Fundamentals of the Indian Rag (Raga)

03/07/2013 Fundamentals of the Indian Rag (Raga)

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FUNDAMENTALS OF RAG

by David Courtney

Ragaputra Vardhan, (circa 1790)

The rag is the most important concept that any student of Indian music should understand. The

Hindi/Urdu word "rag" is derived from the Sanskrit "raga" which means "colour, or passion" (Apte1987). It is linked to the Sanskrit word "ranj" which means "to colour" (Apte 1987). Therefore ragmay be thought of as an acoustic method of colouring the mind of the listener with an emotion. This isfine as a general concept but what is it musically? It is not a tune, melody, scale, mode, or anyconcept for which an English word exists. It is instead a combination of different characteristics. It is

these characteristics which define the rag. Here are the characteristics.

There must be the notes of the rag. They are called the swar. This concept is similar to theWestern solfege.

There must also be a modal structure. This is called that in North Indian music and mela incarnatic music.

There is also the jati. Jati is the number of notes used in the rag.

There must also be the ascending and descending structure. This is called arohana /avarohana.

Another characteristic is that the various notes do not have the same level of significance. Someare important and others less so. The important notes are called vadi and samavadi

There are often characteristic movements to the rag. This is called either pakad or swarup.

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In addition to the main characteristics of rag, there are some other less important ones. Forinstance rags have traditionally been attributed to particular times of the day. They have also beenanthropomorphize into families of male and female rags (raga, ragini, putra raga, etc.). There is atendency to downgrade the importance of these aspects due to their irrational and unscientific nature.

(Remember to check out the Index of Rags)

Instruments Used To Play Rags

Bansuri

Dilruba

Esraj

Gotuvadyam

Harmonium

Jal Tarang

Mayuri Vina

Nadaswaram

Rabab (Kabuli Rabab)

Rudra Vina

Santur

Sarangi

Saraswati Vina (South Indian Vina)

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Seni Rabab

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Selected Video

David Courtney - Ernesto leon (What is a Rag? A detailed introduction to the concept of rag)

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Pt Ravi Shankar Explications on Raag

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This page last updated Sunday, February 5, 2012

1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 David and ChandrakanthaCourtney

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Fundamentals of the Indian Rag (Raga)