| Indian classical music |
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| Concepts |
Araga[a][b] (/ˈrɑːɡə/RAH-gə;IAST:rāga,Sanskrit:[ɾäːɡɐ];lit. 'colouring', 'tingeing' or'dyeing')[1][2] is a melodic framework for improvisation inIndian classical music akin to amelodic mode.[3] It is central to classical Indian music.[4] Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspective of the Indian tradition, the resulting music has the ability to "colour the mind" as it engages the emotions of the audience.[1][2][4]
Each raga provides the musician with a musical framework within which to improvise.[3][5][6] Improvisation by the musician involves creating sequences of notes allowed by the raga in keeping with rules specific to the raga. Ragas range from small ragas likeBahar andSahana that are not much more than songs to big ragas likeMalkauns,Darbari andYaman, which have great scope for improvisation and for which performances can last over an hour. Ragas may change over time, with an example beingMarwa, the primary development of which has been going down into the lower octave, in contrast with the traditional middle octave.[7] Each raga traditionally has an emotional significance and symbolic associations such as with season, time and mood.[3] Ragas are considered a means in the Indian musical tradition for evoking specific feelings in listeners. Hundreds of ragas are recognized in the classical tradition, of which about 30 are common,[3][6] and each raga has its "own unique melodic personality".[8]
There are two main classical music traditions,Hindustani (North Indian) andCarnatic (South Indian), and the concept of raga is shared by both.[5] Raga is also found inSikh traditions such as inGuru Granth Sahib, the primary scripture ofSikhism.[9] Similarly, it is a part of theqawwali tradition inSufi Islamic communities ofSouth Asia.[10] Some popularIndian film songs andghazals use ragas in their composition.[11]
Every raga has asvara (a note or named pitch) calledshadja, or adhara sadja, whose pitch may be chosen arbitrarily by the performer. This is taken to mark the beginning and end of thesaptak (loosely, octave). The raga also contains an adhista, which is either the svaraMa or the svaraPa. The adhista divides the octave into two parts oranga – thepurvanga, which contains lower notes, and theuttaranga, which contains higher notes. Every raga has avadi and asamvadi. Thevadi is the most prominent svara, which means that an improvising musician emphasizes or pays more attention to thevadi than to other notes. The samvadi is consonant with the vadi (always from theanga that does not contain the vadi) and is the second most prominent svara in the raga.[clarification needed]
TheSanskrit wordrāga (Sanskrit:राग) has Indian roots, as theIndo-European root*reg- connotes 'to dye'. Cognates are found inGreek,Persian,Khwarezmian,Kurdish. The words "red" and "rado" are also related.[12] According toMonier Monier-Williams, the term comes from a Sanskrit word for "the act of colouring or dyeing", or simply a "colour, hue, tint, dye".[13] The term also connotes an emotional state referring to a "feeling, affection, desire, interest, joy or delight", particularly related to passion, love, or sympathy for a subject or something.[14] In the context of ancient Indian music, the term refers to a harmonious note, melody, formula, building block of music available to a musician to construct a state of experience in the audience.[13]
The word appears in the ancientPrincipal Upanishads ofHinduism, as well as theBhagavad Gita.[15] For example, verse 3.5 of theMaitri Upanishad and verse 2.2.9 of theMundaka Upanishad contain the wordrāga. TheMundaka Upanishad uses it in its discussion of soul (Atman-Brahman) and matter (Prakriti), with the sense that the soul does not "colour, dye, stain, tint" the matter.[16] TheMaitri Upanishad uses the term in the sense of "passion, inner quality, psychological state".[15][17] The termrāga is also found in ancient texts ofBuddhism where it connotes "passion, sensuality, lust, desire" for pleasurable experiences as one of threeimpurities of a character.[18][19] Alternatively,rāga is used in Buddhist texts in the sense of "color, dye, hue".[18][19][20]
![Raga groups are called thaat.[21]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aIndiskt_That-2.jpg)
