Tuning into the RAGAS

Going by the phrase “old is the new new”, Indian Classical Music is also reeling back in time. Many Bollywood songs and compositions of artist like A.R. Rahman are based on classical ragas. Songs like Moh Moh ke Dhaage, Tu hi re, Mere dholna, Aayat, Kanha soja zara and Jashna Jashna are based on various ragas.

Ever wondered how these ragas and swaras came into existence?

Let me start from scratch. Indian Classical Music is divided into two parts.
North Indian Classical Music generally known as “Hindustani Sangeet” and South Indian Classical Music known as “Carnatic Sangeet”.

I have completed my Upantya Visharad (i.e. 6 years) in North Indian Classical Vocal and Harmonium and hence my explanation would be based on the same.

Whole of Indian Classical Music revolves around seven notes(swar). These seven notes are the sounds derived from nature. The sound of a peacock, the bellowing of a cow when it gets separated from the calf, sound of a heron, trumpeting of an elephant etc.
The Seven notes with their full names are:

Sa-Shadaj
Re-Rishabh
Ga-Gandhar
Ma-Madhyam
Pa-Pancham
Dha-Dhaivat
Ni-Nishad

The swaras can be shudh (swar taken in its original scale), Komal (swar taken below its scale) and Tivra (swar taken above its scale).

A Raga is a combination of at least 5 swaras. It is a melodic framework. Each raga traditionally has an emotional significance and symbolic associations such as with season, time and mood. Some ragas are suitable to be sung in the morning while some at night. Some represent the feeling of happiness while some represent anger. The raga is considered as a means in Indian musical tradition to evoke certain feelings to the listening audience. Some of the ragas have been evolved from the five faces of Lord Shiva while some consider the origin of the ragas from the Samveda.

Ragas with five notes are called Audav raga. Ragas with six notes are called Shadav raga and the ragas with all seven notes are called Sampurna raga. A raga starts with the Aaroha, Avroha and Pakad. These three lines contains the essence of the ragas. A raga can be identified by its Aaroha, Avroha and Pakad. Then comes the sargam, Bandish, Aalap and Taan. A raga can also be modified according to one’s convenience but the essence has to be maintained.

The main swaras and its types(Shudh/Komal/Tivra) are always constant. In a nutshell, ragas are the heart of classical music. No matter what song it is, it always emerges from a raga.

These are very basic things just like the tip of an iceberg.If you take more interest, you can learn a lot more about it.We are the youth and we are only responsible to keep the Indian classical music alive. Don’t let it lose its spark. Hope this was helpful in some way. Stay tuned for more. Keep singing. Keep sharing.