The raga system is a uniquely ingenuous product of the Indian musical mind. It provides the framework within which the musician can simultaneously perform the roles of composer and performer through the process of improvisation. In this paper, I propose to deal with the basic definition of the raga, the principles of improvisation, and “Bindu Vistar”, a concept that represents the principle underlying our musical tradition, and also the approach to contemporary raga exposition itself.  

 

The concept of a raga

 

It is believed that the great sage Bharata invented the musical scale and divided the same into 22 divisions (Shrutis), some time between years 200 B.C. to 500 A.D. It is also believed that based on this scale, the raga system was conceived about 1500 years ago. Over the years, expression of musical thought in India has perfected the concept of the raga, and its defining characteristics. .

 

In ancient treatises a Raga has been described by the Sanskrit phrase: ‘RANJAYATI ITI RAGA’ meaning “A Raga is a musical rendering that pleases the mind”. This, of course is a very general definition and not analytical enough for this paper. A raga can be most usefully understood as a combination of selected swaras [notes] expressed in a pre-determined sequence and emphasis, resulting in the creation of an individual and specific atmosphere, character and mood guided by the emotions of the performing musician. By implication, a Raga is not a scale or a mode, nor even a theme but a musical rendering which is the product of several ingredients: 

Selection: In the formulation of a Raga, specific notes are selected (minimum five), from amongst the seven full-tones and five half-tones. These selected notes are the only ones which are used and all the other notes are avoided in the entire rendering of the Raga.

 

Combination: In addition to the selection of the notes, the combination of the selected musical notes is also very pertinent to the formation of the Raga-structure. The same notes combined in different ways, will produce different effects and therefore the combination of notes in a particular Raga is always subject to definite rules and discipline.

 

Emphasis: Apart from the rendering of selected notes combined as per rules, emphasis with which different notes are rendered also determines the Raga In other words, two Ragas might have the same notes but the emphasis on the notes of one may differ from that of the other. The concept of Vadi (melodic entre) Samvadi and Anuwadi is projected from this concept of varying emphasis on different selected notes of a Raga.

 

Mood or Rasa: Every Raga depicts a ‘Rasa’ i.e., a mood or emotion. There are different ‘Rasas’ emotions like (I) Sringar (romantic), (2) Hasya (joy), (3) Karun (Pathos), (4) Shanta (Peaceful), (5) Veera (Aggressive), etc. When Ragas are rendered in consonance with their respective ‘Rasas’, they are most effective. In other words every Raga has a basic Rasa or two, through which it is rendered most effectively.

 

Independent character: As a result of the above four processes, the raga that is evolved, achieves an independent character. In essence, every raga should have an individuality of its own which is quite distinct from all other ragas. In view of this, merely selecting certain notes from the scale, combining them at will with some emphasis and emotional content, cannot really result into the formation of a new raga, unless the product has a colour or character of its own.

 

Apart from the above, but certainly allied to this distinctiveness of every raga, there are two other regulatory factors governing ragas — the proper time and season for rendition: The Hindustani tradition prescribes appropriate times of the day or night for each raga. This prescription assumes a definite relationship between “sound” and “light”.  Hence when a raga is performed according to its prescribed “time”, it is most effective. An extension of the same sensitivity to nature is reflected in the seasonal classification of ragas. There exist very well defined groups of ragas meant for performance during the spring and the monsoons. However, some musicologists believe that all ragas can be assigned to their appropriate seasons. 

 

It is on the basis of an understanding of these a raga’s individuality that the Hindustani musician undertakes his improvisations for rendering a raga. 

 

Principles of Improvisation

 

Improvisation has two dimensions: the melodic, and the emotional. Each of these dimensions has its sub-dimensions. 

 

The melodic aspect

 

The melodic aspect deals with the treatment of the notes, which shape the structure of the raga. Individual musical notes can be treated in a variety of ways. One can strike a note individually without any decorative element. Or, one can strike it by touching an adjacent note in either angular, rounded, gliding, or a swift treatment. Musicians use one or more of these methods in order to adorn the note they are rendering. 