The termrāga in the modern connotation of a melodic format occurs in theBrihaddeshi byMataṅga Muni datedc. 8th century,[22] or possibly 9th century.[23] TheBrihaddeshi describesrāga as "a combination of tones which, with beautiful illuminating graces, pleases the people in general".[24]
According toEmmie te Nijenhuis, a professor in Indian musicology, theDattilam section ofBrihaddeshi has survived into the modern times, but the details of ancient music scholars mentioned in the extant text suggest a more established tradition by the time this text was composed.[22] The same essential idea and prototypical framework is found in ancientHindu texts, such as theNaradiyasiksa and the classic Sanskrit workNatya Shastra byBharata Muni, whose chronology has been estimated to sometime between 500 BCE and 500 CE,[25] probably between 200 BCE and 200 CE.[26]
Bharata describes a series of empirical experiments he did with theVeena, then compared what he heard, noting the relationship of fifth intervals as a function of intentionally induced change to the instrument's tuning. Bharata states that certain combinations of notes are pleasant, and certain others are not so. His methods of experimenting with the instrument triggered further work by ancient Indian scholars, leading to the development of successive permutations, as well as theories of musical note inter-relationships, interlocking scales and how this makes the listener feel.[23] Bharata discussesBhairava,Kaushika,Hindola,Dipaka,SrI-rāga, andMegha. Bharata states that these can to trigger a certain affection and the ability to "color the emotional state" in the audience.[13][23] His encyclopedicNatya Shastra links his studies on music to the performance arts, and it has been influential in Indian performance arts tradition.[27][28]
The other ancient text,Naradiyasiksa dated to be from the 1st century BCE, discusses secular and religious music, compares the respective musical notes.[29] This is earliest known text that reverentially names each musical note to be a deity, describing it in terms ofvarna ('colours') and other motifs such as parts of fingers, an approach that is conceptually similar to the 12th centuryGuidonian hand in European music.[29] The study that mathematically arranges rhythms and modes (rāga) has been calledprastāra ('matrix').(Khan 1996, p. 89, Quote: "… the Sanskrit wordprastāra, … means mathematical arrangement of rhythms and modes. In the Indian system of music there are about the 500 modes and 300 different rhythms which are used in everyday music. The modes are called Ragas.")[30]
In the ancient texts of Hinduism, the term for the technical mode part ofrāga wasjati. Later,jati evolved to mean quantitative class of scales, whilerāga evolved to become a more sophisticated concept that included the experience of the audience.[31] A figurative sense of the word as 'passion, love, desire, delight' is also found in theMahabharata. The specialized sense of 'loveliness, beauty', especially of voice or song, emerges inclassical Sanskrit, used byKalidasa and in thePanchatantra.[32]
Indian classical music has ancient roots and developed to serve both spiritual (moksha) and entertainment (kama) purposes. Conceptions of sound can be traced back to the Vedic period. Sound is thought to carry a metaphysical power, thus the memorisation of Vedic texts also required precise intonation.[33]
Raga, along with performance arts such as dance and music, has long been an integral part of Hinduism. Most Hindus do not regard music as merely entertainment but as a spiritual practice and path tomoksha (liberation).[34][35][36] In this tradition, ragas are believed to have an inherent natural existence that is discovered rather than invented by artists.[37] Music resonates with human beings because it reflects the hidden harmonies of the ultimate creation.[37] Ancient texts such as theSama Veda (~1000 BCE), which also arranges theRigveda to melodic patterns,[38] are entirely structured according to melodic themes.[34][39] The ragas were envisioned by the Hindus as a manifestation of the divine, with each musical note treated as a god or goddess with complex personality.[29]
