The Music

Raga - The melody

Raga constitutes the main form of Indian music. It is a vast system of improvisation, but with fixed rules of melody. This is raga, the heart of the music. There is a popular saying in sanskrit: ‘Ranjayati iti ragah’ --“Raga is that which colours the mind”. The beauty of a raga elevates the listener to a higher mental state of tranquility and peace.

Each note in the Indian musical system is not just a tone, but carries within itself a certain emotion or expression. Due to the nature of these notes -considered to be both musical tones as well as represetantions of ideas-, it can never be said that a musician has 'ivented' a raga. A raga is discovered, in the same way that a biologist can discover a new species or an explorer a new continent.

Raga is a musical structure set on tradition or born and inspired on the spirit of an expert musician. It can be said that raga is a definite but subtle melodic form made from a series of notes within the octave. Each raga is different from each other, with their own particular sequence of notes, number of tones, upward and downward movements, prominent notes, characteristic phrases and a long -and sometimes- impossible to explain et cetera.

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