105-544: Shuddha Saveri or śuddha sāveri is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music) and Yakshagana music. It is an audava rāgam (or owdava rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a janya rāgam (derived scale)of the Melakarta ragam Dhīraśaṅkarābharaṇaṃ which is 29th Melakarta raga. In Hindustani music it is called Durga . According to the school of Muthuswami Dikshitar , this rāgam
210-586: A "masculine" rāga. These are envisioned to parallel the god-goddess themes in Hinduism, and described variously by different medieval Indian music scholars. For example, the Sangita-darpana text of 15th-century Damodara Misra proposes six rāgas with thirty ragini , creating a system of thirty six, a system that became popular in Rajasthan . In the north Himalayan regions such as Himachal Pradesh ,
315-406: A different intensity of mood. A rāga has a given set of notes, on a scale, ordered in melodies with musical motifs. A musician playing a rāga , states Bruno Nettl , may traditionally use just these notes but is free to emphasize or improvise certain degrees of the scale. The Indian tradition suggests a certain sequencing of how the musician moves from note to note for each rāga , in order for
420-578: A few generations (e.g. the Sham Chaurasia gharana). Meanwhile, the Bhakti and Sufi traditions continued to develop and interact with the different gharanas and groups. Until the late 19th century, Hindustani classical music was imparted on a one-on-one basis through the guru-shishya ("mentor-protégé") tradition. This system had many benefits but also several drawbacks. In many cases, the shishya had to spend most of his time, serving his guru with
525-466: A given mode or a given melody; it is mode with added multiple specialities". A rāga 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 of rāga cannot be offered in one or two sentences. rāga is a fusion of technical and ideational ideas found in music, and may be roughly described as
630-452: A mood of elation and are usually performed towards the end of a concert. They consist of a few lines of bols either from the rhythmic language of Tabla , Pakhawaj , or Kathak dance set to a tune. The singer uses these few lines as a basis for fast improvisation. The tillana of Carnatic music is based on the tarana, although the former is primarily associated with dance. Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music whose specialty
735-401: 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. In some cases, certain rules are considered obligatory, in others optional. The rāga allows flexibility, where the artist may rely on simple expression, or may add ornamentations yet express the same essential message but evoke
840-485: A musical framework within which to improvise. Improvisation by the musician involves creating sequences of notes allowed by the rāga in keeping with rules specific to the rāga . Rāga s range from small rāga s like Bahar and Shahana that are not much more than songs to big rāga s like Malkauns , Darbari and Yaman , which have great scope for improvisation and for which performances can last over an hour. Rāga s may change over time, with an example being Marwa ,
945-600: A musician to construct a state of experience in the audience. The word appears in the ancient Principal Upanishads of Hinduism , as well as the Bhagavad Gita . For example, verse 3.5 of the Maitri Upanishad and verse 2.2.9 of the Mundaka Upanishad contain the word rāga . The Mundaka Upanishad uses it in its discussion of soul (Atman-Brahman) and matter (Prakriti), with the sense that
1050-513: A natural existence. Artists do not invent them, they only discover them. Music appeals to human beings, according to Hinduism, because they are hidden harmonies of the ultimate creation. Some of its ancient texts such as the Sama Veda (~1000 BCE) are structured entirely to melodic themes, it is sections of Rigveda set to music. The rāgas were envisioned by the Hindus as manifestation of
1155-434: A rendition of bandish, with the pakhawaj as an accompaniment. The great Indian musician Tansen sang in the dhrupad style. A lighter form of dhrupad called dhamar , is sung primarily during the spring festival of Holi . Dhrupad was the main form of northern Indian classical music until two centuries ago when it gave way to the somewhat less austere khyal, a more free-form style of singing. Since losing its main patrons among
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#17327801214451260-462: A series of empirical experiments he did with the Veena , 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
1365-606: Is Gauhar, Khandar and Nauharvani.The living legends of this gharana is Pt. Ramjee Mishra A section of dhrupad singers of Delhi Gharana from Mughal emperor Shah Jahan 's court migrated to Bettiah under the patronage of the Bettiah Raj , giving rise to the Bettiah Gharana. Khyal is the modern Hindustani form of vocal music. Khyal, literally meaning "thought" or "imagination" in Hindustani and derived from
1470-411: Is a Sanskrit scripture describing the theory of music and its applications in not just musical form and systems but also in physics, medicine and magic. It is said that there are two types of sound: āhata (struck/audible) and anāhata (unstruck/inaudible). The inaudible sound is said to be the principle of all manifestation, the basis of all existence. There are three main 'Saptak' which resemble to
1575-518: Is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode . Rāga is central to classical Indian music. Each rāga 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. Each rāga provides the musician with