During theBhakti movement of Hinduism, which dates to about the middle of 1st millennium CE, ragas became an integral part of the musical expression of spirituality.Bhajan andkirtan were composed and performed by the early pioneers in South India. Abhajan is a free-form devotional composition based on melodicrāgas.[40][41] Akirtan, on the other hand, is a more structured team performance, typically with acall and response musical structure, resembling an intimate conversation. It includes two or more musical instruments,[42][43] and incorporates various ragas such as those associated with Hindu gods likeShiva (Bhairav) orKrishna (Hindola).[44]
The early 13th century Sanskrit textSangitaratnakara, bySarngadeva patronized byKing Sighana of the Yadava dynasty in theNorth-Central Deccan region (today a part ofMaharashtra), mentions and discusses 253 ragas. This is one of the most complete historic treatises on the structure, technique and reasoning behind ragas that has survived.[45][46][47]
The tradition of incorporatingrāga into spiritual music is also found inJainism,[48] and inSikhism, an Indian religion founded byGuru Nanak in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent.[49] In the Sikh scripture, the texts are attached to a raga and are sung according to the rules of that raga.[50][51] According to Pashaura Singh – a professor of Sikh and Punjabi studies, therāga andtāla of ancient Indian traditions were carefully selected and integrated by the Sikh Gurus into their hymns. They also picked from the "standard instruments used in Hindu musical traditions" for singingkirtans in Sikhism.[51]
During the Islamic rule period of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in and after the 15th century, the mystical Islamic tradition ofSufism developed devotional songs and music calledqawwali. It incorporated elements ofrāga andtāla.[52][53]
TheBuddha discouraged music aimed at entertainment to monks for higher spiritual attainment, but encouraged chanting of sacred hymns.[54] The various canonicalTripitaka texts of Buddhism, for example, stateDasha-shila or ten precepts for those following the Buddhist monkhood. Among these is the precept recommending "abstain from dancing, singing, music and worldly spectacles".[55][56] Buddhism does not forbid music or dance to a Buddhist layperson, but its emphasis has been on chants, not on musical raga.[54]
A raga is sometimes explained as a melodic rule set that a musician works with, but according to Dorottya Fabian and others, this is now generally accepted among music scholars to be an explanation that is too simplistic. According to them, a raga of the ancient Indian tradition can be compared to the concept of non-constructible set in language for human communication, in a manner described byFrederik Kortlandt andGeorge van Driem;[57] audiences familiar with raga recognize and evaluate performances of them intuitively.
The attempt to appreciate, understand and explainrāga among European scholars started in the early colonial period.[58] In 1784,Jones translated it as "mode" of European music tradition, but Willard corrected him in 1834 with the statement that a raga is both modet and tune. In 1933, states José Luiz Martinez – a professor of music, Stern refined this explanation to "the raga is more fixed than mode, less fixed than the melody, beyond the mode and short of melody, and richer both than a given mode or a given melody; it is mode with added multiple specialities".[58]
The raga is a central concept of Indian music, predominant in its expression, yet the concept has no direct Western translation. According to Walter Kaufmann, though a remarkable and prominent feature of Indian music, a definition ofrāga cannot be offered in one or two sentences.[59] A raga is a fusion of technical and ideational ideas found in music, and may be roughly described as a musical entity that includes note intonation, relative duration and order, in a manner similar to how words flexibly form phrases to create an atmosphere of expression.[60] In some cases, certain rules are considered obligatory, in others optional. The raga allows flexibility, where the artist may rely on simple expression, or may add ornamentations yet express the same essential message but evoke a different intensity of mood.[60]
