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Area of Study 4 Indian Raga! LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson you will be able to: Understand Explain the key features in the music Understand Raga’s the structure of an Indian Raga the rough analysis of the different INDIAN RAGA What 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!!! THE PROGRESSION… Section Alap Jhor Tempo Slow/ Medative Steady/ Medium Metre/ Rhythm Free time Sense of regular pulse is set Musical features soloist ‘explores’ notes improvise sets mood accompanied by a drone improvised music becomes rhythmic music is elaborated & tempo increases Jhalla Gat/ Bandish Fast/ Lively Moderate/ Fast Fast pulse with exciting and complex rhythms Tabla introduces the rhythmic cycle ‘tala’ high point in the piece virtuoso display, using advanced playing techniques fixed composition introduced musical dialogue between instrumentalist and drummer flourished improvisation happens on a prepared melodic line THE THREE ELEMENTS 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) Analysis of the Rag Desh Rag Gives the feeling of romance and devotion Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar It is made up of an ALAP and two different GATS You can hear the different techniques Shankar uses in the Alap: Desh: The Rainy Season Raga, played at night 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 Use of voice to sing the Raga There is an ALAP and BANDISH section Alap: Desh by Chiranji Lal Tanwar 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 More traditional raga structure - There is an ALAP and two GATS Alap: Improvise using the notes of the Rag Desh Drone from Tambura Drone The section is slow and flowing - no specific pulse Gat 1: Desh by Steve Gorn & Benjy Wertheimer 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