I can recommend ICM (Indian Classical Music), if you guys aren't familiar with it.
Before we get into ICM, the problem with using Western music theory like solfege to understand Hindustani sangeet and Carnatic sangeet, is that they regularly use increments in pitch smaller than a quarter tone, and there are a variety of uses for meend/string-bending that blur the line between quarter tone and semi tone. Some schools of thought, known in India as gharanas/traditions, prefer either angular or circular bending, or they synthesize the two to some extent based on their sense of musicality, and there are cases where a musician either jumps or wavers between micro tones in a manner fairly reminiscent of but decidedly different from vibrato.
Many rags use the same thaat/mode, but differ in jati and sruti. The jati is the collection of notes used, and there is not always a full scale being employed like Westerners would expect (actually a full diatonic scale would be the exception), considering that sometimes even as few as four notes are used. It is notable that in the same raag/piece there is not only a difference in arohana/ascent and avarohana/descent regarding melodic patterns, but even different jati that are considered permissible. The sruti are notes that are anywhere from a quarter tone to a micro tone away from standard, and whichever swara/notes are flat or sharp can make the character of the raga and help in part to distinguish it from other ragas in the same thaat.
Moving on we visit the concept of vadi/principle-note and samvadi/second-principle-note. Notes which are neither emphasized nor de-emphasized are called anuvadi, notes that are de-emphasized are referred to as durbal, while notes which are excluded are called vivadi. However, the art of ICM is always evolving and some have considered throwing out ideas like vadi, samvadi, and anuvadi (not vivadi) as traditions differ on which raga has which, so while some are agreed to have an "official" layout for emphasis you can find much variety with others.
Regardless of which is official, it is still central to understanding ICM because whichever ones the musician chooses he/she will emphasize one note the most and a second one nearly as much. Oftentimes the two represent something that feels tangible, and they are used because they epitomize the theme. Like I noted in a post a few days ago, in rag bihag the fifth and seventh are the two principle notes and they represent fevered romantic tension and sweet contentment (bihag is a love story between two Hindu gods). The seventh is dissonant so it evokes tension, and the fifth is a place of rest from harmonic tension.
One last thing that is notable before we finally get into the meat of a raag, is the samay/setting. Different ragas are meant to be played during certain seasons, can tend to be centered around a festival of religious observance, or are performed at a certain time of day (bihag is about romance, hence it is most often performed during the evening). This custom is no longer considered obligatory by every tradition but it is still fairly prevalent at least in the art form's home country.
But digging deeper into what really makes a raag a raag instead of just a mode with set rules for arohana and avarohana when improvising, we come to the pakad or swarup. Aside from the particular jati and sruti that a raga uses there is still considered a need for the main feature, the idiosyncratic part of a raga that most embodies it's theme and mood. In rag bihag, my personal favorite, the pakad is the musical phrase "pa ma ga ma ga" or "so fa mi fa mi". You will find this phrase in any performance of rag bihag, as well as prevalent use of phrases like "sa sa ni pa, ga ma ga 'pause'". Oftentimes the pakad or swarup is a natural consequence of arohana/avarohana, but sometimes it is unique and not implied by the modal structure. It is customary to enfold the pakad into the arohana/avarohana to make the ascending and descending structures more descriptive.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGRWplypyvk[/youtube]
If you're not sure how ICM solfege lines up with classical solfege, it goes like this:
Shadj/sa- Do
Rishabh/re- Re
Gandhara/ga- Me
Madhyam/ma- Fa
Pancham/pa- So
Dhaivat/da- La
Nishad/ni- Ti
But really, this much information can only just get people started with ICM. I haven't even mentioned tal (the literal sanskrit word for "clap"), and tali/clap and khali/wave, the rhythmic cycles and different types of counts. Tali and khali are fairly similar to a conductor with a baton.
There are matra/beats that are stressed (such as the sam/first-beat), typically either 3, 4, or 5 in a measure, and measures can go in cycles like 3, 4, 3. Really, for the most part I've found that ICM is more rhythmically complex, and stimulating both to count and to simply let it do it's own work on you. There are many interesting effects that occur when you count in cycles instead of having a standard measure length, such as the lulling effect of the odd measures next to the steady even measures that don't seem to trail off after the stress beat like the others.
I could go on for days how that in spite of a number of things that resemble each other there is a wide gulf of difference in general thought as to how music is made. All ICM focuses on the melody, and any harmonies that arise are incidental to the relationship between the melody and drone note, drone phrase, or for example the chords being struck on the sympathetic strings of the sitar (a separate set of strings that are struck together, and they vibrate from overtones). All of this is a source of endless fascination for me, it is all to easy to get carried away thinking about it all.
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There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.
Nahj ul-Balāgha by Ali bin Abu-Talib
09 Aug 2014, 10:22 am