A raga has a given set of notes, on a scale, ordered in melodies with musical motifs.[6] A musician playing a raga, statesBruno Nettl, may traditionally use just these notes but is free to emphasize or improvise certain degrees of the scale.[6] The Indian tradition suggests a certain sequencing of how the musician moves from note to note for each raga, in order for the performance to create arasa ('mood, atmosphere, essence, inner feeling') that is unique to each raga. A raga can be written on a scale. Theoretically, thousands of ragas are possibly given five or more notes, but in practical use, the classical tradition has refined and typically relies on several hundred.[6] For most artists, their basic perfected repertoire has some forty to fifty ragas.[61] Ragas in Indian classical music is intimately related totala or guidance about "division of time", with each unit called amatra ('beat; mora').[62]
A raga is not a tune, because the same raga can yield an infinite number of tunes.[63] A raga is not a scale, because many ragas can be based on the same scale.[58][63] A raga, according to Bruno Nettl and other music scholars, is a concept similar to a mode, something between the domains of tune and scale, and it is best conceptualized as a "unique array of melodic features, mapped to and organized for a unique aesthetic sentiment in the listener".[63] The goal of a raga and its artist is to createrasa with music, asclassical Indian dance does with performance arts. In the Indian tradition, classical dances are performed with music set to various ragas.[64]
Joep Bor of the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music definedrāga as a "tonal framework for composition and improvisation."[65]Nazir Jairazbhoy, chairman ofUCLA's department ofethnomusicology, characterized ragas as separated by scale, line of ascent and descent,transilience, emphasized notes and register, and intonation andornaments.[66]
Rāginī (रागिनी) is a term for the "feminine" counterpart of a "masculine"rāga.[67] These are envisioned to parallel the god-goddess themes in Hinduism, and described variously by different medieval Indian music scholars. For example, theSangita-darpana text of 15th-century Damodara Misra proposes sixragas with thirtyragini, creating a system of thirty six, a system that became popular inRajasthan.[68] In the north Himalayan regions such asHimachal Pradesh, the music scholars such as 16th century Mesakarna expanded this system to include eight descendants to each raga, thereby creating a system of eighty four. After the 16th-century, the system expanded still further.[68]
InSangita-darpana, the Bhairava raga is associated with the following raginis: Bhairavi, Punyaki, Bilawali, Aslekhi, Bangali. In the Meskarna system, the masculine and feminine musical notes are combined to produceputra ragas called Harakh, Pancham, Disakh, Bangal, Madhu, Madhava, Lalit, Bilawal.[69]
This system is no longer in use today because the 'related' ragas had very little or no similarity and the raga-ragini classification did not agree with various other schemes.
The North Indian raga system is also calledHindustani, while the South Indian system is commonly referred to asCarnatic. The North Indian system suggests a particular time of a day or a season, in the belief that the human state of psyche and mind are affected by the seasons and by daily biological cycles and nature's rhythms. The South Indian system is closer to the text, and places less emphasis on time or season.[70][71]
The symbolic role of classical music through raga has been both aesthetic indulgence and the spiritual purifying of one's mind (yoga). The former is encouraged inKama literature (such asKamasutra), while the latter appears inYoga literature with concepts such as "Nada-Brahman" (metaphysicalBrahman of sound).[72][73][74]Hindola raga, for example, is considered a manifestation of Kama (god of love), typically throughKrishna.Hindola is also linked to the festival ofdola,[72] which is more commonly known as "spring festival of colors" orHoli. This idea of aesthetic symbolism has also been expressed inHindu temple reliefs and carvings, as well as painting collections such as theragamala.[73]
In ancient and medieval Indian literature, the raga are described as manifestation and symbolism for gods and goddesses. Music is discussed as equivalent to the ritualyajna sacrifice, with pentatonic and hexatonic notes such as"ni-dha-pa-ma-ga-ri" asAgnistoma,"ri-ni-dha-pa-ma-ga asAsvamedha, and so on.[72]
