Raag is an indispensable element of Indian classical music. It is the basis of the creations of the vocal artists. It is the medium of expressing oneself musically — with each note and strings touching the heart of the audience. Raag is like an open playground with a set of rules defined for number and structure of notes to be used. Indian classical music is such a refined form of art that it also specifies the times of the day or seasons when the specific Raagas be performed. For instance, raag Megha beautifully stirs love and other emotions related to monsoons and thus is associated with rainy season. The raag is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. Joep Bor of the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music defined Raga as “tonal framework for composition and improvisation”. We have already reviewed the concept of raag from the perspective of Raag presentation which includes several elements namely swar, aaroh, avaroh, pakad, alaap, bol-alaap, taan, bol-taan, sargam and so on. Here is a brief description of the various elements of the raaga.
Swar: The notes of the raag are called the swar and swaras are further classified as vaadi swar, samvadi swar and varjit swar. Vaadi swar is the most important note of the raag and is meant to be used maximum times in the raag. Samvadi swar is the next important swar of the raag and it is used less frequently than vadi. Varjit swar are the notes which should never be used in raag. However skilled artists sometimes use Varjit swaras by clever manipulations.
Aaroh / Avaroh: Then comes the structure of the notes. This is called Aaroh / Avaroh. Aaroh means the ascending order of notes in a raag and Aavroh refers to the descending order of notes in a raag.
Pakad: The characteristic movements to the raag are known as either pakad or swarup. It is a group of swar which presents the overview of a raag.
Let’s take an example of Raag Yaman to explain these elements.
Raag: Yaman
Thaat (modal structure): Kalyan
Vaadi swar: Ga
Samwadi: Ni
Varjit swar: Shudh Ma
Aaroh: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dh, Ni, Sa.
Avaroh: Sa, Ni, Dh, Pa, Ma, Ga, Re, Sa.
Pakad: Ni, Re, Ga, Re, Sa, Pa, Ma, Ga, Re, Sa.
Alap: Alap is a rhythm less style based upon a free elaboration of the raag. It rests on the imagination and creativity of an artist working within the bounds and restrictions of the raag implementation. There are several types of alap. An alaap where there are no words or bols is called anakshar alap and when the words are used, it is called sakshar alap or bol alap.
Taan: Taan is a virtuoso technique used in the vocal performances. The singing of very rapid melodic passages using vowels, often the long “a” as in the word “far” is referred to as Taan. It targets at improvising, expanding and weaving together the notes in a fast tempo. Taan is further classified as bol taan (sung using the words of bandish), shuddha taan (the taan where the notes are placed in an order in one or more octaves), koot taan (where the notes do not remain in order), mishr taan (combination of sapat and koot taans) and gamak taan (a technique by which a force is added to notes and each note is repeated at least twice).
Sources: Wikipedia, Chandrakantha.com, CoolRaaga
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