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The Raga Guide
What is a Raga?
As
king Nanyadeva of Mithila (1097-1147) wrote, the variety of ragas is
infinite, and their individual features are hard to put into words, "just
as the sweetness of sugar, treacle and candy [...] cannot be separately
described, [but] must be experienced for oneself." He warned his
readers that: "the profoundly learned in raga, even Matanga and
his followers, have not crossed the ocean of raga; how then may one of
little understanding swim across?"
In the history of ragas, Nanyadeva's predecessor Matanga played a crucial
role. He is quoted by virtually all later scholars as the foremost
authority on raga. His Brhaddeshi, completed in about 800 AD, is a
landmark in that it reconciles the theory of ancient music (marga),
described in earlier works, with the living music (deshi) practised
in various regions of India. Matanga's treatise includes musical notations
of scales and melodies, and also the first definition of raga:
"In the opinion of the wise, that particularity of notes and
melodic movements, or that distinction of melodic sound by which one is
delighted, is raga."
In other words, ragas have a particular scale and specific melodic
movements; their characteristic 'sound' should bring delight and be
pleasing to the ear (or the "minds of men," as Matanga
puts it elsewhere). But what exactly is a raga? Is it possible to define
raga?
Virtually every writer on Indian music has struggled with this fundamental
question and usually begins by explaining what it is not. As Harold S.
Powers puts it: "A raga is not a tune, nor is it a 'modal' scale,
but rather a continuum with scale and tune as its extremes." Thus
a raga is far more precise and much richer than a scale or mode, and much
less fixed than a particular tune. A raga usually includes quite a large
number of traditional songs, composed in different genres by the great
musicians of the past. But ragas also allow the present-day creative
musician to compose new songs, and to generate an almost infinite variety
of melodic sequences.
Broadly speaking then, a raga can be regarded as a tonal framework for
composition and improvisation; a dynamic musical entity with a unique
form, embodying a unique musical idea. As well as the fixed scale, there
are features particular to each raga such as the order and hierarchy of
its tones, their manner of intonation and ornamentation, their relative
strength and duration, and specific approach. Where ragas have identical
scales, they are differentiated by virtue of these musical
characteristics.
Yet ragas are not static. We shall see that in the fascinating but complex
history of ragas, some can be traced back to ancient or medieval times;
others originated (or were rediscovered or reinvented) only a few
centuries or even a few decades ago. Virtually all ragas, however, have
undergone transformations over the centuries, and many of them have fallen
into disuse.
Most importantly, a raga must evoke a particular emotion or create a
certain 'mood,' which is hard to define, however. As the term raga itself
implies, it should 'colour' the mind, bring delight, move the listeners
and stimulate an emotional response. In other words, the concept of raga,
which has evolved over a period of two millennia, eludes an adequate brief
definition. It is an open-ended concept in which the association of a
particular raga with a specific emotional state, a season or time of day,
though intangible, is as relevant as its melodic structure.
Raga:
its structural features
Ragas
must consist of at least five notes. They must contain the tonic (Sa) and
at least either the fourth (Ma) or fifth (Pa). Both varieties of a note
which can be altered (Re, Ga, Ma, Dha or Ni) should not be used
consecutively, although there are some exceptions. The broadest way to
describe a raga is by its characteristic ascent-descent pattern (aroha-avaroha),
from middle Sa to high Sa, although it should be remarked that not all
ragas begin on the middle tonic. When ragas contain all the seven notes of
the scale in ascent and descent they are called sampurna
('complete'). Ragas with six notes are called shadav, and those
with five, audav. However, there are many ragas in which the number
of notes in ascent and descent are not identical, and where one or more
notes may be omitted in the ascent (or less frequently in the descent).
These are the so-called compound (sankirna or mishra,
'mixed') ragas, which may even have more than seven notes, when both the
natural and flat or sharp varieties of one or more notes are included in
either ascent or descent.
