Raga: Difference between revisions

Raga (rāg /राग (Hindi), raga (anglicised from rāgaḥ/रागः (Sanskrit)) or rāgam /ராகம் (Carnatic music)) are the melodic modes used in Indian classical music. "Raag" is the modern Hindi pronunciation used by Hindustani musicians; "Ragam" the form used by Carnatic musicians.

Indian classical music is always set in raga. Non-classical music such as popular Indian film songs sometimes utilise ragas in their compositions.

योऽसौ ध्वनिविशेषस्तु स्वरवर्णविभूषितः ।

रञ्जको जनचित्तानां स च राग उदाहृतः ।।

"That which is a special dhvani, is bedecked with swara and varna and is colorful or delightful to the minds of the people, is said to be raga" - Matanga in the Brihaddesi.

Raga describes a generalized form of melodic practice. It also prescribes a set of rules for building the melody. It specifies the rules for movements up (aahroh [आरोहणम्]) and down (aavroh [अवरोहणम्]) the scale, which Swara (notes) should figure more and which notes should be used more sparingly, which notes may be sung with gamaka, phrases to be used, phrases to be avoided, and so on. The result is a framework that can be used to compose or improvise melodies, allowing for endless variation within the set of notes.

The basic mode of reference is that which is equivalent to the Western Ionian mode (this is called Bilawal thaat in Hindustani music and Shankarabharanam in Carnatic music). All relationships between pitches follow from this basic arrangement of intervals. In any given seven-tone mode, the second, third, sixth, and seventh notes can be natural (shuddha, lit. 'pure') or flat (komal, 'soft') but never sharpened, and the fourth note can be natural or sharp (tivra) but never flattened, making up the twelve notes in the Western equal tempered chromatic scale (but without Western pitch equivalencies like, for example, A# and Bb). A Western-style C scale could therefore theoretically have the notes C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B. Ragas can also specify microtonal changes to this scale: a flatter second, a sharper seventh, and so forth. Treatises from the first millennium report that the octave used to be divided theoretically into 22 microtones ("shrutis"), but by the 16th century, this practice seems to have died out. Furthermore, individual performers treat pitches quite differently, and the precise intonation of a given note depends on melodic context. There is no absolute pitch; instead, each performance simply picks a ground note, which also serves as the drone, and the other scale degrees follow relative to the ground note.

The Sikh holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib is divided into 32 chapters where each chapter apart from the first section has the name of a Raga. The first Raga is raga Asa. Within it's 1430 pages, the Shabads (hymns) of this Granth Sahib or SGGS are arranged in thirty-one Ragas, the traditional Indian musical measures and scales. Within the ragas, the Shabads are arranged in order of the Sikh Gurus, with the shabads of the Hindu and Muslim Saints (ie the Sikh Bhagats) following. The shabads are written in various meters and rhythms, and are organized accordingly. The Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi script, but the shabads were written in many different languages including Panjabi, Sanskrit and Persian.

The raga of the SGGS are: Asa, Bairari, Basant, Bhairon, Bihagara, Bilaval, Devagandhari, Dhanasari, Gauri, Gond, Gujari, Jaijavanti, Jaitsri, Kalian, Kanara, Kedara, Maajh, Malaar, Mali Gaura, Maru, Nat Narain, Prabhati, Ramkali, Sarang, Sri, Sorath, Suhi, Tilang, Todi, Tukhari and Vadahans

Also See Kirtan, Sikh Kirtan, Taal, Ragmala

Some Hindustani (North Indian) ragas are prescribed a time of day or a season. During the monsoon, for example, many of the Malhar group of ragas-associated with the monsoon-are performed. However these prescriptions are not strictly followed. There has also been an growing tendency over the last century for North Indian musicians to adopt South Indian Ragas. These do not come with any particular time attached to them. The result of these various influences is that there is increasing flexibility as to when ragas may be performed.

Although notes are an important part of raga practice, they alone do not make the raga. A raga is more than a scale. Many ragas share the same scale. The underlying scale may have five, six or seven tones made up of swaras. Ragas that have five swaras are called audava (औडव) ragas; those with six, shaadava (षाडव); and with seven, sampoorna (संपूर्ण) (Sanskrit for 'complete'). Those ragas that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of swaras are called vakra (वक्र) ('crooked') ragas.

The two streams of Indian classical music, Carnatic music and Hindustani music, have independent sets of ragas. There is some overlap, but more "false friendship" (where raga names overlap, but raga form does not). In north India, the ragas have recently been categorised into ten thaats or parent scales (by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, 1860-1936); South India uses a somewhat older, more systematic classification scheme called the melakarta classification, with 72 parent (melakarta) ragas. Overall there is a greater identification of raga with scale in the south than in the north, where such an identification is impossible.

As ragas were transmitted orally from teacher to student, some ragas can vary greatly across regions, traditions and styles. There have been efforts to codify and standardize raga performance in theory from their first mention in Matanga's Brhaddesi (c. tench century).

In Carnatic music ragas are classified as Janaka ragas and Janya ragas. Janaka ragas are the ragas from which the Janya ragas are created. Janaka ragas are grouped together using a scheme called Katapayadi sutra and are organised as Melakarta ragas. A Melakarta Raga is one which has all seven notes in both the aarohanam and avarohanam. Some Melakarta Ragas are Sankarabharanam, Maaya Malava Gowla, Kalyani etc. Janya ragas are derived from the Janaka ragas using a combination of the swarams in the parent raga.

Each raga has a definite collection and orders of Swarams (the basic notes). In Carnatic music, there are 7 basic notes of which there are 12 varieties. The seven basic swarams of carnatic music are: Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni.

• Musical Nirvana --includes some introductory material, raga descriptions, artist biographies and discographies, and a glossary; information on both Hindustani and Carnatic music.
• ITC Sangeet Research Academy --scholarly organization devoted to the promotion of Hindustani classical music; includes information on artists past and present, Hindustani sangeet (theory), and current events in the Indian classical world.
• Sound of India --Raga reference with audio, musicological articles and online lessons.
• Indian Ragas - A complete guide to all Indian ragas
• Swarams
• Katapayadhi Sutra
• Melakarta

• Melody type, Maqam, makam, echos, muqam, and musical mode.

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• Carnatic Music

• Hindustani Music