Donjr, Sultan Khan died last year. He was Sarangi player and vocalist but I don't have any of his records. Ali Akbar Khan was pronouced by Yehudi Menuhin "An absolute genius...the greatest musician in the world,". Musicians that are the most popular are not necessarily the best (if I can even use this word). When Alauddin Khan was tired explaining he used to say to Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan "Annapurna will explain it to you". Annapurna Devi rarely played in public and many never heard of her. http://indianraga.blogspot.com/2009/11/annapurna-devi-genius-who-chose-to-be.html
Stewie, that's perhaps best way to start. Indian Classical music is very different from western music and very very complex (especially Carnatic music from the south of India). To start with there is no constant beat - it is changing pattern usually up to 16 times in Hindustani and up to 100 patterns in Carnatic music. Beat is not constant because is related to melody. In contrast, beat in western music is constant since it was made for marching or dancing. There is main melody of the Raga but everything else is improvisation. There is no absolute tone (like A=440Hz). Music can be played from any tone (drone) and everything becomes relative to this tone. Raga in general (great simplification) has two parts Alap and Ghat. Alap is an introduction to melody without rythm. To me it brings atmosphere and allow to "sink in". Ghat repeats same melodic lines with percussion (tabla). Indian music has no harmonic structure (chords) therefore to enrich it (cover silence) instruments have often sympathetic strings that resonate plus few Tampuras are added. Tampura is an instrument, played in the background by girls who just touch strings in order, what creates this buzzing background noise. In addition to all that melody in western music is made by the sequence of notes while in Indian Classical music each note has also own melody by modulating string during sustain.
Stewie, that's perhaps best way to start. Indian Classical music is very different from western music and very very complex (especially Carnatic music from the south of India). To start with there is no constant beat - it is changing pattern usually up to 16 times in Hindustani and up to 100 patterns in Carnatic music. Beat is not constant because is related to melody. In contrast, beat in western music is constant since it was made for marching or dancing. There is main melody of the Raga but everything else is improvisation. There is no absolute tone (like A=440Hz). Music can be played from any tone (drone) and everything becomes relative to this tone. Raga in general (great simplification) has two parts Alap and Ghat. Alap is an introduction to melody without rythm. To me it brings atmosphere and allow to "sink in". Ghat repeats same melodic lines with percussion (tabla). Indian music has no harmonic structure (chords) therefore to enrich it (cover silence) instruments have often sympathetic strings that resonate plus few Tampuras are added. Tampura is an instrument, played in the background by girls who just touch strings in order, what creates this buzzing background noise. In addition to all that melody in western music is made by the sequence of notes while in Indian Classical music each note has also own melody by modulating string during sustain.