Raga

 What is a raga?

Raga is the basis of Indian classical music upon which all compositions and creativity are built.

A Raga is the simplest form of melody made up of a unique sequence of notes with ornamentations called gamakas.

Fundamentals of raga:

1. Number of notes in a raga:

The number of notes in a raga defines the jaathi of the raga:

* When a raga has 5 notes in ascending order and  5 notes in descending order it is known as the audava-audava jaati ragam(audava=5)

Mohana is a good example of this type

*When a raga has 6 notes in ascending and descending order it is known as shadava-shadava Jaati ragam.

Example: ShriRanjani

*When a raga has 7 notes in ascending and 7 notes in descending it is knowns as a sampoorna ragam.

Example: Shankarabharnam

We can also have mixed jaati's

Example:

    *5 notes in ascending order and 7 notes in descending order is called AudavaSampoorna jaati raga.

    *6 notes in ascending order and 5 notes in descending order is called as Shadava-Audava ragam

2. Order of notes in a raga:

Notes are always not arranged in the original sequence.

In some ragas, they are arranged in a zig-zag manner.

Thses ragas are called as Vakra ragas

Example Shri Ragam

    

A Ragam can be classified into two types :

1)Melakartha Ragam (Parent ragam)

2)Janya Ragam(Derived from Parent ragam)

Melakartha Ragam:
There are 72 Melakartha Ragas.The Melakartha Ragas have 7 notes in both Aarohana and Avarohana.

They are called Sampoorna ragas.

There are no jumps or zigzags in the swaras.

Ex:Shoankarabharnam,Mayamalavagowla,Kharaharapriya,Chala Nattai,HariKhambhoji,

  

Janya Ragas:Janya ragas are derived from Melakartha ragas.

They may have less than 7 notes in their scale,or have additional notes in them.

Some examples of Janya Ragas:

Abhogi Raga,Madhyamavathi

Janya ragas need not be in order i.e they can have a zig-zag arrangement hence they are also given the name Vakra Ragam.