Western Music...

Whichever be the music. Be it the Indian Music or the Western Music each one of them is based on melody and rhythm. But there are certain differences in these music forms. Lets elaborate some distinct distinction between the two popular form of music.
   The first is based on melody-single notes played in a given order, while the second is harmonic: a group of notes called chords played simultaneously. Western music may be defined as organized instrumentation and sound created and produced in Europe, the United States, and other societies established and shaped by European

immigrants. This includes a wide range of musical genres, from classical music and jazz to rock and roll and country-western music. The late Dr. Rabindranath Tagore who was a musician himself and knew both the systems put it this way: "The world by day is like Europeans music-a flowing concourse of vast harmony, composed of concord and discord and many disconnected fragments. And the night world is our Indian music: one purem deep and tender raga.Our music draws the listener away beyond the limits of every day human joys and sorrows and takes us to the lonely region of renunciation which lies at the root of the universe, while European music leads us to a variegated dance through the endless rise and fall of human grief and joy.” Basically Indian music evokes a spiritual sentiment and discipline in a person. Vocal singing is an act of worship and not the display of mastery over raga-technique. In the West, the singing of a song is a formal exercise, not involving devotion like the Indian Music. Guru-shishya tradition is responsible for the deep attachment and dedication of the student to the teacher. In the West, usually a music teacher is just a person hired for giving lessons and there is no a relation of guru-shishya between the teacher and the student.
Indian music, like Western music, is based on melody and rhythm, but it has no foundation of harmony like the western music. The Indian system is horizontal, one note following the other, while the European is vertical-several notes at a time. Yehudi Menuhin, the noted composer and musicologist, highlights the difference between the two systems by describing Indian music thus: "The appreciate Indian music, one has to adopt a completely different sense of values... one must orientate oneself and at least for the period concerned, forget there is a time-clock ticking away and merely sink into a kind of subjective, almost hypnotic trance. In that condition, the repetitive features of Indian music, both rhythmic and melodic, acquire an extraordinary fascination and charm... despite the domination of this hypnotic mood, a characteristic of Indian music is that far from deadening the intellect, it actively liberates the mind."The popularity of western movies (singing or no singing) and cowboy music had died down by the '60s. However, contemporary western artists like Ian Tyson, Riders in the Sky, and Tom Russell still enjoy cowboy festivals (featuring both poetry and music) attract surprisingly large and enthusiastic crowds.