A raga may be further characterised by one or more key phrases or motifs (pakad),
or by a more extensive series of note patterns in the form of a melodic
outline (chalan, 'movement') which summarises its development. In
the raga descriptions we have focused on their melodic outlines, given as
a series of consecutive ascending and descending phrases. The notes may be
phrased in straight sequences, or in oblique, zigzag (vakra)
patterns or, more often, a combination of both, since not all ragas permit
a direct ascent-descent.
A raga is more dynamic, far more complex and less fixed than a melodic
outline; however, a chalan composed by a master musician can
disclose its basic grammar, and the treatment and melodic context of each
tone. Melodic outlines may vary from one musician to another; they appear
to depend very much on the traditional songs the artist has in mind when
he composes them. Yet there are few differences of opinion about the
melodic progression of common and well-known ragas.
Brief as it is, a melodic outline cannot (and is not intended to) reveal
the minute and decorative details of a raga performance. It cannot
disclose how an artist builds up or releases tension by creating a
micro-universe around one tone for some time, or how he increases the
tension by creating ever-changing combinations of two, three, four or more
notes. But a melodic outline can show the characteristic patterns and
motifs of a raga, and in which way it is distinguished from other ragas.
It can also show which notes are emphasised, often repeated and sustained,
which notes are weak or hidden, and on which notes phrases should end.
A note that is frequently used, or that is held for a long duration is
usually referred to as the vadi ('sonant' or dominant note).
Theoretically there should be another strong note at a perfect fourth or
fifth from the vadi which is called the samvadi
('consonant'). Since there is not always perfect agreement about which
note-pair to designate as sonant-consonant in a given raga, we have chosen
to use terms such as 'important', 'strong', 'emphasised', 'articulated',
'sustained' or 'pivotal', as well as 'weak' or 'oblique' to denote the
various musical functions of tones.
Raga
classification
Most
Indian musicologists have made an effort to classify the ragas that were
current during their time, so much so that from the 9th century onwards
there exists a bewildering number of classification systems, which often
contradict each other. Much of what the early scholars wrote about the
ancient tone systems (gramas) and modes (jatis and grama
ragas), and the systems in which ragas were grouped, deserves our
attention, as these writers attempted to reconcile the ancient theory with
contemporary practice. However, many of the ragas we hear today seem to
have changed so dramatically, that it seems rather futile at this point to
trace their origin beyond the 16th century.
After the early raga classification systems, which were based on the
ancient jatis and grama ragas, came the numerous raga-ragini
schemes. These appear in literature on music from the 14th to the 19th
century. They usually consisted of six 'male' patriarchal ragas, each with
five or six 'wives' (raginis) and sometimes also a number of 'sons'
(putras) and 'daughters-in-law.' According to Damodara (c.1625),
the system of the legendary Hanuman contained the following ragas and raginis:
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Two
centuries after Damodara, N. Augustus Willard observed that there was not
only disagreement in the various systems about the main ragas and their raginis
and putras, but that there was also "very little or no
similarity between a raga and his raginis." This is probably the
reason why the raga-ragini schemes had largely fallen into disuse
by the beginning of the 19th century.
Pundarika, a South Indian musicologist who migrated to the North in the
second half of the 16th century, was the first to introduce the southern
method of classifying Hindustani ragas according to scale types (melas).
His method was adopted by contemporary and later authors, including Vishnu
Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936), whose monumental study on Hindustani music
and compilation of hundreds of classical songs grouped by raga are
undoubtedly the most influential reference works of the century.
Bhatkhande's rational and pragmatic raga classification is based on ten
heptatonic scale types, called thats.
A that ('framework'), as Bhatkhande used the term, is a scale using all
seven notes including Sa and Pa, with either the natural or altered
variety of each of the variable notes Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni. In
Bhatkhande's system all ragas are grouped under ten scale types, each of
which is named after a prominent raga which uses the note varieties in
question.
There
are quite a few inconsistencies in this system, however, which Bhatkhande
himself was partly aware of. For example, it cannot really accommodate
important ragas such as Patdip (S R G M P D N), Ahir bhairav (S R
G M P D N) and Madhuvanti (S R G M sharp P D N), since they
have a scale type that does not belong to the ten-that system. Again, raga
Lalit (S R G M M sharp D N) cannot be classified since it
omits the fifth degree (Pa) and has both varieties of Ma. It is also hard
to group other ragas with both varieties of either Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni,
and there are quite a few of them. In each case one has to decide between
two possible thats. Furthermore, it has been argued that hexatonic
and pentatonic ragas cannot be classified in the ten thats since the
missing notes make the classification ambiguous.
