The Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan

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From a study of the music of the Hindus one can trace back in the traditions that thousands of years ago there was a time when musicians knew as fine a distance between tones as quarter tones. It was not only the degree of the sound that was considered in that way, but also the nature and character of the sound was analyzed, just as in chemistry. We can find today in ancient traditions the different effects attached to the different notes, whether dryness or liquidity, whether cold or heat. No doubt it is difficult today to distinguish the sounds which express these different effects, because the distinguishing is now done from the instruments, and in those times it was done only from nature. Yet it is most interesting to know that we find today in Sanskrit scriptures the different pitch of sound distinguished in ancient times. In the absence of a piano or of a tuning fork the musicians had to determine the pitch by the sound of different animals and birds.


 
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