 

Similarly, consider the manner in which a set of notes in order to design different phrases. Indian musicians use the mathematical concepts with great skill and musical sensitivity. 

 

For example, a set of three notes can deliver six different phrases. 1-2-3, 2-1-3, 1-3-2, 3-1-2, 2-3-1, 3-2-1. The formula is: three notes will give you 3x2x1 phrases. Four notes will give you 4x3x2x1 phrases, and so on. With seven notes, we get 5040 melodic patterns. How many of the possible patterns can be used is, of course, governed by the grammar of the raga.

 

It is often said that if a musician uses the same phrases repeatedly, it gets monotonous. On the other hand, if the same phrase is repeated with a different kind of emotion each time, by whatever device of execution, this appears to me a legitimate process of improvisation. 

 

Speed is an important facet of improvisation. This has a lot to do with emotional content of the music. Pathos is expressed in slow speed. Romance is expressed in the medium speed, and aggression is expressed in the faster speeds. 

 

Another facet of improvisation is emphasis. This again has a bearing on the emotional content of the artist’s communication.

 

Related to this is the concept of VADI and SAMVADI notes in a raga. The Indian scale is divided into two parts: Purvanga (lower half) and Uttaranga (upper half). The VADI and SAMVADI are generally in different halves of the scale. Some ragas are considered Uttaranga-pradhan, while other are Purvanga-pradhan. These features define the formal structure of the raga, and the melodic centers towards which improvisation should gravitate.

 

It is obvious that the melodic and the emotional cannot be segregated from each other. But, they can be discussed separately for great clarity. For this, let us consider how the musician visualizes the notes he uses, how he feels about them, and how he colors their treatment to express himself. 

 

The emotional aspect

 

Indian music is essentially introspective and meditative in character, and was perhaps never envisaged as a performing art. The musical rendering establishes a positive link between the conscious and the unconscious mind through the mathematical numerals that the notes of the scale represent. It is therefore not surprising that Indian music, religion, and philosophy are closely linked.  

 

This is where we must recognize the importance of “Rasa” or mood as the basis for improvisation. The nine Rasa-s are:

 

1. Shanta  (Peaceful),
2. Karuna  (Pathos) 
3. Shringar  (Romantic)
4. Veera  (Valour) 
5. Hasya  (Mirth)
6. Roudra  (Wrath)
7. Bhayanaka (Fearsome)
8. Adbhuta (Surprise)
9. Bibhatsa  (Disgust)

 

According to some estheticians, there are two more. Bhakti (Devotion) and Vatsalya (Maternal feeling). While all the Rasas can be expressed in literature, dance, and drama, music concerns itself primarily with the first five. Every Raga has its own Rasa, consistent with its melodic pattern, and the musician undertakes his improvisations to aid the process of “Ras-aswadana” (the enjoyment of the mood). It is therefore not considered proper to mix up different moods in the presentation of a raga. 

 

This is closely related to the speed/ tempo of the renditions. Our music progresses systematically from the slower tempo, to the faster. Since slower tempo is associated with pathos and the faster tempo with aggression, one may therefore ask how any mood can be preserved throughout the performance.

 

When performing melancholy or devotional ragas, the great masters do handle the slow-tempo development at leisure and with appropriate duration relative to the fast tempo elaboration. Many times, they might even dispense with the fast-tempo improvisations and compositions altogether. Likewise, a joyous or romantic raga will receive exactly the opposite kind of treatment. 

The purity of notes has been greatly emphasized in Indian music. Here, I am referring to something beyond the technical and measurable pitch-precision in the delivery of the musical material. I am referring to the sanctity of the relationship between the musician and music. Every note has to be approached with devotion and humility in order to achieve the desired emotional impact. Until this is achieved, the music cannot come alive. 

 

Having looked at the two dimensions of improvisation, let us consider the technique of improvisation. 

 

Just as we use alphabets to construct words as symbols for meaning in a language to communicate meaning, the notes of the scale constitute the alphabets from which we create meaningful phrases. By combining different alphabets, we get words, from which we construct phrases, which configure into a sentence. And, then, paragraphs, chapters, and so on. 