1680-408: Is a more structured team performance, typically with a call and response musical structure, similar to an intimate conversation. It includes two or more musical instruments, and incorporates various rāgas such as those associated with Hindu gods Shiva ( Bhairav ) or Krishna ( Hindola ). The early 13th century Sanskrit text Sangitaratnakara , by Sarngadeva patronized by King Sighana of
1785-648: Is also used to refer to Indian classical music in general. It is played on instruments like the veena , sitar and sarod . It diverged in the 12th century CE from Carnatic music , the classical tradition of Southern India . While Carnatic music largely uses compositions written in Sanskrit , Kannada , Telugu , Tamil , Malayalam , Hindustani music largely uses compositions written in Hindi , Urdu , Braj , Avadhi , Bhojpuri , Bengali , Rajasthani , Marathi and Punjabi . Knowledge of Hindustani classical music
1890-838: Is also very close to it, states Emmie te Nijenhuis, with the difference that each sruti computes to 54.5 cents, while the Greek enharmonic quarter-tone system computes to 55 cents. The text discusses gramas ( scales ) and murchanas ( modes ), mentioning three scales of seven modes (21 total), some Greek modes are also like them . However, the Gandhara-grama is just mentioned in Natyashastra , while its discussion largely focuses on two scales, fourteen modes and eight four tanas ( notes ). The text also discusses which scales are best for different forms of performance arts. These musical elements are organized into scales ( mela ), and
1995-723: Is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms): It is a scale that uses the following variants of the swaras – chatushruti rishabham, shuddha madhyamam, panchamam and chatushruti dhaivatam . Shuddha Saveri is considered a janya rāgam of Sankarabharanam , the 29th melakarta rāgam, though it can be derived from other melakarta rāgams, Kharaharapriya , Gourimanohari or Harikambhoji , by dropping both gāndhāram and nishādam . Here are some popular kritis composed in Shuddha Saveri . Ānalekara , by Purandara Dasa which
2100-473: Is best in spring, Pancama in summer, Sadjagrama and Takka during the monsoons, Bhinnasadja is best in early winter, and Kaisika in late winter. In the 13th century, Sarngadeva went further and associated rāga with rhythms of each day and night. He associated pure and simple rāgas to early morning, mixed and more complex rāgas to late morning, skillful rāgas to noon, love-themed and passionate rāgas to evening, and universal rāgas to night. In
2205-479: Is called Devakriya . Karnataka Shuddha Saveri , a janya rāgam of 1st melakarta Kanakangi , is called Shuddha Saveri by the Dikshitar school. Shuddha Saveri is a symmetric rāgam that does not contain gāndhāram or nishādam . It is a pentatonic scale ( audava-audava ragam in Carnatic music classification – audava meaning 'of 5'). Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale)
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#17327801214452310-571: Is conceptually similar to the 12th century Guidonian hand in European music. The study that mathematically arranges rhythms and modes ( rāga ) has been called prastāra (matrix).( Khan 1996 , p. 89, Quote: "… the Sanskrit word prastāra , … 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.") In
2415-455: Is considered a manifestation of Kama (god of love), typically through Krishna . Hindola is also linked to the festival of dola , which is more commonly known as "spring festival of colors" or Holi . This idea of aesthetic symbolism has also been expressed in Hindu temple reliefs and carvings, as well as painting collections such as the ragamala . In ancient and medieval Indian literature,
2520-421: Is intimately related to tala or guidance about "division of time", with each unit called a matra (beat, and duration between beats). A rāga is not a tune, because the same rāga can yield an infinite number of tunes. A rāga is not a scale, because many rāgas can be based on the same scale. A rāga , according to Bruno Nettl and other music scholars, is a concept similar to a mode, something between
2625-458: Is into "melodic modes" or "parent scales", known as thaats , under which most ragas can be classified based on the notes they use. Thaats may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or swara . Hindustani musicians name these pitches using a system called Sargam , the equivalent of the Western movable do solfege : Both systems repeat at the octave. The difference between sargam and solfege
2730-573: Is its rolling pace based on fast, subtle, knotty construction. It originated from the folk songs of the camel riders of Punjab and was developed as a form of classical music by Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori or Shori Mian, a court singer for Asaf-Ud-Dowlah , the Nawab of Awadh . "Nidhubabur Tappa", or tappas sung by Nidhu Babu were very popular in 18th and 19th-century Bengal. Thumri is a semi-classical vocal form said to have begun in Uttar Pradesh with
2835-498: Is no longer in use today because the 'related' rāgas had very little or no similarity and the rāga-rāginī classification did not agree with various other schemes. The North Indian rāga system is also called Hindustani , while the South Indian system is commonly referred to as Carnatic . 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
2940-471: Is primarily vocal-centric, insofar as the musical forms were designed primarily for a vocal performance, and many instruments were designed and evaluated as to how well they emulate the human voice. The major vocal forms or styles associated with Hindustani classical music are dhrupad , khyal , and tarana . Light classical forms include dhamar , trivat , chaiti , kajari , tappa , tap-khyal , thumri , dadra , ghazal and bhajan ; these do not adhere to
