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".



It is linked to the Sanskrit word "ranj" which means "to colour". Therefore rag may be thought of as an acoustic method of colouring the mind of the listener with an emotion. This is fine as a general concept but what is it musically? It is not a tune, melody, scale, mode, or any concept 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 the Western solfege.



There must also be a modal structure. This is called that in North Indian music and mela in carnatic 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. Some are important and others less so. The important notes are called vadi and samvadi



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



In addition to the main characteristics of rag, there are some other less important ones. For instance rags have traditionally been attributed to particular times of the day. They have also been anthropomorphize into families of male and female rags such as raga, ragini, putra raga etc. There is a tendency to downgrade the importance of these aspects due to their irrational and unscientific nature.





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"Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"

"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]

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"Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"

"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]

Notes of all Seventy Two Melakarta Raga's of Carnatic Music..

The Melakarta Ragams are the 72 basic Janya (Root) ragams for all of the infinite others in Carnatic Music.  All of these ragams are saptaswaras, that is that they have all seven notes - Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ne, and Sa.  The system is divided into two sets of 36 ragams - one set with the first Ma and the second Ma.   This is very similar to the Western concept of scales and the circle of flats. Sapta Talas


Kanakangi

S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S

Ratnangi

S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S

Ganamurthi

S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S

Vanaspati

S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

Manavati

S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

Tanarupi

S R1 G1 M1 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M1 G1 R1 S

Senavati

S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S * S N1 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S

Hanumadtodi

S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S

Dhenuka

S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S

Natakapriya

S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R1 S

Kokilapriya

S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M1 G2 R1 S

Rupavati

S R1 G2 M1 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M1 G2 R1 S

Gayakapriya

S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S

Vakulabharanam

S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S

Mayamalavagaula

S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S

Chakravakam

S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R1 S

Suryakantham

S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R1 S

Hatakambari

S R1 G3 M1 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M1 G3 R1 S

Jhankaradhvani

S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S

Nathabhairavi

S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S

Kiravani

S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S

Kharaharapriya

S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S

Gaurimanohari

S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S

Varunapriya

S R2 G2 M1 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M1 G2 R2 S

Mararanjani

S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S

Charukeshi

S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S

Sarasangi

S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S  

Harikamboji

S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

Dhirasankaraabharanam

S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

Naganandini

S R2 G3 M1 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M1 G3 R2 S

Yagapriya

S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M1 G3 R3 S

Ragavardhini

S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R3 S

Gangeyabhushani

S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R3 S

Vagadhishwary

S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R3 S

Sulini

S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R3 S

Chalanatta

S R3 G3 M1 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M1 G3 R3 S

Salagam

S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S

Jalarnavam

S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S

jhalavarali

S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S

Navaneetham

S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M2 G1 R1 S

Pavani

S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M2 G1 R1 S

Raghupriya

S R1 G1 M2 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M2 G1 R1 S

Gavambhodhi

S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S

Bhavapriya

S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S

Subhapanthuvarali

S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S

Shadvidha Margini

S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M2 G2 R1 S

Suvarnangi

S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M2 G2 R1 S

Divyamani

S R1 G2 M2 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M2 G2 R1 S

Dhavalambari

S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R1 S

Namanarayani

S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M2 G3 R1 S

Kamavardhini

S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M2 G3 R1 S

Ramapriya

S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S

Gamanasrama

S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S

Viswambhari

S R1 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R1 S

Syaamalangi

S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

Shanmughapriya

S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

Simhendra madhyamam

S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

Hemavati

S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M2 G2 R2 S

Dharmavati

S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M2 G2 R2 S

Nitimati

S R2 G2 M2 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M2 G2 R2 S

Kantammani

S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S

Rishabhapriya

S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S

Lahangi

S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S

Vaachaspathi

S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S

Mechakalyani

S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S

Chitraambari

S R2 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R2 S

Sucharitra

S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S * S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R3 S

Jyothiswaroopini

S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N2 S * S N2 D1 P M2 G3 R3 S

Dhaatuvardhini

S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S * S N3 D1 P M2 G3 R3 S

Nasikaabhooshani

S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S * S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R3 S

Kosalam

S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S * S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R3 S

Rasikapriya

S R3 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S * S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R3 S





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"Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"

"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]

Śruti

Śruti in Indian music is the approximate equivalent of a tonic (or less precisely key) in Western music; it is the note from which all the others are derived. Traditionally, there were twenty-two śrutis in Carnatic music, but over the years several of them have converged, so that now they are but the chromatic scale.