 

The raga limits the freedom of selection, sequencing, and emphasis. Meaningful sequencing is critical. A sentence must have a subject, verb, predicate, adjective, and object in the correct sequence. Similar principles hold good in music for the communication of meaning, because a raga presentation is like telling a story. 

 

The logic for rhythmic improvisation is the same as that of melodic improvisations. The only difference between the two is their respective languages. 

 

 

The deeper significance of improvisation 

 

Since the Indian classical tradition does not encourage totally pre-composed music, the effectiveness of his communication depends on the caliber and the inclinations of the musician at the given moment. The principles of improvisation provide some insurance against the risk of failure.

 

Freedom of expression is the basic component of improvisation. But, can unbridled expression constitute music? The Indian tradition believes that art has to represent disciplined, rather than unchannelised, creativity. 

 

Indian music requires the musician to simultaneously perform the role of composer and performer. To him, the grammar of the raga is not a constraint on his creativity, but a positive aid to the process of building an esthetically coherent musical edifice. 

 

The principles and techniques of improvisation become so much a part of his musical self that, in concert, his energies are totally focussed on delving deeper into the melodic potential and the mysteries of the raga. This interaction between the internalised and the spontaneous is the basis for the effective and effortless communication of musical ideas. This brings us to the entire philosophy of raga exposition, which goes beyond the mere manipulation of melody and rhythm. 

                                          

 

Bindu Vistar and raga exposition

 

The concept of “Bindu-Vistar” is a philosophical idea. It sees all processes as cyclical, starting from the Bindu [drop], enlarging itself to become a sindhu [an ocean], which finally expresses itself as a Bindu once again. This idea has guided the evolution of raga-based music through the millennia, and is equally useful for understanding Hindustani music in its several facets. Here, I discuss two broad facets of vistar – vistar as an evolution of musical forms and audience profiles, and vistar as an evolution of the musical experience.  

 

Whilst there are three major facets in any musical performance viz “svara” (melody), “laya” (rhythm) and “sahitya” (literary content), for this paper we shall mainly concentrate on the melody aspect, treating the tala aspect incidentally and ignoring the sahitya aspect altogether.

 

Vistar as evolution

 

It is believed that the musical thoughts and expressions in India originated during the Vedic period in the form of vedic chants or hymns. Through evolutionary processes such musical expressions were further refined into “chhand-s” through the Buddhist and Hindu periods. Later, we witness the evolution of the Dhrupad form of music with strong and vibrant undercurrents of spiritualism with meditative and introspective qualities. After 1000 A.D. and with the onslaught of Muslim invasions and subsequent settlements during the Mughal periods, various middle-eastern influences gradually introduced worldly ideas to Hindustani music.  

 

Still later, around the 18th Century, these influences crystallized into a new form called “khayal”. This form was richer in decorative embellishments than its predecessor, Dhrupad, while its literary component drifted towards pleasing human patrons more than the Gods. During  the British period, the absence of imperial patronage in Delhi made musicians spread out to different corners of the country where patrons of the smaller aristocracy like Nawabs and Zamindar-s.  After Independence, the masses at large patronise the arts with sprinklings of support from the Government. The electronic media, i.e.. radio and television  played an important role in the dissemination of Indian music. 

 

This is the evolutionary process through which the Indian music has passed, from the Vedic period to the contemporary scene. Thgis is one way of looking at vistar, a steady enlargement of the concept of music performance, and an enlargement of its audiences through the evolution of musical forms. Starting from a Bindu [a drop], our music has undergone a development or a Vistar to become an ocean. 

 

Vistar as scale definition

 

It is believed that the musical scale originated in India and was adopted by the Greeks, from whom in turn, it was adopted by the Europeans. But then, during the Vedic period, only 3 or 4 notes were used to sing the chants. With the passage of time, great musicologists developed a scale of 7 notes called the “Bharata’s scale” on the basis of highly scientific and intuitive thought processes. Abhinavagupta describes in great detail, how the scale was established on the basis of a process called “chatus-sarana”. 