3045-562: Is probably a pronunciation of rāga . According to Hormoz Farhat , it is unclear how this term came to Persia, it has no meaning in modern Persian language, and the concept of rāga is unknown in Persia. Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent 's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet . The term shastriya sangeet literally means classical music, and
3150-834: Is recognizably the same. Some rāgas are common to both systems but have different names, such as malkos of Hindustani system is recognizably the same as hindolam of Carnatic system. However, some rāgas are named the same in the two systems, but they are different, such as todi . Recently, a 32 thaat system was presented in a book Nai Vaigyanik Paddhati to correct the classification of ragas in North Indian style. Rāgas that have four svaras are called surtara (सुरतर) (tetra tonic) rāgas; those with five svaras are called audava (औडव) (pentatonic) rāgas; those with six are called shaadava (षाडव) (hex-tonic); and those with seven are called sampurna (संपूर्ण, Sanskrit for 'complete') (heptatonic). The number of svaras may differ in
3255-585: Is set to a melodic pattern called a raga characterized in part by specific ascent ( aroha ) and descent ( avaroha ) sequences, "king" ( vadi ) and "queen" ( samavadi ) notes and characteristic phrases ( pakad ). Ragas may originate from any source, including religious hymns, folk tunes, and music from outside the Indian subcontinent . For example, raga Khamaj and its variants have been classicized from folk music, while ragas such as Hijaz (also called Basant Mukhari) originated in Persian maqams. The Gandharva Veda
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3360-454: Is set to this rāgam, is one of the first few geetams (very short compositions) taught to beginners. (Ragamalika:ShuddhaSaveri,Shivaranjani) This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam. Shuddha Saveri's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam , yields 4 other major pentatonic rāgams, namely, Mohanam , Hindolam , Madhyamavati and Udayaravichandrika (also known as Shuddha Dhanyasi ). Graha bhedam
3465-483: Is taught through a network of classical music schools, called gharana . Hindustani classical music is an integral part of the culture of India and is performed across the country and internationally. Exponents of Hindustani classical music, including Ustad Bismillah Khan , Pandit Bhimsen Joshi , and Ravi Shankar have been awarded the Bharat Ratna , the highest civilian award of India, for their contributions to
3570-409: Is that re, ga, ma, dha, and ni can refer to either "Natural" ( shuddha ) or altered "Flat" ( komal ) or "Sharp" ( teevra ) versions of their respective scale degrees. As with movable do solfege, the notes are heard relative to an arbitrary tonic that varies from performance to performance, rather than to fixed frequencies, as on a xylophone. The fine intonational differences between different instances of
3675-413: Is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. See Graha bhedam on Mohanam for more details and illustration of this concept. Raga A raga ( IAST : rāga , IPA: [ɾäːɡɐ] ; also raaga or ragam or raag ; lit. ' colouring ' or ' tingeing ' or ' dyeing ' )
3780-671: Is the tradition of religious neutrality: Muslim ustads may sing compositions in praise of Hindu deities, and Hindu pandits may sing similar Islamic compositions. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in 1901 founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, a school to impart formal training in Hindustani classical music with some historical Indian Music. This was a school open to all and one of the first in India to run on public support and donations, rather than royal patronage. Many students from
3885-422: Is too simplistic. According to them, a rāga of the ancient Indian tradition can be compared to the concept of non-constructible set in language for human communication, in a manner described by Frederik Kortlandt and George van Driem ; audiences familiar with raga recognize and evaluate performances of them intuitively. The attempt to appreciate, understand and explain rāga among European scholars started in
3990-461: Is used in instrumental music in dhrupad. Dhrupad music is primarily devotional in theme and content. It contains recitals in praise of particular deities. Dhrupad compositions begin with a relatively long and acyclic alap, where the syllables of the following mantra is recited: " Om Anant tam Taran Tarini Twam Hari Om Narayan, Anant Hari Om Narayan ". The alap gradually unfolds into more rhythmic jod and jhala sections. These sections are followed by
4095-654: The Dattilam section of Brihaddeshi 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. The same essential idea and prototypical framework is found in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Naradiyasiksa and the classic Sanskrit work Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni , whose chronology has been estimated to sometime between 500 BCE and 500 CE, probably between 200 BCE and 200 CE. Bharata describes
4200-609: The Gandharva Mahavidyalaya music school that he opened in Lahore in 1901, helped foster a movement away from the closed gharana system. Paluskar's contemporary (and occasional rival) Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande recognized the many rifts that had appeared in the structure of Indian classical music. He undertook extensive research visits to a large number of gharanas, Hindustani as well as Carnatic, collecting and comparing compositions. Between 1909 and 1932, he produced
