Carnatic Music - II (Raga)
Raga is a combination of the twelve swaras which forms various tunes or melodies. All tunes in a particular raga would contain the same set or subset of swaras that form the raga. However, ragas are not simply collections of swaras that produce melodies. There are various factors that together identify a raga.
Factors that form a raga
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Every raga has a schema associated with it -
Aarohana - the ascending series of swaras Eg S R G M P D N S
Avarohana - the descending series Eg S N D P M G R S
When playing a raga, if the artist wants to keep the pitch rising, he has to follow the aarohana pattern and vice versa. Ragas might have the same set of swaras but in a different order which when played might result in completely different ragas
For ex, Raga - Shankarabaranam and Kadhana Kodhookalam have the same swaras S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S. If one sings these swaras in the order given above, it is Shankarabaranam. If the order is changed like S R2 M1 D2 N2 G2 P S, this is Kadhana Kodhookalam. Nowhere when one plays Kadhana Kodhookalam, should there be a sequence of S R2 G2 M1 !!
Gamakas - They give life to the ragas. Ragas when played just with the help of the aarohana/avarohana pattern would result in lifeless and meaningless music. The gamakas define the mode of moving from one swara to the other, which swaras to give more stress on, etc. Gamaka patterns are different for different ragas.
When a raga is played by adhering to all these above rules, one can sense a unique melody in it. Ragas have been designed to bring in emotions to listeners. There are ragas which sound joy, fear, sorrow etc etc etc..There are ragas which have to be played in mornings, evenings. There are ragas which bring rain too!!
Types of Ragas
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The Melakarta Scheme - The mekarta scheme is the fixed set of ragas that contain all the 7 basic swaras both in the aarohana and in the avarohana. There are 72 such melakarta ragas. Melakarta Raga List
Janya Ragas - These ragas are derived from melakarta ragas. One simple way to form a janya raga is to leave out one or two swaras in the aarohana/avarohana! Ex : Leaving out M1 N2 in the aarohana of ShankaraBaranam gives Raga Bilahari (My Favourite!! and the raga pattern denotes melancholy and heroism)!! The aarohana/avarohana of a melakarta when twisted also forms a janya raga (Eg, Kadhana Kodhookalam that we saw above). Swaras from different melakartas can be mixed to form janya ragas! One can now imagine the thousands of ragas that can be formed!!!!
Factors that form a raga
--------------------------------
Every raga has a schema associated with it -
Aarohana - the ascending series of swaras Eg S R G M P D N S
Avarohana - the descending series Eg S N D P M G R S
When playing a raga, if the artist wants to keep the pitch rising, he has to follow the aarohana pattern and vice versa. Ragas might have the same set of swaras but in a different order which when played might result in completely different ragas
For ex, Raga - Shankarabaranam and Kadhana Kodhookalam have the same swaras S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S. If one sings these swaras in the order given above, it is Shankarabaranam. If the order is changed like S R2 M1 D2 N2 G2 P S, this is Kadhana Kodhookalam. Nowhere when one plays Kadhana Kodhookalam, should there be a sequence of S R2 G2 M1 !!
Gamakas - They give life to the ragas. Ragas when played just with the help of the aarohana/avarohana pattern would result in lifeless and meaningless music. The gamakas define the mode of moving from one swara to the other, which swaras to give more stress on, etc. Gamaka patterns are different for different ragas.
When a raga is played by adhering to all these above rules, one can sense a unique melody in it. Ragas have been designed to bring in emotions to listeners. There are ragas which sound joy, fear, sorrow etc etc etc..There are ragas which have to be played in mornings, evenings. There are ragas which bring rain too!!
Types of Ragas
---------------------
The Melakarta Scheme - The mekarta scheme is the fixed set of ragas that contain all the 7 basic swaras both in the aarohana and in the avarohana. There are 72 such melakarta ragas. Melakarta Raga List
Janya Ragas - These ragas are derived from melakarta ragas. One simple way to form a janya raga is to leave out one or two swaras in the aarohana/avarohana! Ex : Leaving out M1 N2 in the aarohana of ShankaraBaranam gives Raga Bilahari (My Favourite!! and the raga pattern denotes melancholy and heroism)!! The aarohana/avarohana of a melakarta when twisted also forms a janya raga (Eg, Kadhana Kodhookalam that we saw above). Swaras from different melakartas can be mixed to form janya ragas! One can now imagine the thousands of ragas that can be formed!!!!
posted by g'Krish at
7:28 PM
2 Comments:
one thing- two ragas with same aravohana and avarohana exist. they are distinguished by gamaham and in a particular a single or two notes in succession are sung, wrt to the gamaham.
not able to recollect any eg now..
will tell u if and when it strikes me...
nice post btw....
kalakku po!
yup! even i know that! jus that forgot the exzmple! :(
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