ATS1346 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Carnatic Music, Hindustani Classical Music, Microtonal Music
25 May 2018
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Lecture 3 – Music of India: Ragas and Talas
• Understanding the melodic system of Hindustani music
o Through cooking
• Two concepts
o Melody
o Rhythm
Beyond Melodic Scales
• A scale is generally understood as a group of notes in an ascending order
• In harmonic contexts modes tend to be though of as an alternative scales
o More commonly known in Western music as the Greek modes
• Outside of harmonic contexts, melodic modes are not just alternate scale types
o Are dominant form of melodic organisation
o India: thousands of modes that are used
• Modes need to be defined through and according to its own system
o Include: different ascending and descending movements
o Hierarchy of notes within mode
o Intonation
Melodic Modes
• Most of traditional music systems in the world share modal melodic
characteristics in common
• Broadly put this means Asia, Africa, indigenous Australia
• Greek modes were like this until they were used in harmonic environment
o Generated diatonically
Classical Music Traditions in India
• Sastriya Sangeet (classical/art music of India)
• Two major traditions:
o Hindustani Music – North India
o Carnatic Music – South India
• Common in both:
o Same fundamental musical elements of raga and tala
o Same rhythmic modes
• Different:
o Performance through different languages
o Different types of instruments
o Different musical genres
Raga
• Melodic system at the core of Hindustasni and Carnatic classical music
• Means ‘that which colours the mind’
• Profoundly systematic, intricate and complex system of melodic principles
built on modal theory
• Defining feature of Indian music for more than 1,000 years
• Things that define raga
o More than a scale
o More than a mode