Solfege

 

The solfege of Carnatic music is "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" (compare with the Hindustani sargam: sa-re-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni). These names are abbreviations of the longer names shadja, rishabha, gandhara. madhyama, panchama, dhaivata and nishada. Unlike other music systems, every member of the solfege (called a swara) may have many variants, now upto three values. The exceptions are shadja and panchama (the tonic and the dominant in Western music), which have only one form, and madhyama, which has only two forms (the subdominant). In one scale, or ragam, there is usually only one variant of each note present, except in "light" ragas, such as Behag, in which, for artistic effect, there may be two, one ascending (in the arohanam) and another descending (in the avarohanam). A raga may have five, six or seven notes on the ascent, and five, six or seven notes on the descent.

 

In Indian languages, most of whose alphabets are abugidas (syllabic), the solfege is written with the characters for Sa, Ri, Ga, Pa, Da and Ni. Because Carnatic music is very rarely performed by people from North India, the alphabets given here are primarily those of Dravidian (South Indian), languages.

 

Sound	Full Name	Devanagari	Kannada	Malayalam	Tamil	Telugu	Roman	Values and Comments
sa	Shadja	स	ಸ	സ	ச	స	s	Only one possible value. Sometimes referred to as the 'mother' note - all Ragas have this note.
ri	Rishabha	रि	ರಿ	രി	ரி	రి	r	Three possible values.
ga	Gandhara	ग	ಗ	ഗ	க	గ	g	Three possible values (one of which coincides with the third ri).
ma	Madhyama	म	ಮ	മ	ம	మ	m	Two possible values.
pa	Panchama	प	ಪ	പ	ப	ప	p	Only one possible value. Sometimes referred to as the 'father', though not all ragas have this note.
da	Dhavatha	ध	ದ	ധ	த	ద	d	Three possible values.
ni	Nishada	नि	ನಿ	നി	நி	ని	n	Three possible values (one of which coincides with the third dha).

 

Raga system

 

A raga in Carnatic music prescribes a set of rules for building a melody. It specifies rules for movements up (aahroham) and down (avarohanam), the scale, which 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.

 

In Carnatic music, the sampurna ragas (those with all seven notes in their scales) are classified into a system called the melakarta, which groups them according to the kinds of notes that they have. There are seventy two melakarta ragas, thirty six of whose subdominant is a perfect fourth from the tonic, thirty six of whose subdominant is an augmented fourth from the tonic. The ragas are grouped into sets of six, called chakras ("wheels", though actually segments in the conventional representation) grouped according to the supertonic and mediant scale degrees. There is a system known as the 'Katapayadi sankhya to determine the Melakarta Raga.

 

Ragas may be divided into two classes: janaka ragas ("parent ragas") and janyaragas ("child ragas"). Janaka raga is synonymous with melakarta (because the melakarta ragas each have seven notes in their scale, and use each note only once). Janya ragas are subclassified into various categories themselves.

 

 

Tala system

 

Tala is an aesthetic partitioning of time, usually in rhythmical patterns which have an artistic relation to the rhythmical structure of a composition. It is considered to be an integral part of a musical composition. Each composition of Carnatic music is set to a specific tala. Bharata Muni in his Natyashastra defines Tala as svarataala-padaatmakam.  The ancient Tamil musical treatise Panja Marabu defines Tala as subtle as southern breeze and Siva's dance and the intricacies and meaning of Tala are considered to be mystical in nature and fundamental to music.