4305-528: The Panchatantra . Indian classical music has ancient roots, and developed for both spiritual ( moksha ) and entertainment ( kama ) purposes. Rāga , along with performance arts such as dance and music, has been historically integral to Hinduism, with some Hindus believing that music is itself a spiritual pursuit and a means to moksha (liberation). Rāgas , in the Hindu tradition, are believed to have
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4410-537: The ITC Sangeet Research Academy . Meanwhile, Hindustani classical music has become popular across the world through the influence of artists such as Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan . Indian classical music has seven basic notes with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike the 12-note scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and intertonal gaps ( temperament ) may also vary. The performance
4515-577: The Yoga 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. According to Cris Forster, mathematical studies on systematizing and analyzing South Indian rāga began in
4620-589: The maharajahs and nawabs declined in the early 20th century, so did their patronage. With the expulsion of Wajid Ali Shah to Calcutta after 1857, the Lucknavi musical tradition came to influence the music of the renaissance in Bengal , giving rise to the tradition of Ragpradhan gan around the turn of the century. Raja Chakradhar Singh of Raigarh was the last of the modern-era Maharajas to patronize Hindustani classical musicians, singers and dancers. Also, at
4725-501: The rāga are described as manifestation and symbolism for gods and goddesses. Music is discussed as equivalent to the ritual yajna sacrifice, with pentatonic and hexatonic notes such as "ni-dha-pa-ma-ga-ri" as Agnistoma , "ri-ni-dha-pa-ma-ga as Asvamedha , and so on. In the Middle Ages, music scholars of India began associating each rāga with seasons. The 11th century Nanyadeva, for example, recommends that Hindola rāga
4830-436: The sitar ) were also introduced in his time. Amir Khusrau is sometimes credited with the origins of the khyal form, but the record of his compositions does not appear to support this. The compositions by the court musician Sadarang in the court of Muhammad Shah bear a closer affinity to the modern khyal. They suggest that while khyal already existed in some form, Sadarang may have been the father of modern khyal. Much of
4935-536: The vadi than to other notes. The samvadi is consonant with the vadi (always from the anga that does not contain the vadi) and is the second most prominent svara in the raga. The Sanskrit word rāga (Sanskrit: राग ) has Indian roots, as *reg- which connotes "to dye". Cognates are found in Greek , Persian , Khwarezmian and other languages, such as "raxt", "rang", "rakt" and others. The words "red" and "rado" are also related. According to Monier Monier-Williams ,
5040-524: The 'Octaves' in Western Music except they characterize total seven notes or 'swaras' instead of eight. These are-- low ( mandra), medium ( madhya) and high ( tāra ) . Each octave resonates with a certain part of the body, low octave in the heart, medium octave in the throat and high octave in the head. The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called tala . The melodic foundations are called ragas. One possible classification of ragas
5145-521: The 16th century, the singing styles diversified into different gharanas patronized in different princely courts. Around 1900, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande consolidated the musical structures of Hindustani classical music, called ragas , into a few thaats based on their notes. This is a very flawed system but is somewhat useful as a heuristic. Distinguished musicians who are Hindu may be addressed as Pandit and those who are Muslim as Ustad . An aspect of Hindustani music going back to Sufi times
5250-470: The 16th century. Computational studies of rāgas is an active area of musicology. Although notes are an important part of rāga practice, they alone do not make the rāga. A rāga is more than a scale, and many rāgas share the same scale. The underlying scale may have four , five , six or seven tones , called svaras . The svara concept is found in the ancient Natya Shastra in Chapter 28. It calls
5355-516: The Buddhist monkhood. Among these is the precept recommending "abstain from dancing, singing, music and worldly spectacles". Buddhism does not forbid music or dance to a Buddhist layperson, but its emphasis has been on chants, not on musical rāga . A rāga 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
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#17327801214455460-462: The Dhrupad vocalists of this tradition. A Very ancient 500 years old Dhrupad Gharana from Bihar is Dumraon Gharana, Pt. Tilak Chand Dubey , Pt. Ghanarang Baba was founder of this prestigious Gharana.Dumraon Gharana Dist-Buxar is an ancient tradition of Dhrupad music nearly 500 years old. This Gharana flourished under the patronage of the king of Dumraon Raj. The dhrupad style (vanis) of the gharana
5565-717: The Hindu culture from their kingdoms. This helped spur the fusion of Hindu and Muslim ideas to bring forth new forms of musical synthesis like qawwali and khyal . The most influential musician of the Delhi Sultanate period was Amir Khusrau (1253–1325), a composer in Persian , Turkish and Arabic , as well as Braj Bhasha . He is credited with systematizing some aspects of Hindustani music and also introducing several ragas such as Yaman Kalyan , Zeelaf and Sarpada . He created six genres of music: khyal, tarana , Naqsh, Gul, Qaul and Qalbana. A number of instruments (such as
5670-566: The Islamic rule period of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in and after the 15th century, the mystical Islamic tradition of Sufism developed devotional songs and music called qawwali . It incorporated elements of rāga and tāla . The Buddha discouraged music aimed at entertainment to monks for higher spiritual attainment, but encouraged chanting of sacred hymns. The various canonical Tripitaka texts of Buddhism, for example, state Dasha-shila or ten precepts for those following