 

Later, the 22 sruti-s were identified between base-Sa to upper-Sa. From amongst these 22 sruti-s, 12 svara-s were established i.e., 7 Shuddha Svara-s altogether and 5 vikrut swara-s. The third ingredient is the principle of emphasis on notes- In a given musical phrase, emphasis on different notes convey different musical meaning. Again to illustrate let us take the phrase, “I am talking to you”. The following three sentences with an emphasis on underlined words convey different meaning.

 

I am talking to you 

I am talking to you 

& I am talking to you

 

This principle of differential emphasis resulted in the establishment of melodic centres like vadi, and samvadi  swaras. These concepts are fundamental to understanding the approach to contemporary raga exposition in the Khayal-dominated era.

 

Vistar as raga exposition

 

Now let us apply the above definition of the raga with five principles of selection, combination, emphasis, rasa content and universal acceptability, to the actual presentation of the raga through the medium of 1) alap 2) gat and 3) tans.

 

1) Alap

 

1. Starting from the base of the raga scale viz. Sa or the tonic, the musician builds up the alap through small musical phrases. Gradually, he enlarges the canvas to include a larger number of notes within such phrase, treating them with the discipline of the raga form. In other words, he is proceeding with the alap on the principle of “badhat”. Starting from a Bindu, through the process of badhat or Vistar, he builds up the entire raga structure on a step-by-step basis. This is one expression of Bindu Vistar as applied to alap on the basis of gradual expansion of musical phrases.

 

1. Another principle of badhat presupposes movements of musical phrases in different octaves. The musician proceeds from the Bindu or Sa to an elaborate treatment of the raga notes in the lower octave and later in the middle octave and still later in the upper octave. This therefore is the Vistar from a Bindu, with reference to the mandra, madhya and tar saptak, treated on a stage-by-stage basis.

 

1. Another application of the principle of Bindu-Vistar through the alap form is related to the principle of laya. As we have seen, the alap form based on badhat as applied to musical phrases and different octaves, consummates itself when all the octaves are completely treated. Once all the octaves have been explored, the musician returns to the starting point or the Bindu or the Sa. Thereafter, he starts all over again but with an increased tempo, introducing an element of progressive rhythm to the easy flow of notes. This process is repeated several times in the contemporary alap on the instruments, and is also followed through the different stages of Khayal presentation. In this case, the principle of Bindu-Vistar manifests itself as a progression of laya in rendition. 

 

2) Gat : 

 

The gat or the bandish of a raga is highly evolved structure. The first line of the composition starts within the melodic centers while the second line covers the lower octave – returning to the melodic centre.  The third line or the antara proceeds to the upper octave and the fourth line, the amad, usually the last line, returns to the starting point thereby completing the circle. This is Vistar of a type, starting from a Bindu or a base, treating the lower octave, then the upper octave and returning to the starting point, is clearly a form of Bindu-Vistar.

 

3) Tans: 

 

Tan-s are faster – quicker movement of musical notes. There are many types or “prakar” of tan-s like alankar tan, choot tan-s, amad tan-s, sapat tan-s etc. For illustration we will take only one or two types.

 

One form of tan-s proceeds from a phrase comprising of two or three notes and gradually expanding the phrases-NRS – NRGRS – NRGMDPMGRS, etc. This is a form of Vistar as applied to the composition of tan-s.

 

The principle of “Merkhand” is also used in structuring the tan-s- Three notes like SRG can be combined in six different ways.

 

S R G
R S G

S G R 

G S R

R G S 

G R S

 

Here, the first tan starts from Sa and ends at GA while the last tan starts from Ga and returns to the base GRS. The same principle could be applied to longer tan-s using more notes.

 

The same principle of Bindu Vistar which we have applied to musical notes can be applied to rhythms or talas as well. Just as we have seven + five = twelve notes in a musical scale, we have seven main bol-s (according to some ten or fourteen) as basic bol-s, which are used to structure various rhythms or tals such as trital, ektal, jhaptal, etc., and their elaboration.

 

This is the wisdom of the Indian musical mind, providing for continuous change through the concept of the raga, functioning and evolving within a cyclical framework, which has guided the course of our music, and given us a tradition that has withstood the test of time.