More importantly, using scale types as the main criteria for his
classification and referring to them as 'genera' from which the ragas
(conceived of as melodic 'species') could be derived, Bhatkhande obscured
the fact that the thats are mere skeletons, and not genera in the
historical and evolutionary sense of the word. As we shall see, quite a
number of ragas have different scale types but are historically and
musically related (for instance, raga Bilaskhani todi is classified in
Bhairavi that but raga Miyan ki todi in Todi that). In
addition, many ragas grouped together in one scale type by Bhatkhande seem
to have no further relationship with one another.
For these and other reasons, many musicians have challenged Bhatkhande's
that system. Omkarnath Thakur (1897-1967), one of the century's
influential music theoreticians and a famous khyal singer, for
example, rejected the idea of classifying ragas under scale types. Yet no
musicologist has so far been able to come up with a raga classification
system that has been accepted as widely as Bhatkhande's. Until the history
of ragas has been traced through a detailed and comparative study of both
historical literature and oral traditions, it will not be possible to
replace Bhatkhande's scheme with a more comprehensive and scientific
system that reflects the evolutionary development of individual ragas.
Needless to say, such a study is long overdue.
In contemporary music practice, there are partial alternatives, grouping
some ragas but not the whole range. Ragas with different scales may share
a number of characteristic melodic features and motifs. To refer to them,
musicians use the term ang ('part'). Well-known examples are the
Kanada ang (G M R), Malhar ang (M \ R, R / P, N
\ P), Bhairav ang (M G \ R — S), and Todi ang
(R / G- \ R — S). The Bilaval,
Kalyan and Sarang angs are more difficult to define.
Ragamala
By
the 13th century, the ancient performance traditions had largely vanished.
The modes (jatis) of a repertory of sacred and dramatic songs had
been replaced by ragas, the modes of a repertory of secular songs. The
number of ragas had also expanded dramatically. Nonetheless, musicologists
still attempted to reconcile the old theory with contemporary practice.
The assumption that one or more particular sentiments (rasas) were
associated with a raga, remained as a convention, and the idea that each
raga should be performed at a certain time of day or during a certain
season would continue to be an aspect of the theory and practice of North
Indian music as well. Often a colour, deity, planet or animal was
associated with the raga. This idea was carried through in the raga-ragini
systems, in which the images of 'male' ragas and 'female' raginis,
and the emotions they expressed, played a crucial role.
In music literature from the 14th century onwards, ragas and raginis are
frequently described in a short Sanskrit verse (dhyana,
'contemplation'). In these poems they are personified as a particular
deity or as a hero and heroine (nayaka and nayika) in
various traditional love scenes. Later, these raga-ragini images
were portrayed in series of paintings, known as ragamalas
('garlands of ragas'). As H. J. Stooke puts it: "Poetry, painting
and music were thus brought into a new relationship."
A ragamala album usually contains 36 or 42 folios. The paintings
portray a human or divine figure, with or without other persons, in a
somewhat stereotyped romantic or devotional setting. Usually the central
figure has one or more characteristic emblems. Most paintings are
inscribed with the name of the raga or ragini they represent, and
often also a dhyana. The pictorial descriptions of Shubhankara
(c.1550), Meshakarna (1570), and particularly Damodara (c.1625) seem to
have had the greatest impact on the ragamala-painters. Most likely
these authors, or the painters themselves, based their descriptions on
earlier, hitherto unknown sources. According to Klaus Ebeling, a great
majority of the painters used the following raga-ragini system:
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In
the 19th century, ragamala painting ceased to be a living art. Many
of the ragas and raginis that had undergone transformations over
the centuries were still classified and portrayed in an iconographically
stereotyped fashion. Interestingly, Willard (1834) remarks that the ragamalas
"offered for sale are sometimes so incorrect, that scarcely one of
the representations is strictly in conformity with the descriptions given
in books."
