Raag Overview
The raag lies at the heart of Raagdari music. There is no direct translation to any word in English. A raag is an aesthetic scheme with a certain set of rules to be followed to create pleasing music. Within a raag a specific group of notes is allowed and the progression of these notes has a characteristic melodic movement which gives the raag its unique personality and creates its distinctive mood. A raag itself is not a “song” and it is important to make the distinction between the two. A song is a fixed piece of music that has an established arrangement of melody and rhythm. A raag is not a fixed composition like a song. It is a series of guidelines for creating a musical performance within a particular framework.
A raag has more resemblance to the Western concept of scale, though a raag has more rigorous constraints. In Western music, when a musician starts to compose a piece of music, they could begin by choosing a scale. The scale outlines which notes are generally going to be used to make a particular type of sound and mood. The composer would create designs with the notes in the scale. For example, if a composer chose to make a song in C minor, they would generally use the notes C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, and Bb.
The idea of restricting the notes allowed in the music begins to move toward the concept of a raag, but as mentioned, a raag has more distinct guidelines than the Western idea of a scale. In Western music, a composer can add sharps, flats, or make a note natural in a composition and remain in the same key, even if the note doesn’t match the scale. In any given raag, changing the notes themselves or changing which notes are emphasized would invoke an entirely different raag.
A raag is a concept, a schematic outline for creating a musical performance. The rules present an aesthetic idea in which the performer has the freedom to compose their own musical designs and bring their own style to the performance. When the performer sings or plays a raag and creates musical designs from this schematic outline, the art of Raagdaari is brought to life. In this way, a raag is more like a living musical entity, changing with each singer and even each performance.
Raag Database Coming SoonContact