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About a decade ago I read a mind-opening passage by Ravi Shankar. It was along the lines of classical music isn't just western. India and indeed other countries and cultures have their own classical music. It may not conform to what we think of as classical music in the west, e.g. written down for a set type of orchestra, but it has its own parallel tradition.

The article was a foreward in a book on Indian music. It was a great book to read, although sadly I admit I didn't finish it at the time. Now I come to read it through properly, I can't find it. I can find similar books, but none with the same foreward. The Google book archive allows us to see some pages of archived books and from that, I've figured out that the book I'm looking for is not among the archived books. Some of them do look interesting though.

I've written a few articles on flamenco and I had wanted to follow-up on them by collating together some pointers as to the history of flamenco and the its genesis in Raags/Ragas. That book was a prime candidate for drawing parallels between the two musical forms. As it stands, I've collected a few links that contain a wealth of information on the subject.

Similar to the compas in flamenco, a raag is a combination of both rhythm and scale. To me, the raga has more emphasis on the notes allowed than a compás does, but both combine notes and stress patterns. More specific, it is the raga that states the notes/melodies to be used and the tala which states the rhythm. Similar to flamenco, the rhythm patterns can stretch across several bars.

Amitava Sarkar and the ICMCA provide the following definition of a Raag:

- The list of specific notes that can be used during playing of the raag
- The manner in which the notes are used, i.e. specific ways of ornamenting notes or emphasizing/de-emphasizing them
- Manner in which the scale is ascended or descended
- Optional or required musical phrases, the way in which to reveal these phrases, and/or combine them
- The octave or frequency range to emphasize
- The relative pacing between the notes
- The time of day and/or season when the raag may be performed so as to invoke the emotions of the raag for maximum impact on the mental and emotional state of the performer and listener

That gives some insight into the framework which a Raag provides. Even the time of day and season can be involved Imagine if you were told that it was only appropriate to play Country music between 9am and 11am in Summer?

Raags:

Simple introduction at About.com

More detailed information at:
Know Your Raga.com
Chandrakanta.com
Ravi Shankar

The archived books:

The Dawn of Indian Music in the West - Lavezzoli
Romance of The Raga - Moorthy

Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.

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