Raga

The concept of Raga

A Raga should use at least five keys in an octave and utmost seven keys in the Arohanam as well as the Avarohanam.

The Arohanam or ascending order of the notes (or Avarohanam or descending order, for that matter) is obtained by simply taking a Melakarta scale and omitting none or one note or two notes. (Remember, the Melakarta scale has seven notes and so we can end up with seven or six or five notes in the derived scale)

A Raga can have five notes on the way up (in Arohanam) and seven on the way down. (Avarohanam) For example, you can have a Ragam which is exactly Mohanam in terms of Arohanam (Sa ri ga pa dha sa) but is Kalyani (Sa ni dha pa ma 2 ga ri sa) on the way down. This oudava - sampoorna Ragam is called Mohanakalyani. So you can have oudava-oudava, oudava-sampoorna, sampoorna-shadva etc. combinations. (Melakarta Ragams are of course, Sampoorna-Sampoorna) Also, the Avarohanam need not be the reverse of the Arohanam. For example, you can have a Ragam that goes Sa-ri1-ma1-dha1-ni2-Sa (Arohanam) and Sa-ni1-dha2-pa-ma2-ga2-Sa. (Avarohanam) A good lot of Ragams are however symmetric. (The same keys used to go up the octave or down the octave).

If two songs sound strikingly similar, the odds are they are based on the same set of notes and thus in the same Ragam. Their basic Ragam is identified typically by pattern recognition, if you are not willing to do detailed decomposition into the constituent keys of their scale.

The basis of Ragams is (1) the use of a restrictive number of keys in an octave (2) go up and down in the octave in a prescribed manner. (3) And yes, throw in the appropriate microtones. These generate specific melodious personalities. The term microtones presents a major difficulty in understanding the totality of the concept 'Ragam'. How exactly can one specify which microtones are involved ? What is the best way to 'notate' the millions of intermediate frequencies ? Instead of getting very analytical about 'microtones' Carnatic music just gets away by omitting a precise definition of a Ragam. In some sense, the 'Arohanam'-'Avarohanam' - this is the ascending sequence and this is the descending order defintion of a Ragam is only an 'operational definition' at best. Since the 'associated microtones' or 'Gamakam' cannot be defined numerically, it has also become fashionable to simply say that a Ragam is a 'Mood' or a feeling or an emotion, if you can even relate to such unmusical terms.

Another way to define a Ragam is by analogy or how it should 'sound' like. And compare it with an established historical 'standard' or 'primitives'. It is always much easier to sing the 'Gamakams' associated with the Ragam - produce the basic patterns - rather than Fourier analyze it. A Ragam is alternatively defined in terms of its 'characteristic musical phrases'. These characteristic phrases are called 'Pakads', (in Hindustani music) literally meaning 'catch' phrases.

The Concept of Tala

If frequency and related concepts like tone, scale and octaves form an important ingredient in music, the other equally important element is time and related items like speed, rhythm, meter etc. In fact, a musical piece is nothing but a source of sound emitting sound waves as a function of time. If you looked into the Western system of musical notation, (the 'Staff notation') you would have noticed that frequency is noted on the Y axis and time is given in the horizontal axis.

The first concept is 'speed'. Any song, even 'Jana gana mana' and 'Roop tera mastaanaa..' has a prescribed speed. 'Roop tera..' probably lasts about four minutes and if you sing it much faster or slower, it might even sound funny. (You must have played some old records at a slow speed or fast speed and had a good laugh when you were small)

Western music and Hindustani music recognises various degrees of speed or tempo, all the way from slow, very slow to ultra fast. However, in Carnatic music, we do not talk about ABSOLUTE speed - there is no connection to an external clock. This has often led to arbitrariness in speed when songs are performed. Some musicians become well-known for slow rendition of songs. And perhaps an equal number have become equally well-known for their fast rendition of perhaps the very same songs. History and tradition have been the guidelines for the 'speed' of a Carnatic piece. Since the concept is hardly invoked, we will not discuss it any further. We will not impose an Adagio (one of the many Western music tempos) or Vilambit (a slow speed used in Hindustani music) on Carnatic compositions.

Once the speed is chosen, Carnatic music is reasonably strict about keeping the speed constant - you should not slow down or speed up during the course of a song unless mandated. However, Carnatic musicians occasionally double and even quadruple their speeds relative to their fundamental speed during the course of certain pieces, just to build up the mood. In fact, lately, there have been songs rendered in 'seven speeds', much like a Hamilton Beach blender. The basic speed is referred to as 'First kaalam', literally meaning, first speed and correspondingly, when the baud rate is doubled it is called 'second kaalam' and when quadrupled, it is called 'third kaalam'.

A deeper study of Raga' that will help you better acquaint yourself with Indian classical music follows:

Scale of Raga's	Aroha (Ascending)	Avaroha (Descending)
Raga Kedar	Sa - ma, Ma - pa - , Dha - , pa - , ni - , dha -	Sa - ni - dha - pa - ma - pa - dha - pa - ma - ga - re - sa
Raga Rageshwari	sa - ga - ma - dha - ni - sa	Sa - ni - dha - ma - ga - re - sa
Zilla Kafi	Sa - ga - ma - pa - dha - ni - re - sa	Sa - ni - Dha - Pa - ma - ga - re - sa
Kalavati or Kalavati Kalyan	Sa - ga - pa - ma - dha - ni - sa - re	Sa - ni - Dha - Pa - Ga - Sa
Yaman	Sa - re - ga - ma - pa - dha - ni - sa	Sa - Ni - Dha - Pa - ma - Ga - Ra - Sa
Kafi	Sa - re - ga - ma - pa - dha - ni - sa	Sa - ni - Dha - Pa - ma - ga - Re - Sa
Kedar	Sa - ma - Pa - Dha - Ni - Dha - Sa	Sa - Ni - Dha - Pa - Ma - Pa - Dha - Pa - ma - Ga - ma - Re - Sa
Madhukauns	ni - Sa - ga - Ma - Pa - dhi - ni - Sa	Sa - ni - Pa - Ma - ga - Sa
Malkauns	Sa - ga - ma - dha - ni - Sa	Sa - ni - dha - ma - ga - Re - Sa

Here's a fine example of a Hindustani Classical Raga - Raag Kafi

Raag	KAFI
That
Jati	sampoorna-sampoorna
Aroha	SRgmPDnS
Avaroha	S>nDPmgRS
Vadi	P
Samvadi	S
Pakad	nD,PmgR *, SS RR gg mm P, P m g R, g m P g - R
Time	E,N
Ras	shringar
Chalan

 

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