Indian music is one of the most complex types of music. In Theory there can be over 70,000 raga but in reality there are 500. A raga uses a series of five to nine musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a raga. The instruments that come from this part of the world have a unique sound unlike any other. The droning sound Instruments are called tanpura, harmonium, and shrutibox. Their part in the playing of a rag is to drone the fundamental note of the rag. The percussion instrument in North Indian music is called the tabla. It is a two part drum high and low and the player is a master of rhythm cycles if they play this instrument because the tabla set the rhythm for the the metered part of a rag. The instruments that explores the Raga and makes melodies are sarang, sarad, ruda vina, and sitar. This Instruments are responsible for taking the listener a musician through the Raga. This is not a fast process in the courts you would do this all day every day and still don't be done. You can look at as you never full understand the raga you just became one with it. That is why you play raga to become one with it.
This is a video of a tanpura droning a D.
This is tabla lesson for beginners. It walks you through how to play the tabla.
Part of one of my lesson plans deals with ragas (in a very basic fashion). Its one thing to visually read the definition of a musical practice but another to actually execute it. I started trying to hypothetically write my own ragas and layer them and think about the improvisatory factor. I liked your sentence, "you play raga to become one with it". :)
I loved the different tutorials for the instruments. They look easier to play than what they probably are. It probably would take me a longer time than it took the musicians for me to learn. I could definitely not play the table because my sense of rhythm is really low.
The concept of a raga seems so foreign to me (no pun intended). I feel like there isn't a real western analogue. It would be so odd for us to go to a performance that took hours to expand on a single mode.
Part of one of my lesson plans deals with ragas (in a very basic fashion). Its one thing to visually read the definition of a musical practice but another to actually execute it. I started trying to hypothetically write my own ragas and layer them and think about the improvisatory factor. I liked your sentence, "you play raga to become one with it". :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the different tutorials for the instruments. They look easier to play than what they probably are. It probably would take me a longer time than it took the musicians for me to learn. I could definitely not play the table because my sense of rhythm is really low.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of a raga seems so foreign to me (no pun intended). I feel like there isn't a real western analogue. It would be so odd for us to go to a performance that took hours to expand on a single mode.
ReplyDelete