During theMiddle Ages, music scholars of India began associating each raga with seasons. The 11th-century Nanyadeva, for example, recommends thatHindola raga is best in spring,Pancama in summer,Sadjagrama andTakka during the monsoons,Bhinnasadja in early winter, andKaisika in late winter.[75] In the 13th century, Sarngadeva went further and associated raga with rhythms of each day and night. He associated pure and simple ragas to early morning, mixed and more complex ragas to late morning, skillful ragas to noon, love-themed and passionate ragas to evening, and universal ragasl to night.[76]
In theYoga Sutras II.7,rāga is defined as the desire for pleasure based on remembering past experiences of pleasure. Memory triggers the wish to repeat those experiences, leading to attachment. Ego is seen as the root of this attachment, and memory is necessary for attachment to form. Even when not consciously remembered, past impressions can unconsciously draw the mind toward objects of pleasure.[77]
According to Cris Forster, mathematical studies on systematizing and analyzing South Indian raga began in the 16th century.[78] Computational studies ofrāgas is an active area of musicology.[79][80]
Although notes are an important part of raga practice, they alone do not make the raga. A raga is more than a scale, and many ragas share the same scale. The underlying scale may havefour,five,six orseven tones, calledsvaras. Thesvara concept is found in the ancientNatya Shastra in Chapter 28. It calls the unit of tonal measurement or audible unit asŚruti,[81] with verse 28.21 introducing the musical scale as follows,[82]
तत्र स्वराः –
षड्जश्च ऋषभश्चैव गान्धारो मध्यमस्तथा ।
पञ्चमो धैवतश्चैव सप्तमोऽथ निषादवान् ॥ २१॥
These seven degrees are shared by both majorrāga system, that is the North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic).[85] Thesolfege (sargam) is learnt in abbreviated form:sa, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa. Of these, the first that is"sa", and the fifth that is"pa", are considered anchors that are unalterable, while the remaining have flavors that differs between the two major systems.[85]
| Svara (Long) | Sadja (षड्ज) | Rishabha (ऋषभ) | Gandhara (गान्धार) | Madhyama (मध्यम) | Pañcham (पञ्चम) | Dhaivata (धैवत) | Nishada (निषाद) |
| Svara (Short) | Sa (सा) | Re (रे) | Ga (ग) | Ma (म) | Pa (प) | Dha (ध) | Ni (नि) |
| 12 Varieties (names) | C (sadja) | D♭ (komal re), D (suddha re) | E♭ (komal ga), E (suddha ga) | F (suddha ma), F♯ (tivra ma) | G (pancama) | A♭ (komal dha), A (suddha dha) | B♭ (komal ni), B (suddha ni) |
| Svara (Long) | Shadjam (षड्ज) | Risabham (ऋषभ) | Gandharam (गान्धार) | Madhyamam (मध्यम) | Pañcamam (पञ्चम) | Dhaivatam (धैवत) | Nishadam (निषाद) |
| Svara (Short) | Sa (सा) | Ri (री) | Ga (ग) | Ma (म) | Pa (प) | Dha (ध) | Ni (नि) |
| 16 Varieties (names) | C (sadja) | D♭ (suddha ri), D♯ (satsruti ri), D♮ (catussruti ri) | E♭ (sadarana ga), E  (suddha ga),E♮ (antara ga) | F♯ (prati ma), F♮ (suddha ma) | G (pancama) | A♭ (suddha dha), A♯ (satsruti dha), A♮ (catussruti dha) | B♭ (kaisiki ni), B (suddha ni),B♮ (kakali ni) |
The music theory in theNatyashastra, states Maurice Winternitz, centers around three themes – sound, rhythm and prosody applied to musical texts.[88] The text asserts that the octave has 22srutis or micro-intervals of musical tones or 1,200 cents.[81] Ancient Greek system is also very close to it, states Emmie te Nijenhuis, with the difference that eachsruti computes to 54.5 cents, while the Greek enharmonic quarter-tone system computes to 55 cents.[81] The text discussesgramas (scales) andmurchanas (modes), mentioning three scales of seven modes (21 total), some Greek modes are also like them .[89] However, the Gandhara-grama is just mentioned inNatyashastra, while its discussion largely focuses on two scales, fourteen modes and eight fourtanas (notes).[90][91][92] The text also discusses which scales are best for different forms of performance arts.[89]
