulse. It investigates this topic by making use of concepts and rhythmic devices used in the South Indian tradition of konnokol and syncopation as applied in the Western jazz tradition. In order to catalogue all possible note groupings or source codes within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes, it explores the use of lingual musical language.
Having generated the source codes, through the use of a newly developed rhythmic musical language and a multidisciplinary research design, this study has innovated a pedagogical instrument to facilitate the learning of rhythmic phrasing utilising methodologies represented by two of the great rhythmic musical traditions in existence today: The Carnatic tradition of South India and the Western tradition of Jazz.

In turn this pedagogical instrument also functions as musical works encompassing a minimalist aesthetic, the score of which becomes the basis for compositional elaboration, creating a musical portfolio in eight movements, one for each subdivision investigated. The compositional exploration and elaboration of the subdivisions utilises both methodologies East and West.

Konnokol originates from South India. It is a rhythmic musical language made up of meaningless one syllable sounds that function as a map to navigate South India's three major drums, the Mridagam, Ghatam and Kanjira. Konnokol is also a means to catalogue all the compositions for those drums that exists within the South Indian Carnatic classical musical tradition. Since India's musical traditions are oral traditions, it follows that Konnokol is a musical language. It is also performed simply by being sung and functions on its own as a percussive art form simply expressed through the human voice. Indeed, though less common, some South Indian musicians specialize in Konnokol only, without actually applying it to playing an actual drum; or, are recognised as Konnokol masters, as is the case with my teacher Subash Chandran from Chennai Tamil Nadu. As one would expect from any system or methodology associated with an Indian musical tradition, the system of Konnokol functions at a radical musical depth, and has profound pedagogical implication for students of rhythmic phrasing associated with any tradition.

On the Zildjian Day in New York video of 2004 while addressing the audience Billy Cobham stated "Cross sticking is one of the biggest bugaboos of playing drums". As the grandfather of modern contemporary drumming and an innovator on the instrument, Billy Cobham was one of the first drummers to make the brave journey of reworking his technique in order to play open handed.

His reasons for doing so must have been compelling because it's not an easy shift to make after years of playing with the conventional cross sticking technique. Being right handed to begin with, and with all the strength that has been developed in the right hand as one's leading hand, to suddenly decide to make the left hand the leading hand that plays the hi-hat, is almost like starting from scratch.

My Master's Thesis is an exploration of rhythmic methodologies East and West, on the basis of which 'The Quornokol Pedagogical Instrument' was innovated. This instrument also functions as a minimalist compositional work in eight movements, one for each of the subdivisions investigated in the study. As a musical work, Quornokol makes use of three pianos, based on its score, an exploration and further elaboration of the work results in a portfolio of original minimalist works. The Quornokol instrument amalgamates into one process the rhythmic methodologies as they apply to the Carnatic tradition utilising the South Indian Konnokol language, and syncopation as it relates to the Western Jazz tradition utilising the Quornokol language I innovated. The Quornokol instrument achieves this in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes. Abstract For thousands of year's music has played a pivotal role in human cultures, rhythm being a primordial means through which music is expressed. This study is an exploration into the source codes or building blocks that commonly enable rhythmic phrasing across musical traditions using pulse. It investigates this topic by making use of concepts and rhythmic devices used in the South Indian tradition of konnokol and syncopation as applied in the Western jazz tradition. In order to catalogue all possible note groupings or source codes within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes, it explores the use of lingual musical language. Having generated the source codes, through the use of a newly developed rhythmic musical language and a multidisciplinary research design, this study has innovated a pedagogical instrument to facilitate the learning of rhythmic phrasing utilising methodologies represented by two of the great rhythmic musical traditions in existence today: The Carnatic tradition of South India and the Western tradition of Jazz. In turn this pedagogical instrument also functions as musical works encompassing a minimalist aesthetic, the score of which becomes the basis for compositional elaboration, creating a musical portfolio in eight movements, one for each subdivision investigated. The compositional exploration and elaboration of the subdivisions utilises both methodologies East and West.

My love affair with Indian music started when I was 16 in 1977, I found an album of tabla recitals that was using Western song melodies as the raga cycle to accompany the tabla soloist. I guess this album was created to introduce tabla to a Western audience, and it was strictly by chance that I happened upon it. It was a deeply moving and new experience for me as a Western drummer coming in touch with an Eastern musical tradition focusing in this instance on its percussive elements. It touched me profoundly with the abundance of feeling, nuance, beauty and depth that this music embodied.