Most present-day musicians do not see a direct connection between the
poetical descriptions and the painted raga-ragini images, and the
feelings a particular raga can evoke. However, we have included these
images in The Raga Guide because of their artistic, philosophical
and historical significance, and because we believe they are an important
key to understanding the musical meaning of individual ragas.
Ragas
in performance
Hindustani
music is essentially solo music and invariably performed with a drone,
usually provided by the tanpura. The tanpura player does not
participate in either the exposition of the raga or in maintaining the
rhythm, but must keep the drone going independently. Usually the two
middle strings of this unfretted long lute are tuned to the tonic and the
outer strings to the low fifth and the low tonic (P. S S S.).
Instead of Pa, the first string can be tuned to the natural fourth (M.
S S S.) when Pa is omitted or weak; or to the natural seventh
(N. S S S.) when there is an augmented fourth; or
sometimes even to Dha or Ga.
Each
of the recordings on the CDs represents a raga performance in miniature.
Performing a raga involves a number of movements such as a non-metrical
introduction (alap), one or more compositions (a vocal bandish
or instrumental gat), rhythmic improvisation (layakari) and
fast passages (tana). The order in which these are presented, and
the emphasis placed on them, depend largely on the vocal or instrumental
genre as well as the individual style of the performer.
Vocal dhrupad recitals usually begin with an alap, a fairly
extended section without rhythmic accompaniment. In this part, a musician
methodically explores the raga through a concentration on distinct
phrases, patterns and movements. Also, in the alap a musician
discloses his knowledge of the details which make up the raga he performs,
as well as his musical and improvisatory skills. The exposition starts
around the middle tonic, Sa, moves slowly into the low octave, gradually
works its way up to the middle and high octaves, and then finally returns
to middle Sa. Thus the raga is delineated in the three main octaves.
The alap has no text and is therefore the ideal medium for
expressing and manifesting the salient features of a raga. One way of
performing vocal alap is to use abstract syllables such as te,
re, na, ta, nom, tom. This is referred to as nom-tom. An
example of this type of alap can be heard on the recording of raga
Hindol by Vidyadhar Vyas. It serves traditionally as an introduction to a dhrupad
or dhamar song. An instrumental performance may also commence with
an elaborate alap to develop the raga. On the CD recordings, both
Hariprasad Chaurasia and Buddhadev DasGupta present a condensed version of
the alap before they play and elaborate the composition with tabla
accompaniment.
The slow, non-metrical alap, devoid of a clear pulse, may be
followed by movements called jod ('joining') and jhala.
These introduce a rhythmic pulse. The jod is played in medium
tempo, and the jhala in fast tempo, building up to a super-fast
speed. In instrumental jhala, the left hand plays a slow melody
while the right hand creates complex rhythmic patterns on the main and
drone strings, in a spectacular display of speed and virtuosity.
Ragas are known to musicians primarily through traditional compositions in
genres such as dhrupad, dhamar, khyal, tappa, tarana and thumri.
Good compositions possess a grandeur that unmistakably unveil the
distinctive features and beauty of the raga as the composer conceived it.
A song (bandish or chiz) or instrumental composition (gat)
may be relatively short, but it plays a vital role as a recurring theme in
the performance. It should have at least two parts, sthayi
('standing, constant') and antara ('intermediate'). The sthayi
portrays the raga's main features in the first part of the middle octave
and part of the lower register, and the antara covers the higher
part of the middle octave to high Sa and beyond.
In khyal, most singers explore the alap within the bounds of
the composition in meter, accompanied by tabla. In this type of alap,
called vistar or badhat, it is common to use either the long
vowel 'a' (akar) or the words of the composition (bol alap).
To commence the performance, the khyal singer may sing just a few
phrases to give an indication of the structure and flavour of the raga
(known as auchar) before the tabla player joins in. This is the
pattern followed by Shruti Sadolikar-Katkar and Vidyadhar Vyas on the
recordings, although Vyas also prefaces his introductions with the
ascent-descent of the raga.
