Melodic Aspects
Raganubhava - IV

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The Raga System

It is almost inconceivable that anyone familiar with Indian music has not come across the term Raga. Raga is one of the key concepts of Indian music. Over the centuries, Indian musicians and musicologists have developed this concept to an amazing level by way of sheer variety and sophistication. It would be no exaggeration to say that the Carnatic raga is one of the most complete, concrete, methodical and systematic melodic entities. Matanga, the author of Brihaddesi, mentioned the term Raga in the 5th century AD for the first time although the Jatis mentioned by Bharata in his treatise Natya Sastra had a similar concept.

Raga can be defined as a melodic entity arising out of the combination of notes (musical scale), with ornamentation (Gamaka). In other words, a raga is much more than a mere scale. They are highly individualistic and possess the power to create different moods. Which is why we see some ragas creating an atmosphere of bright cheer while others invoke a mood of sorrow or fear or anger etc.

Thus each raga has an entity of its own, derived not only through its particular pattern of ascending and descending notes, but also their place-values i.e., the manner of rendering them. For example, some notes may be rendered plain, while others are rendered with gamaka. Similarly, a few may be elongated while others may be shortened.

Again, a few may require a bit of sharpening or flattening depending on the context. Thus the mela Dheerasankarabharanam (which is incidentally referred to as just Sankarabharanam and is one of the major ragas in Carnatic music) cited as an example earlier, would sound quite different when sung with the appropriate ornamentations. Ornamentation can be defined as the connection between two given notes to enhance the beauty and aesthetic value of the raga. Thus many micro-tonal variations are seen in the frequency of any given note from one raga to another. In Brihaddesi, Matanga defines a raga as that which is decorated with Swara-s (notes) and Varna-s (tone shades) and entertains the listener.

Janya Ragas

From each of the seventy-two melakartas, numerous possible scales can be derived. Such ragas are called Janya ragas. They can be derived in the following ways:

  • By omission of one, two, three or four notes, either in the ascent or descent or both. The general term used for these ragas is Varja raga. There are several types of Varja ragas as listed below:

a) A five-note scale is known as an Audava raga. E.g. Raga Mohanam, which has Sa Ri Ga Pa Dha Sa in the ascent and the exact reverse in the descent.

b) A six-note scale is known as a Shadava raga. E.g. Raga Sriranjani, which has Sa Ri Ga Ma Dha Ni Sa and vice-versa in the ascent and descent respectively.

c) A four-note scale, which is rarely used, is called a Swarantara raga.

Either an ascent or descent sometimes also permit the use of only three notes. It should be noted that a minimum of three notes is compulsory to obtain a derived scale.

  • By a zigzag pattern of swaras, viz. irregular order of notes either in the ascent or descent or both. These are known as Vakra ragas. (Vakra  means crooked in Sanskrit). E.g. Raga Kadanakutuhalam, which has Sa Ri Ma Dha Ni Ga Pa Sa in the ascent, but a straightforward Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa in the descent.

  • A combination of 1 and 2 viz., Varja and Vakra is also possible. E.g. Raga Asaveri, which uses Sa Ri Ma Pa Dha Sa in the ascent, which is of a Varja variety, but Sa Ni Sa Pa Dha Ma Pa Ri Ga Ri Sa in the descent which is Vakra.

  • By the introduction of one or more foreign notes, viz., notes that are not found in the parent raga. Such ragas are known as Bhashanga ragas. E.g. Bhairavi (Sa Ga Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha* Ni Sa - Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa) uses two varieties of Dha. The * indicates the foreign note, Dha 2, in this case.

Thus innumerable scales are theoretically possible using the above methods. However, because certain combinations lack in aesthetic values only around 600 ragas are in vogue today.

So far, we saw how ragas can be classified based on their scales. However, since a raga is not a mere scale, it can be further classified on the following bases:

  • The emotion or rasa it creates for the listener or the performer. E.g. Raga Mukhari is generally known to depict sadness. However, this classification is not justified completely since a raga can evoke more than one emotion depending on the perception of an individual or the manner or occasion in which it is rendered. This is apart from other factors like the external ambience.

  • The scope of handling. A raga can be classified as major, medium or minor, according to the creative scope for development and also its status in a concert. E.g. Raga Kalyani is considered a major raga while raga Phalamanjari would fall under the category of a minor raga.

  • Time: The concept of time-based ragas is conventionally and compulsorily followed in Hindustani music. Although this is not as strictly followed in Carnatic music, it is believed that certain ragas are more suited for a particular time of the day. E.g. Raga Bowli is considered a morning raga.

  • The melodic characteristics: This classification is done on the basis of the importance given to the scale (plain notes rendition) or the subtle phrase-oriented ornamental nuances, gamakas.

Other classifications could be based on the deity for a particular raga, the colour, origin (Hindustani or Carnatic or any other system, ancient or after the 72-melakarta scheme), resemblance shared between two ragas in terms of either the notes or some of the important phrases (allied ragas). Some of the other classifications mentioned in music literature from ancient times are either obsolete or fit into any one of the above categories. 

 

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