5775-1536: The Janaka rāgas using a combination of the swarams (usually a subset of swarams) from the parent rāga. Some janya rāgas are Abheri , Abhogi , Bhairavi , Hindolam , Mohanam and Kambhoji . In this 21st century few composers have discovered new ragas . Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna who has created raga in three notes Ragas such as Mahathi, Lavangi, Sidhdhi, Sumukham that he created have only four notes, A list of Janaka Ragas would include Kanakangi , 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 through Guru –Shishya parampara (teacher–student tradition) through an oral tradition and practice. Some are known as gharana (houses), and their performances are staged through sabhas (music organizations). Each gharana has freely improvised over time, and differences in
5880-538: The Mughal Empire came into closer contact with Hindus, especially under Jalal ud-Din Akbar , music and dance also flourished. In particular, the musician Tansen introduced a number of innovations, including ragas and particular compositions. Legend has it that upon his rendition of a nighttime raga in the morning, the entire city fell under a hush and clouds gathered in the sky so that he could light fires by singing
5985-467: The Persian/Arabic term, is a two- to eight-line lyric set to a melody. Khyal contains a greater variety of embellishments and ornamentations compared to dhrupad . Khyal 's features such as sargam and taan as well as movements to incorporate dhrupad-style alap have led to it becoming popular. The importance of the khyal's content is for the singer to depict, through music in the set raga ,
6090-487: The Rotterdam Conservatory of Music defined rāga as a "tonal framework for composition and improvisation." Nazir Jairazbhoy , chairman of UCLA 's department of ethnomusicology , characterized rāgas as separated by scale, line of ascent and descent, transilience , emphasized notes and register, and intonation and ornaments . Rāginī ( Devanagari : रागिनी) is a term for the "feminine" counterpart of
6195-546: The School's early batches became respected musicians and teachers in North India. This brought respect to musicians, who were treated with disdain earlier. This also helped spread of Hindustani classical music to masses from royal courts. Ravana and Narada from Hindu tradition are accomplished musicians; Saraswati with her veena is the goddess of music. Gandharvas are presented as spirits who are musical masters, and
6300-404: The South Indian system of rāga works with 72 scales, as first discussed by Caturdandi prakashika . They are divided into two groups, purvanga and uttaranga , depending on the nature of the lower tetrachord. The anga itself has six cycles ( cakra ), where the purvanga or lower tetrachord is anchored, while there are six permutations of uttaranga suggested to the artist. After this system
6405-641: The Yadava dynasty in the North-Central Deccan region (today a part of Maharashtra ), mentions and discusses 253 rāgas . This is one of the most complete historic treatises on the structure, technique and reasoning behind rāgas that has survived. The tradition of incorporating rāga into spiritual music is also found in Jainism , and in Sikhism , an Indian religion founded by Guru Nanak in
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#17327801214456510-554: The ancient texts of Hinduism, the term for the technical mode part of rāga was jati . Later, jati evolved to mean quantitative class of scales, while rāga evolved to become a more sophisticated concept that included the experience of the audience. A figurative sense of the word as 'passion, love, desire, delight' is also found in the Mahabharata . The specialized sense of 'loveliness, beauty', especially of voice or song, emerges in classical Sanskrit , used by Kalidasa and in
6615-496: The arts. Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from what eventually came to be identified as Carnatic classical music .The central notion in both systems is that of a melodic musical mode or raga , sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala . It is melodic music, with no concept of harmony. These principles were refined in the musical treatises Natya Shastra , by Bharata (2nd–3rd century CE), and Dattilam (probably 3rd–4th century CE). In medieval times,
6720-469: The ascending and descending like rāga Bhimpalasi 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. Rāgas differ in their ascending or descending movements. Those that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of svaras are called vakra (वक्र) ('crooked') rāgas. In Carnatic music , the principal rāgas are called Melakarthas , which literally means "lord of
6825-639: The concept of rāga is shared by both. Rāga is also found in Sikh traditions such as in Guru Granth Sahib , the primary scripture of Sikhism . Similarly, it is a part of the qawwali tradition in Sufi Islamic communities of South Asia . Some popular Indian film songs and ghazals use rāgas in their composition. Every raga has a svara (a note or named pitch) called shadja , or adhara sadja, whose pitch may be chosen arbitrarily by
6930-480: The court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah , (r. 1847–1856). There are three types of thumri: poorab ang, Lucknavi, and Punjabi thumri. The lyrics are primarily in older, more rural Hindi dialects such as Brij Bhasha , Awadhi , and Bhojpuri . The themes covered are usually romantic in nature, hence giving more importance to lyrics rather than Raag, and bringing out the storytelling qualities of music. The need to express these strong emotional aesthetics makes Thumri and Kathak
