PITCH, SCALE, and MELODY |
| While many fundamental concepts are held in common between north and south Indian classical music systems, much is different. The names of the seven notes of the scale are nearly identical (with some minor variations) and the word for melody is essentially the same, rāga (rāg in common Hindustani speech). |
| Instead of the complicated and comprehensive system worked out by Venkatamakhi, north Indian musicians use a set of scales that are dervived from practice, not theory. Furthermore, their svarasthāna are much more straight-forward with the five moveable notes having only two positions (rather than three). A svar's position is either suddh ("natural") or one of two vikrit ("altered") positions: tīvr ("raised") or komal ("lowered"). |
| Rāgs in north India are much more melodically defined than in the south, although scale is still important. In most rāgs, only one version of a svar occurs (either the śuddh or the tīvr / komal position of any one note). However, in some rāgs (especially the so-called "light" rāgs or in the Lalit group of rāgs) more than one note may appear. |
Scale / Ṭhāṭ |
| The word ṭhāṭ [Hindi "framework, skeleton"] represents the north Indian concept of scale. The scholar Bhatkhande describes Hindustani rāgs in terms of ten ṭhāṭs. |
| Svarasthāna [Hindi: "note placement"] (See illustration below for Hindustani note placement.) |
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acal svar [acal Hindi "non-walking" or "immovable"] those notes (Sa and Pa) which have only one position and no altered versions The other notes (Re, Ga, Ma, Dha, and Ni) each have two possible
positions |
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śuddh [Hindi "pure"] The śuddh position of notes in a Hindustani ṭhāṭ is defined as the upper position for svara re, ga, dha, and ni and the lower position for ma.
Bhatkhande defined the śuddh ṭhāṭ as Bilāval ṭhāṭ in Hindustani saṅgīt. (Bilāval ṭhāṭ is parallel to the Western major scale.) |
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vikrit [Hindi "altered"] a lowered or raised version of a śuddh svar. |
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komal ["soft" or "tender"] the lowered vikrit position |
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tīvr ["strong" or "intense"] the raised vikrit |
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Hindustāni Svarastāna |
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| Jātī [Sanskrit "species"] |
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sampūrṇ ["complete"] heptatonic scales (with seven notes) |
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ṣaḍav / khaḍav hexatonic scales (six notes) |
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auḍav pentatonic scales (five notes) |
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| Sthān [Urdu-Persian-Hindi, "position"] or saptak [Sanskrit "group of seven"] "octave" "register" |
| Scholars and musicians refer to three general registers in north Indian classical music: |
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madhy ("middle") |
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tār ("high") |
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atitār:
the sthan above tar |
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mandr ("low") |
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atimandr:
the sthān below mandr |
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| Intonation |
| Indian music does not make use of equal temperament, but rather something closer to just intonation. The fine tuning of specific notes is done for the most part according to the individual musician's prerogatives. This is not to say that the
tuning of instruments and the specific intonation of pitches is left to chance or left to sloppy performance. On the contrary, particular interest is paid in Indian classical music to fine shades of intonation. Musicians commonly highlight particular notes with several "intonational" ornaments: mīṇḍ (slides), andolan (exaggerated vibrato), and gamak (a quick shake). |
| The word commonly used to describe these fine discriminations in intonation is śruti ("that which is heard"), although no specific intonation is implied by the term. |
Melody / Rāg |
| Melodic Movement |
| Scholars and musicians in
northern Indian practice describe the melodic movement of rāgs with a number of terms. They recognize rāgs by their characteristic melodic movement or varṇ, Sanskrit "kind," "class"]. Today, they most often employ the terms āroh and avroh, other terms being much less common. |
| One of the most important
ways of identifying a rāg is through its pakaḍ, a characteristic phrase. If you were to ask a musician to show you a rāg, he/she might also perform it through a svar vistār: a series of phrases illustrating the characteristic shapes of a rāg in a variety of registers. |
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āroh / ārohi varṇ: ascending form |
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avroh / avrohi varṇ: descending form |
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sthāyi varṇ:
"steady" or "unchangeable" form |
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sañcāri varṇ: "wandering" (i.e., a mixture of āroh and avroh) |
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vakra varṇ ["crooked" or "oblique"] characteristic passages in some rāgs which demand a deviation from the straight scale.
The note from which a vakr varn must begin is the vakr svar. |
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| Important Notes |
| Most rāgs have
two notes of particular importance: their vādi and samvādi. The vādi Sanskrit "sonant"] or aṃśa is the most important note, often approached via the samvādi ("consonant"), the second-most important note. |
| Historically, scholars have also used the terms viśrantisvar or maqāmsthān to describe the terminal or resting notes and sometimes equate these with vādi. Modern musicians are more likely to use the term vādi. |
| Two terms which are used often—but which are more commonly defined by what they are not—are vivādi (a dissonant note to be avoided, sometimes also described as the varjisvar, "omitted note") and anuvādi (an assonant note which is perceived neither as consonant nor as dissonant). |
| According to V. N. Bhatkhande, rāgs which have their vādi in the purvāṅg or emphasize the lower tetrachord should be performed between noon and midnight. Rāgs which have their vādi in the uttarāṅg or emphasize the upper tetrachord should be performed between midnight and noon. |
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| Sargam: Devanagari/English Transcription |
| Rāg Bhairavī |
| Rāg Toḍī |
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