Raga Music

Cultural History (see the Alves handout, there is a timeline - be able to match the dates
with the below, and be able to speak about them) DATES on pages 244-247) I've left off
the ones having to do with Southern music.
o 1800-1200 BCE: Migration of Aryans, what they brought with them, and the
development of early Hinduism, composition of Vedas
o 563 BCE: Birth of the Buddha
o 400 BCE - 400 CE: Composition of Hindu epics: Mahabharta and Rayamana (What
were they about, what are ways they were/are they transmitted in India)
o 5th C CE: Natyasastra: first treatise on the arts (including basis for classical
Indian musical theory - this is an important moment for a culture, to be able to
describe a theoretical system for its musical ideas)
o 1175 CE: Beginning of Persian influence, and introduction of Islam in the North
(while the South remained Hindu)...begins the division of Karnatic (South) and
Hindustani (North) Indian musical traditions
o 1520 - early 1700's CE: Golden age of Mughal courts - what was effect on
music?
o 1764 - 1948 CE: British colonial rule- what was effect on music? (purely
instrumental forms, not religious based, an urban artform...
o 1920's CE: brought a shift of patronage to public concerts, support by middle
class - effect on music?
o 1910 - 1932 CE: Standardization of Hindustani classical music (in the north)
o 1947-8 CE: Independence from British rule
o 1950 - 1980: Golden Age of filmi
What were the Vedas, why were they important culturally and musically?
Elements of Indian classical music (p. 247)
What is the texture of this music?
I might ask you to describe to me how to construct a raga...if I do, I'll give you a list of
vocab to draw from...you'd need to know how to use these correctly:
Raga ivolves sitar, table, tambura (drone). The name of the composition will contain a
Tala (example would be tintal), and the type of Raga (scale used, like Khamaj), avartas =
grouping of beats. Vadi and Samvadi
o drone
o raga
o bandish
o gharana
o taraf extra strings tuned to the drone note
o that pitch collection
o sruti - microtones
o svara - pitches
o sa
o aroh/avaroh
o pakar - motives
o chalan just wandering inbetween the notes
o vadi, samvadi
o cadence pitch (a resting note at the end of a phrase)
o gamaka - ornamentation
o rasa - moods
o ragamala paintings depicting the rasas
o tala: sam, khali, tali
o vibhag
o bol
o alap gat saval-javab jhala
Elements of raga (the melodic dimension of Indian music) p. 253,4
Instruments:
classify (chordophone, aerophone, idiophone, membranophone):
o sitar, sarod (can you distinguish between them?), sarangi, tanpura, bansuri,
harmonium, tabla
LISTENING ID:
I WILL BE DRAWING FROM THE TWO LISTENING GUIDES:
Raga Khamaj
o be able to identify where we are in the music if I play a section from alap, gat,
saval-javab, and jhala - and describe what is happening musically in each
o be able to to count chachar cycles (how many?) in the gat
Raga Yaman
o Identify sections: alap, gat-tora, jhala
o Identify the mukhra
o Identify the tihai

Laya & Tala
o Kl = time
o Its cyclical, not linear
o Laya
Maintenance as intervals between beats
tempo within the music
1. Vilanbit
2. Madyha
3. Drut
o Hindustatni laya goes slow to fast
o According to myth Shiva set in motion the universe through the
rhythmic danse
o Tala
Gat when the tala comes in
= Palm of the hand
organized rhythmic cycle
ranges from 3-108 beats
Matra = beats, Theka = bol arrangements (vocal sound
attributed to each beat), Vibhag = divisions (think bar lines),
Tali = clapped sections denoted by numbes, Khali = female
response (unclapped sections), Sum = x, where the cycle
restarts
o Avartan = single cycle/start of cycle
Rupak = 7
Teental = 16
o Amad = how you arrive at Sum.
o Pathakshar and Padhant syllables and vocalization
Akshar = syllable
Honors Goddess Saraswati, who is a river of all creation
o Kalykari subdivsions?
Jati/Chati 3, 4, 7, 9
Khandam = 5 beat pattern
Ateet: composition tentionally rsolvig to sum
Goon: 3/2 rhyhthm.
o Tihai melodic phrase within rhythmic pattern
Navarsa nine moods
o Nine rasas (moods)
Sadness, love / joy, heroism, /valor, laughter comedy, anger,
fear, disgust, peace
Kuchipudi type of dance, very theatrical and acting-out
o Ragamala painting of the mood or story. Each painting refers to a
Raga
o Alap = reveals the characteristics of the raga
o Saval-javab faster; question/answer with sarod and table;tala tintal
o Jhala becomes more viruosic, using thok jhala techniques with drone
string; finally ending in a dramatic unison rhythm

Raga Music

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Cultural History (see the Alves handout, there is a timeline - be able to match the dates

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