7035-437: The development of successive permutations, as well as theories of musical note inter-relationships, interlocking scales and how this makes the listener feel. Bharata discusses Bhairava , Kaushika , Hindola , Dipaka , SrI-rāga , and Megha . Bharata states that these can to trigger a certain affection and the ability to "color the emotional state" in the audience. His encyclopedic Natya Shastra links his studies on music to
7140-413: The divine, a musical note treated as god or goddess with complex personality. During the Bhakti movement of Hinduism, dated to about the middle of 1st millennium CE, rāga became an integral part of a musical pursuit of spirituality. Bhajan and kirtan were composed and performed by the early South India pioneers. A bhajan has a free form devotional composition based on melodic rāgas . A Kirtan
7245-439: 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". The goal of a rāga and its artist is to create rasa (essence, feeling, atmosphere) with music, as classical Indian dance does with performance arts. In the Indian tradition, classical dances are performed with music set to various rāgas . Joep Bor of
7350-547: The earliest musical composition sung in the classical tradition called Ashtapadi music . In the 13th century, Sharangadeva composed the Sangita Ratnakara , which has names such as the Turushka Todi ("Turkish Todi "), revealing an influx of ideas from Islamic culture. This text is the last to be mentioned by both the Carnatic and the Hindustani traditions and is often thought to date the divergence between
7455-404: The earliest periods of the common era . Narada 's Sangita Makarandha treatise, from about 1100 CE, is the earliest text where rules similar to those of current Hindustani classical music can be found. Narada actually names and classifies the system in its earlier form before the Persian influences introduced changes in the system. Jayadeva 's Gita Govinda from the 12th century was perhaps
7560-404: The early colonial period. In 1784, Jones translated it as "mode" of European music tradition, but Willard corrected him in 1834 with the statement that a rāga is both modet and tune. In 1933, states José Luiz Martinez – a professor of music, Stern refined this explanation to "the rāga is more fixed than mode, less fixed than the melody, beyond the mode and short of melody, and richer both than
7665-602: The emotional significance of the khyal. The singer improvises and finds inspiration within the raga to depict the khyal. The origin of Khyal is controversial, although it is accepted that this style was based on dhrupad and influenced by other musical traditions. Many argue that Amir Khusrau created the style in the late 14th century. This form was popularized by Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah through his court musicians; some well-known composers of this period were Sadarang , Adarang , and Manrang . Another vocal form, taranas are medium- to fast-paced songs that are used to convey
7770-452: 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. The music theory in the Natyashastra , states Maurice Winternitz, centers around three themes – sound, rhythm and prosody applied to musical texts. The text asserts that the octave has 22 srutis or micro-intervals of musical tones or 1200 cents. Ancient Greek system
7875-596: The fundamental melodic structures similar to the raga . The names of the Jatis reflect regional origins, for example Andhri and Oudichya . Music also finds mention in a number of texts from the Gupta period ; Kalidasa mentions several kinds of veena (Parivadini, Vipanchi ), as well as percussion instruments ( mridang ), the flute ( Vamshi ) and conch ( Shankha ). Music also finds mention in Buddhist and Jain texts from
7980-625: The gandharva style looks to music primarily for pleasure, accompanied by the soma rasa. In the Vishnudharmottara Purana , the Naga king Ashvatara asks to know the swaras from Saraswati . While the term raga is articulated in the Natya Shastra (where its meaning is more literal, meaning "color" or "mood"), it finds a clearer expression in what is called Jati in the Dattilam , a text composed shortly after or around
8085-614: The government-run All India Radio , Bangladesh Betar and Radio Pakistan helped bring the artists to public attention, countering the loss of the patronage system. The first star was Gauhar Jan , whose career was born out of Fred Gaisberg 's first recordings of Indian music in 1902. With the advance of films and other public media, musicians started to make their living through public performances. A number of Gurukuls , such as that of Alauddin Khan at Maihar , flourished. In more modern times, corporate support has also been forthcoming, as at
8190-404: The hope that the guru might teach him a " cheez " (piece or nuance) or two. In addition, the system forced the music to be limited to a small subsection of the Indian community. To a large extent, it was limited to the palaces and dance halls. It was shunned by the intellectuals, avoided by the educated middle class, and in general, looked down upon as a frivolous practice. First, as the power of
8295-771: The junior Dagar brothers, Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar ; and Wasifuddin , Fariduddin , and Sayeeduddin Dagar . Other leading exponents include the Gundecha Brothers and Uday Bhawalkar , who have received training from some of the Dagars. Leading vocalists outside the Dagar lineage include the Mallik family of Darbhanga tradition of musicians; some of the leading exponents of this tradition were Ram Chatur Mallick, Siyaram Tiwari , and Vidur Mallick. At present Prem Kumar Mallick, Prashant and Nishant Mallick are
