Here are the basics of Indian Music:
Sangeet: (music)
Generally speaking, music is an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner.
According to ancient Indian scriptures, music is a combination of the three art forms:
1. singing (gyan)
2. playing (music) (vadan)
3. dancing (nrit)
Raag:
Indian music is based on ‘Raag and Taal’ system. ‘Raag’ is a combination of notes that form melodic patterns and phrases. Every ‘Raag’ has its own ascending, descending, dominant and subdominant notes and key phrases. Every ‘Raag’ has a three hours’ time slot in a 24 hour day, which it shares with other ‘Raags’ that are similar in mood and nature. There are about 200 popular ‘Raags’ today. ‘Raags’ are derived from ‘Thaats’.
Thaat:
‘Thaats’ are parent scales. Northern Indian music has total of 10 ‘Thaats’ and every ‘Raag’ created under Northern Indian music system does or will belong to one of them. The core of Northern Indian music’s melody structure lies in the ‘Thaat System‘.
Taal:
‘Taal’ is a rhythmic pattern. Every ‘Taal’ is sub-divided into sections. ‘Tabla’ or ‘Pukhavaj’ (Indian drums) ‘boles’ (sounds) are assigned to each ‘Taal’ to give it a certain flow. Most of the northern Indian ‘Taals’ are played on ‘Tabla’ as it is the main drum for ‘Hindustani music’.
Svaras, Surgam and Suptak:
The scale layout of northern Indian music is similar to the Western music. Notes are called ‘Svaras’ (or Sawars). The main difference between northern and southern Indian music is the names of 12 notes. Southern standard (natural) scale doesn’t resemble the northern Natural scale. Both of these styles have lost their original (vedic) octave structure. The ancient Indian Music defined notes under the ‘Shruti System.’ In the Sharuti system the seven notes are established on 22 ‘Shruties’ and the minimum interval is a ‘Shruti’ (a sharuti is not a 1/4 note).
Some musicologists still believe that Indian music should only be played with a naturally balanced scale (just intonation), but these days most musician use a chromatic scale when using keyboards or DAWs. Even hardcore classical players have started to play classical music on guitars, pianos, harmoniums and saxophones etc. We will discuss these concepts in the Advanced Theory.
In Indian music, the word used for an octave (Suptak) means a Septave, ‘group of seven notes’ rather than eight. The eighth note is considered the start point for the next ‘Suptak’.
Just like Western music, Indian music has seven names for the notes in an octave. Just like ‘Do, Re, Mi…Indian notes are also based on the ‘keynote is always the first note’ system. Knowing the names of these notes is very important. You will read more about them later, here we will just go over their pronunciation and symbols used on this site:
| Note No. | Pronounced | Written on this site as |
| 1 | Sah | S or Sa |
| 2 | Ray | R or Re |
| 3 | Gah | G or Ga |
| 4 | Mah | M or Ma |
| 5 | Pah | P or Pa |
| 6 | Dhah | D or Dha |
| 7 | Nee | N or Ni |
The ‘Svaras’ as a group are called ‘Surgam’ (or Sargam). Combining the first four notes makes the Word ‘Surgam’. In Hindi, Punjabi or Urdu it’s also spelled as ‘SRGM’. A lot of singers say ‘Taans’ in ‘Surgam’. When a piece is sung in Surgam, a musical phrase is spelled out with the names of the notes.
Alaap and Taan
Any rhythm-free singing or playing is an ‘Alaap’. Singers mostly sing ‘Alaap’ in ‘Aaa…Ooo…’ sounds or they say names of the notes as ‘Sa…re…ga…etc. There are many different kinds of ‘Alaaps’. Most classical performances start with an ‘Alaap’. The main purpose of an ‘Alaap’ is to slowly introduce the notes of a particular ‘Raag’ which the singer or the player is going to perform.
A ‘Taan’ is an ‘Alaap’ in rhythm. A ‘Taan’ is a musical phrase or group of notes, which is sung or played to bring out the details of a ‘Raag’. ‘Taans’ also can be sung as ‘Aaas..and Oos… When a singer says a Taan with the names of the notes used, it is called a ‘Surgam ki Taan’. ‘Taans’ can be divided into two main categories:
1. Spaat Taan: When ascending or descending notes are used in their natural order, that is a Spaat Taan. ‘Spaat’ means straight. This kind of ‘Taan’ is also known as the ‘pure Taan’. As an example: ‘Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Ma, Ga, Re, Sa’ (C,D,E,F,G,F,E,D,C) is a ‘Spaat Taan’ as notes are played in their natural order.
2. Koot Taan: When the notes are not in any particular order, that is known as a ‘Koot Taan’. As an example: Sa, Ga, Ma, Re, Dha, Pa, Ga, Re, Ga, Sa’ (C,E,F,D,A,G,E,D,E,C) is a ‘Koot Taan’.
All of the above may seem a little complicated, but it really isn’t. We are going to use these words and concepts again and again. If you ever forget what they are, just come back here and read this section. Good luck.