These musical elements are organized into scales (mela), and the South Indian raga system works with 72 scales, as first discussed byCaturdandi prakashika.[87] They are divided into two groups,purvanga anduttaranga, depending on the nature of the lower tetrachord. Theanga itself has six cycles (cakra), where thepurvanga or lower tetrachord is anchored, while there are six permutations ofuttaranga suggested to the artist.[87] After this system was developed, the Indian classical music scholars have developed additional ragas for all the scales. TheNorth Indian style is closer to the Western diatonic modes, and built upon the foundation developed byVishnu Narayan Bhatkhande using tenThaat:kalyan, bilaval, khamaj, kafi, asavari, bhairavi, bhairav, purvi, marva and todi.[93] Some ragas are common to both systems and have same names, such askalyan performed by either is recognizably the same.[94] Some ragas are common to both systems but have different names, such asmalkos of Hindustani system is recognizably the same ashindolam of Carnatic system. However, somerāgas are named the same in the two systems, but they are different, such astodi.[94]
Recently, a 32 thaat system was presented in a book Nai Vaigyanik Paddhati to correct the classification of North Indian-style ragas.[citation needed]
Ragas containing four svaras are calledsurtara (सुरतर; 'tetratonic') ragas; those with five svaras are calledaudava (औडव; 'pentatonic') ragas; those with six are calledshādava (षाडव; hextonic'); and those with seven are calledsampurna (संपूर्ण; 'complete, heptatonic'). The number of svaras may differ in the ascending and descending like the Bhimpalasi raga, which has five notes in the ascending and seven notes in descending or Khamaj with six notes in the ascending and seven in the descending. Ragas differ in their ascending or descending movements. Those that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of svaras are calledvakra (वक्र; 'crooked') ragas.[citation needed]
InCarnatic music, the principal ragas are calledMelakarthas, which literally means "lord of the scale". It is also calledAsraya raga—meaning 'shelter-giving raga', orJanaka raga—meaning 'father raga'.[95]
Athaata in the South Indian tradition are groups of derivativerāgas, which are calledJanya ('begotten') ragas orAsrita ('sheltered)' ragas.[95] However, these terms are approximate and interim phrases during learning, as the relationships between the two layers are neither fixed nor has unique parent–child relationship.[95]
Janaka ragas are grouped together using a scheme calledKatapayadi sutra and are organised asMelakarta ragas. A Melakarta raga is one which has all seven notes in both theārōhanam ('ascending scale') andavarōhanam ('descending scale'). SomeMelakarta ragas areHarikambhoji,Kalyani,Kharaharapriya,Mayamalavagowla,Sankarabharanam, andHanumatodi.[96][97]Janya ragas are derived from Janaka ragas, using a combination of the swarams (usually a subset of swarams) from the parent raga. Some janya ragas areAbheri,Abhogi,Bhairavi,Hindolam,Mohanam andKambhoji.[96][97]
In the 21st century, fewcomposers have discovered new ragas. Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna who has created raga in three notes[98] Ragas such as Mahathi, Lavangi, Sidhdhi, Sumukham that he created have only four notes.[99]
A list of janaka ragas would includeKanakangi,Ratnangi, Ganamurthi,Vanaspathi,Manavathi, Thanarupi, Senavathi,Hanumatodi,Dhenuka,Natakapriya,Kokilapriya,Rupavati,Gayakapriya,Vakulabharanam,Mayamalavagowla,Chakravakam,Suryakantam,Hatakambari,Jhankaradhvani,Natabhairavi,Keeravani,Kharaharapriya,Gourimanohari,Varunapriya,Mararanjani,Charukesi,Sarasangi,Harikambhoji,Sankarabharanam,Naganandini,Yagapriya,Ragavardhini,Gangeyabhushani,Vagadheeswari,Shulini,Chalanata,Salagam,Jalarnavam,Jhalavarali,Navaneetam,Pavani.
Classical music has been transmitted through music schools or throughGuru–Shishyaparampara ('teacher–student tradition') through anoral tradition and practice. Some are known asgharana (houses), and their performances are staged throughsabhas (music organizations).[100][101] Eachgharana has freely improvised over time, and differences in the rendering of each raga is discernible. In the Indian musical schooling tradition, the small group of students lived near or with the teacher, the teacher treated them as family members providing food and boarding, and a student learnt various aspects of music thereby continuing the musical knowledge of theirguru.[102] The tradition survives in parts of India, and many musicians can trace their guru lineage.[103]
The music concept ofrâk[clarification needed] orrang ('colour') in Persian is probably a pronunciation ofrāga. According toHormoz Farhat, it is unclear how this term came to Persia, as it has no meaning in the modern Persian language and the concept ofrāga is unknown in Persia.[104][105]
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