Area of Study 4Indian Raga!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson you will be able

to:

Understand the structure of an Indian Raga

Explain the key features in the music

Understand the rough analysis of the different Raga’s

INDIAN RAGAWhat you need to know about Indian

Raga :

RAGA – Indian scale/melody

It is learnt through Oral Tradition

A raga is in 4 sections – Alap, Jhor, Jhalla, Gat/ Bandish

There are 3 elements – Drone (played by Tambura), Raga – (melody played by Sitar) and the Tala – (rhythm played by Tabla)

RAGA SCALE - learn it!!!

Section Tempo Metre/ Rhythm Musical features

Alap Slow/ Medative Free time soloist ‘explores’ notes - improvise sets mood accompanied by a drone

Jhor Steady/ Medium Sense of regular pulse is set

improvised music becomes rhythmic music is elaborated & tempo increases

Jhalla Fast/ Lively Fast pulse with exciting and complex rhythms

high point in the piece virtuoso display, using advanced playing techniques

Gat/ Bandish

Moderate/ Fast Tabla introduces the rhythmic cycle ‘tala’

fixed composition introduced musical dialogue between instrumentalist and drummer flourished improvisation happens on a prepared melodic line

THE PROGRESSION…

The Melody: This is the set melody on which the music is improvised It is a cross between pitch and a scale – however the pitches often differ in

each direction The notes in a Rag vary – some have 5 notes like a pentatonic scale whilst

others have 7 or 8 notes There are over 200 different Rags!

The Drone: The drone is a replacement for a real sense of harmony like Western

Music The notes are usually the Tonic and Dominant (I – V) of a chosen Rag It keeps a sense of tuning/ intonation as a reference point for the melodic

parts

The sound adds texture to the whole piece Rhythm:

The Tabla drums gives repeated rhythmic cycles called Tala The rhythm patterns (bols) are independent of the beat and can be

inventive – creating syncopation They must however start and end precisely on the first beat of the cycle

(called Sam)

THE THREE ELEMENTS

Analysis of the Rag Desh Rag Desh: The Rainy Season Raga, played at

nightGives the feeling of romance and devotion

Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar It is made up of an ALAP and two different GATSYou can hear the different techniques Shankar

uses in the Alap: Strums Plucks Bends notes

The first Gat uses 10 beats tala - Jhaptal, at a medium tempo: madhyalaya

The second Gat uses 16 beat tintal tala, faster tempo: drut

Rag Desh by Chiranji Lal Tanwar

Use of voice to sing the RagaThere is an ALAP and BANDISH sectionAlap:

The sitar improvises using note of the raga over a tamura drone, joined by a sarangi

The singer uses a lot of vibrato The tal used is the 8 beat Keherwa Tal

Bandish: Fixed composition Vocals are more elaborate Tempo increases, music becomes fast and exciting

Rag Desh by Steve Gorn & Benjy WertheimerMore traditional raga structure - There is an ALAP

and two GATSAlap:

Improvise using the notes of the Rag Desh Drone from Tambura Drone The section is slow and flowing - no specific pulse

Gat 1: Steady rhythm Faster than the Alap

Gat 2: A lot faster The Tabla plays fast complicated rhythms Melody more structured

Exam type questions…1. All three pieces start with an alap section.

Name three characteristics of this opening section of a raga

2. What is the ‘fixed composition’ and where is it to be found in the raga?

3. Name two other sections of a full raga performance

4. Describe two features of the rhythm in all three versions