8400-530: The melodic systems were fused with ideas from Persian music, particularly through the influence of Sufi composers like Amir Khusro , and later in the Mughal courts, noted composers such as Tansen flourished, along with religious groups like the Vaishnavites . Artists such as Dalptaram , Mirabai , Brahmanand Swami and Premanand Swami revitalized classical Hindustani music in the 16-18th century. After
8505-655: The monumental four-volume work Hindustani Sangeeta Paddhati , which suggested a transcription of Indian music, and described the many traditions in this notation. Finally, it suggested a possible categorization of ragas based on their notes into a number of thaats (modes), subsequent to the Melakarta system that reorganized Carnatic tradition in the 17th century. The ragas that exist today were categorized according to this scheme, although there are some inconsistencies and ambiguities in Bhatkande's system. In modern times,
8610-652: The music scholars such as 16th century Mesakarna expanded this system to include eight descendants to each rāga , thereby creating a system of eighty four. After the 16th-century, the system expanded still further. In Sangita-darpana , the Bhairava rāga is associated with the following raginis: Bhairavi, Punyaki, Bilawali, Aslekhi, Bangali. In the Meskarna system, the masculine and feminine musical notes are combined to produce putra rāgas called Harakh, Pancham, Disakh, Bangal, Madhu, Madhava, Lalit, Bilawal. This system
8715-564: The musical forms innovated by these pioneers merged with the Hindu tradition, composed in the popular language of the people (as opposed to Sanskrit) in the work of composers like Kabir or Nanak . This can be seen as part of a larger Bhakti tradition (strongly related to the Vaishnavite movement) which remained influential across several centuries; notable figures include Jayadeva (11th century), Vidyapati (fl. 1375 CE), Chandidas (14th–15th century), and Meerabai (1555–1603 CE). As
8820-644: The northwest of the Indian subcontinent. In the Sikh scripture, the texts are attached to a rāga and are sung according to the rules of that rāga . According to Pashaura Singh – a professor of Sikh and Punjabi studies, the rāga and tala 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 singing kirtans in Sikhism. During
8925-438: The performance arts, and it has been influential in Indian performance arts tradition. The other ancient text, Naradiyasiksa dated to be from the 1st century BCE, discusses secular and religious music, compares the respective musical notes. This is earliest known text that reverentially names each musical note to be a deity, describing it in terms of varna (colours) and other motifs such as parts of fingers, an approach that
9030-433: The performance to create a rasa (mood, atmosphere, essence, inner feeling) that is unique to each rāga . A rāga can be written on a scale. Theoretically, thousands of rāga are possible given 5 or more notes, but in practical use, the classical tradition has refined and typically relies on several hundred. For most artists, their basic perfected repertoire has some forty to fifty rāgas . Rāga in Indian classical music
9135-495: The performer. This is taken to mark the beginning and end of the saptak (loosely, octave). The raga also contains an adhista, which is either the svara Ma or the svara Pa . The adhista divides the octave into two parts or anga – the purvanga , which contains lower notes, and the uttaranga , which contains higher notes. Every raga has a vadi and a samvadi . The vadi is the most prominent svara, which means that an improvising musician emphasizes or pays more attention to
9240-624: The primary development of which has been going down into the lower octave, in contrast with the traditional middle octave. Each rāga traditionally has an emotional significance and symbolic associations such as with season, time and mood. Rāgas are considered a means in the Indian musical tradition for evoking specific feelings in listeners. Hundreds of rāgas are recognized in the classical tradition, of which about 30 are common, and each rāga has its "own unique melodic personality". There are two main classical music traditions, Hindustani ( North Indian ) and Carnatic ( South Indian ), and
9345-486: The raga "Deepak". At the royal house of Gwalior , Raja Mansingh Tomar (1486–1516 CE) also participated in the shift from Sanskrit to the local idiom ( Hindi ) as the language for classical songs. He himself penned several volumes of compositions on religious and secular themes and was also responsible for the major compilation, the Mankutuhal ("Book of Curiosity"), which outlined the major forms of music prevalent at
9450-488: The rendering of each rāga 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 their guru . The tradition survives in parts of India, and many musicians can trace their guru lineage. The music concept of rāk or rang (meaning “colour”) in Persian
9555-506: The rigorous rules of classical music. Dhrupad is an old style of singing, traditionally performed by male singers. It is performed with a tambura and a pakhawaj as instrumental accompaniments. The lyrics, some of which were written in Sanskrit centuries ago, are presently often sung in brajbhasha , a medieval form of North and East Indian languages that were spoken in Eastern India. The rudra veena , an ancient string instrument,
9660-455: The royalty in Indian princely states, dhrupad risked becoming extinct in the first half of the twentieth century. However, the efforts by a few proponents, especially from the Dagar family, have led to its revival. Some of the best known vocalists who sing in the Dhrupad style are the members of the Dagar lineage, including the senior Dagar brothers, Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar ;