In the first and main part of a khyal performance (usually referred
to as vilambit or bada khyal), the artist chooses a slow or
medium tempo song in which the raga is gradually unfolded. A short section
of this composition, taken from the first line of the sthayi, is
used as a refrain to conclude each cycle of the vistar. This
refrain is referred to as the mukhda ('signature') and leads up to
the first beat (sam) of the rhythm cycle. In other words, after
each improvisation the sam is a point of culmination and
resolution.
After the vistar has been completed, some rhythmic improvisations (layakari)
may be introduced before going into tana sequences. Such melodic
extensions and patterns can be sung with the words of the song (bol
tanas), with the long vowel 'a' (in akar) or with the names of
the notes (sargam). Rapid tanas become more prominent in the
medium to fast composition (chota khyal) which concludes the
presentation of a raga.
A special variety of chota khyal is the tarana. This medium
to fast composition uses apparently meaningless syllables such as ta,
na, de, re, dim. The recording of raga Gorakh kalyan by Vidyadhar Vyas
demonstrates a tarana; here, the singer also uses nom-tom
syllables to improvise around the composition.
In the highly expressive and ornamented light-classical thumri
genre, the predominant motif of the song lyrics is erotic or mystical
love. Thumri compositions usually consist of a sthayi and antara,
and are mainly sung or played in particular ragas, including Bhairavi,
Kafi, Pilu, Khamaj, Desh, Tilang, Tilak kamod, Jogiya, Sohini, Jhinjhoti
and Pahadi. These ragas allow the musician the freedom to introduce
accidental notes and passages from other ragas. The recording of Pilu by
Hariprasad Chaurasia is a typical instrumental thumri.
The lyrics (pad) of vocal compositions cover a wide range of
themes, from religious, devotional and philosophical subjects to eroticism
and love (especially concerning the amorous exploits of Krishna and the
yearnings of the milkmaids), as well as a description of nature, the
seasons and music itself. Most khyals and thumris are
composed in Braj bhasha, the western literary dialect of Hindi; others in
Avadhi, its eastern counterpart, and Punjabi. Braj bhasha is the language
spoken in the area of Mathura, where the Hindu god Krishna is said to have
spent his childhood. From the 16th up to the late 19th century it was the
most prominent literary language, and even today it is frequently used in
song lyrics, although not in its original form.
In India, vocal music has traditionally been allotted a primary position.
To a certain extent, instrumental music has tried to follow in its
footsteps. Due to their capacity to produce sustained sounds, instruments
such as the sarangi and harmonium were (and are still) used for
accompanying the voice. When the sarangi gained a solo status,
either the vocal repertoire was faithfully maintained or there was a
borrowing from other instrumental genres and styles. Possibly because of
their limited scope for imitating the voice, plucked instruments like the bin,
sitar and sarod (the instrument played by Buddhadev DasGupta)
evolved their own style of playing (baj), and major instrumental
genres were developed for them.
A composition for sitar or sarod is known as a gat.
Those in slow or medium tempo are based on fixed stroke patterns and are
called masitkhani gats, named after Masit Khan, a late 18th century
pioneering sitar player-composer. Following on the slow or medium
speed gat, a fast composition is played which has its origin in the
razakhani gat, named after the mid-19th century sitar player
Ghulam Raza Khan. The structure and lively tempo of these gats are
more conducive to rendering tanas: first short ones, and then
gradually expanding in length and variety. A fast instrumental composition
may conclude with jhala movements, commencing at a fairly high
speed which continues to accelerate.
Talas
in performance
All
the recordings in this collection have rhythm accompaniment on tabla.
A composition in Hindustani music is set to a particular rhythm cycle (tala),
which consists of a fixed number of time units or counts (matras)
and is made up of two or more sections. The first beat of each section is
either stressed (shown by a clap of the hands) or unstressed (shown by a
wave of the right hand).
Among the talas which are in common use, the sixteen-beat tintal
(or trital: 4+4+4+4) is perhaps the most popular today. Other
common talas are:
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