The uniqueness of classical Indian Music and its online sourcesMusic has profound influence on human mind. Perhaps there are not many people in this world whose hearts are not moved by some form of music. Music therapy is being tried in the treatment of many disorders like anxiety, depression and high blood pressure. It can act as a soothing balm for the troubled mind. Classical Indian music is unique in that it is not only a source of entertainment but also has the potential to uplift man spiritually. It is inseparable from Indian spiritually. Its origin can be traced to the Vedas. All the compositions of Indian classical music are based on devotion to God unlike some forms of music which arouse lower instincts. There are seven notes in classical Indian music. They are called Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da and Ni. The notes are referred to as Swaras. Out of these Sa and Pa remain unchanged in a given octave. Sa is also called as Shadjam and Pa is also called as Panchamam. They are the Prakriti Swaras. The remaining five have different forms in the same octave and are known as Vikriti Swaras. There are two forms of Indian classical music-Carnatic and Hindustani. The Swaras are common to both but the same Raga may be known by different names. Only the style of singing is different. A particular set of notes constitutes a Raga. A Raga may contain all the seven Swaras or only some of the swaras. In Carnatic music Ragas are broadly classified into two groups. They are Melakartha Ragas also known as Janaka Ragas and Janya Ragas. The Janaka Ragas are the parent Ragas. Each Janaka raga has all the seven notes in both ascending and descending scale and contains the SAME NOTES in both ascending and descending scales. The ascending scale is known as Arohana and the descending scale is known as Avarohana. There are 2 forms of each of the five Vikriti Swaras. Thus we have a total of 12 Swaras. The two types of Ri are known as Shuddha Rishabha (R1) and Chathurasra Rishabha (R2). The two types of ga are known as Sadharana Gandhara (G2) and Antara Gandhara (G3). The two types of Ma are called as Shuddha Madhyama (M1) and Prathi Madhyama (M2). The two forms of Da are called as Shuddha Dhaivatha (D1) and Chaturashra Dhaivatha (D2). The two types of Ni are called Kaishiki Nishada (N2) and Kakali Nishada (N3). It should be noted that R2 can be used as Ga when it is called Shuddha Gandhara (G1). In this case the Raga should have R1. G2 can be used as Ri when it is known as Shatshruthi Rishabha (R3). In this case the raga should have G3. Similarly D2 can be used as Ni when it is called Shuddha Nishada (N1). In this case the raga should have D1. Kaishiki Nishada (N2) can be used as Da when it is called Shatshruthi dhaivatha (D3). In this case the raga should have N3. Books on Indian Classical Music
The Melakartha Ragas are broadly classified into 2 groups. The first 36 ragas contain Shudha Madhyama (M1). The next 36 are called Prathi Madhyama (M2) Ragas as they have Prathi Madhyama. Each group is further divided into 6 subgroups each containing six Ragas. In each subgroup the notes in the first half up to Ma remain same for all the Ragas in that subgroup. The combinations of Da and Ni give rise to six Ragas. For example in the first subgroup the notes in the first half up to Ma are Sa, R1, G1, and M1. All the six ragas have the same notes in the first half. The first Raga which is called Kanakangi has D1 N1. Indian Classical Music CDs, DVDs and MP3 downloads
The second Raga called Ratnangi has D1N2. The third called ganamurti has D1 N3. The fourth has D2 N2. It is called Vanaspathi. The fifth has D2 N3. It is called Manavathi. The sixth raga known as Taanaroopi has D3 and N3. If we replace M1 with M2 in the first raga (Kanakangi) we get the 37th raga known as Saalagam. In the same way each shudha madhyama raga has its corresponding prathi madhyama raga. The position of the latter can be obtained by adding 36 to the position of the shudha madhyama raga.
Page last reviewed on 8th March 2010
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