 

Carnatic music singers usually keep the beat by moving their hands in specified patterns to keep time. Tala is formed with three basic parts called laghu, dhrtam, and anudhrtam, where laghu is a pattern with the first aksharam (a basic unit of time) marked with the palm face down, followed by a variable number of aksharams marked with successive fingers starting with the little finger. A dhrutam is a pattern of two aksharams, with the first aksharam marked with the palm face down, and the second with the face up. This is notated 'O'.(ie., Tapping once with your palm facing down and once with it facing up.). An anudhrutam is a single aksharam, marked with the palm face down and notated 'U'.(ie., Tapping once with your palm facing down). Only these units are commonly used.

 

There are seven kinds of talas which can be formed from the laghu, dhrtam, and anudhrtam:

• Dhruva tala 1 0 1 1
• Matya tala 1 0 1
• Rupaka tala 0 1
• Jhampa tala 1 U 0
• Triputa tala 1 0 0
• Ata tala 1 1 0 0
• Eka tala 1

How many fingers must be lowered in a laghu is determined by the jathi, a number showing how many fingers to lower. It can only be 3, 4, 5, 7, or 9. (For numbers greater than five, the "sixth finger" is the same as the little finger.) Five jathis times seven patterns gives thirty-five basic talas.

 

Kriti

 

Carnatic songs are varied in structure and style, but generally consist of three verses:

1. Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music. Two lines.
2. Anupallavi. The second verse. Also two lines.
3. Charana. The final (and longest) verse that wraps up the song. The Charanam usually borrows patterns from the Anupallavi. Usually three lines.

 

This kind of song is called a keerthana or a Kriti. There are other possible structure for a Kriti. Some such as Sārasamuki sakala bhāgyadē, have a verse between the anupallavi and the charaṇa, called the chiṭṭaswara. This verse consists only of notes, and has no words. Still others, such as Rāmacandram bhāvayāmi have a verse at the end of the charaṇa, called the madhyamakāla. It is sung immediately after the charaṇa, but at double speed.

 

Varnam

A Varnamis a special kind of song which tells you everything about a raga; not just the scale, but also which notes to stress, how to approach a certain note, classical and characteristic phrases, etc. A varna has a pallavi, an anupallavi, a muktayi swara, whose function is identical to that of the chitteswara in a kriti, a charana, and chitteswaras, after each of which the charana is repeated:

1. Pallavi
2. Anupallavi
3. Muktayi swara
4. Charana
5. Chitteswara
   1. First
   2. Second
   3. Third

and so on.

There are many more kinds of songs such as geethams and swarajatis.

 

Improvisation

There are four main types of improvisation in Carnatic music:

• Raga Alapana: This is usually performed before a song. It is, as you may expect, always sung in the ragam of the song. It is a slow improvisation with no rhythm, and is supposed to tune the listener's mind to the appropriate ragam by reminding him/her of the specific nuances, before the singer plunges into the song. Theoretically, this ought to be the easiest type of improvisation, since the rules are so few, but in fact, it takes much skill to sing a pleasing, comprehensive (in the sense of giving a "feel for the ragam") and, most importantly, original ragam.
• Niraval: This is usually performed by the more advanced concert artists and consists of singing one or two lines of a song repeatedly, but with improvised elaborations.
• Kalpanaswaram The most elementary type of improvisation, usually taught before any other form of improvisation. It consists of singing a pattern of notes which finishes on the beat and the note just before the beat and the note on which the song starts. The swara pattern should adhere to the original raga's swara pattern, which is called as "arohana-avarohana"
• Taanam: This form of improvisation was originally developed for the veena and consists of repeating the word anantham ("endless") in an improvised tune. The name thaanam comes from a false splitting of anantham repeated. When the word anantham is repeated, i.e., "anantham-anantham", the laws of sandhi dictate that the consonant at the end of the first word be dropped, hence "ananthaanantham" When the rule is applied to a long string of ananthams, you get "ananthaananthaananthaananthaa..." which got falsely split as "thaananthaananthaanan...", or "thaanamthaanamthaanam...".
• Ragam Thanam Pallavi: This is a composite form of improvisation. It consists of Raga, Thana, then a line sung twice, and Niraval. After Niraval, the line is sung again, twice, then sung once at half the speed, then twice at regular speed, then four times at twice the speed.

 

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Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)