9765-491: The same swara are called srutis . The three primary registers of Indian classical music are mandra (lower), madhya (middle) and taar (upper). Since the octave location is not fixed, it is also possible to use provenances in mid-register (such as mandra-madhya or madhya-taar) for certain ragas. A typical rendition of Hindustani raga involves two stages: Tans are of several types like Shuddha, Koot, Mishra, Vakra, Sapaat, Saral, Chhoot, Halaq, Jabda, Murki Hindustani classical music
9870-462: The same time as Natya Shastra . The Dattilam is focused on Gandharva music and discusses scales ( swara ), defining a tonal framework called grama in terms of 22 micro-tonal intervals ( shruti ) comprising one octave. It also discusses various arrangements of the notes ( Murchhana ), the permutations and combinations of note-sequences ( tanas ), and alankara or elaboration. Dattilam categorizes melodic structure into 18 groups called Jati , which are
9975-401: The scale". It is also called Asraya rāga meaning "shelter giving rāga", or Janaka rāga meaning "father rāga". A Thaata in the South Indian tradition are groups of derivative rāgas , which are called Janya rāgas meaning "begotten rāgas" or Asrita rāgas meaning "sheltered rāgas". However, these terms are approximate and interim phrases during learning, as the relationships between
10080-617: 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. The symbolic role of classical music through rāga has been both aesthetic indulgence and the spiritual purifying of one's mind (yoga). The former is encouraged in Kama literature (such as Kamasutra ), while the latter appears in Yoga literature with concepts such as "Nada-Brahman" (metaphysical Brahman of sound). Hindola rāga , for example,
10185-474: The sense of "color, dye, hue". The term rāga in the modern connotation of a melodic format occurs in the Brihaddeshi by Mataṅga Muni dated c. 8th century , or possibly 9th century. The Brihaddeshi describes rāga as "a combination of tones which, with beautiful illuminating graces, pleases the people in general". According to Emmie te Nijenhuis , a professor in Indian musicology,
10290-400: The soul does not "colour, dye, stain, tint" the matter. The Maitri Upanishad uses the term in the sense of "passion, inner quality, psychological state". The term rāga is also found in ancient texts of Buddhism where it connotes "passion, sensuality, lust, desire" for pleasurable experiences as one of three impurities of a character. Alternatively, rāga is used in Buddhist texts in
10395-437: The term comes from a Sanskrit word for "the act of colouring or dyeing", or simply a "colour, hue, tint, dye". 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. In the context of ancient Indian music, the term refers to a harmonious note, melody, formula, building block of music available to
10500-603: The time. In particular, the musical form known as dhrupad saw considerable development in his court and remained a strong point of the Gwalior gharana for many centuries. After the dissolution of the Mughal empire, the patronage of music continued in smaller princely kingdoms like Awadh , Patiala , and Banaras , giving rise to the diversity of styles that is today known as gharanas . Many musician families obtained large grants of land which made them self-sufficient, at least for
10605-456: The turn of the century, Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande spread Hindustani classical music to the masses in general by organizing music conferences, starting schools, teaching music in classrooms, devising a standardized grading and testing system, and standardizing the notation system. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar emerged as a talented musician and organizer despite being blind from age of 12. His books on music, as well as
10710-492: The two layers are neither fixed nor has unique parent–child relationship. Janaka rāgas are grouped together using a scheme called Katapayadi sutra and are organised as Melakarta rāgas. A Melakarta rāga is one which has all seven notes in both the ārōhanam (ascending scale) and avarōhanam (descending scale). Some Melakarta rāgas are Harikambhoji , Kalyani , Kharaharapriya , Mayamalavagowla , Sankarabharanam and Hanumatodi . Janya rāgas are derived from
10815-503: The two. The advent of Islamic rule under the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire over northern India caused considerable cultural interchange. Increasingly, musicians received patronage in the courts of the new rulers, who, in turn, started taking an increasing interest in local musical forms. While the initial generations may have been rooted in cultural traditions outside India, they gradually adopted many aspects from
10920-485: The unit of tonal measurement or audible unit as Śruti , with verse 28.21 introducing the musical scale as follows, तत्र स्वराः – षड्जश्च ऋषभश्चैव गान्धारो मध्यमस्तथा । पञ्चमो धैवतश्चैव सप्तमोऽथ निषादवान् ॥ २१॥ These seven degrees are shared by both major rāga system, that is the North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic). The solfege ( sargam ) is learnt in abbreviated form: sa, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa . Of these,
11025-441: Was developed, the Indian classical music scholars have developed additional rāgas for all the scales. The North Indian style is closer to the Western diatonic modes, and built upon the foundation developed by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande using ten Thaat : kalyan, bilaval, khamaj, kafi, asavari, bhairavi, bhairav, purvi, marva and todi . Some rāgas are common to both systems and have same names, such as kalyan performed by either
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