Jaati Of Raga

Categories of Ragas (Jati" of a Raga)

The following are the three most common categories of Ragas :

1.    Sampurna has seven notes ascending and descending.

2.    Shadava has six notes ascending and descending.

3.    Odava has five notes in the same Swaras, both ascending & descending.

Categories of Ragas

Raga

RAGAS

A Raga is a combination of sounds or swaras having qualities that give pleasure to the listener. Every Raga has a peculiar _quality of its own. To be acquainted with Ragas, a musician should bear in mind the following points :

1.   Ragas must belong to a Thaat.

2.   At least five notes are essential for a Raga.

3.   In a Raga the melody is very essential.

4.   A Raga must have its own ascent, descent (Aroha and avaroha) and fixed notes (Nadi & Sammdi).

5.   The Sa Swara (C note) is the same note (fixed) in every Raga, and both Ma & Pa are not to be omitted at the same time.

Parts of combination of a raga

There are 4 distinguished parts of a raga/composition/ song.

1.    Sthayi                  First part (face) or introduction.

2.    Antara               Second part or body.

3.    Sanchari               Combination of notes of sthayi & Antra

4.    Abhog                  Some notes of the combination
                       played in the upper octave.

Thaat

  Thaat

Ordinarily a Thaat is a combination of seven Swaras or notes capable of producing Ragas. All the notes played in thaat are in ascending order starting from Sa ending at Ni, whether natural, flat or sharp. There are basically ten thaats in Indian

music system.

The Thaat must qualify these three Basic conditions :

1.    A Thaat must contain the seven swaras (notes) in the regular form.

 2.   The Shuddha, Komal or Tiura Swaras must appear one  3.   It is a mere scale, a combination of notes. It does not essentially need to please the listeners ear.

Saptak

SAPTAK (Octave)

According to the Indian theory of music there are three ranges of the human voice, which are low, medium and high pitch. These pitches when identified with notes in music called Saptaka or a group of seven Shuddha notes. These seven notes also includes four komal and one Tivra Swara. The human voice is differentiated under these three ranges:

1.  Madhya Saptaka (Medium Octave) — When the sound naturally comes out of the throat without any pressure, it is called the throat voice. The Medium octave or Madhya Saptaka.

2.  Mandra Saptaka (Lower Octave) — When the sound comes out entirely by the pressure of the lungs, it is called the chest voice or Mandra Saptaka (Lower Octave). In this Saptaka the pitch of the sound is lower than the medium octave.

3.  Taar Saptaka (Upper Octave) — When the sound is produced with the exertion of force on the nostrils and head, called the head voice or Tar Saptaka (Upper Octave). The pitch or sound is higher than that of the medium

octave.