Gradual transition of ragas

[Christianamr]

Since I read about the theory that there are Paramela Praveshak ragas , the idea of finding some examples of them has captivated my mind . The classical examples are Marva for entering into Kalyan thaat ragas , and Multani for entering into Purvi thaat ragas .
I found these gradual transitions very beautiful , because there is only one note changing , which then gives a new raga . I then began to wonder if I could find a succession of ragas for the duration of a whole day , throughout all the prahars , but with only one note changing from one raga to another .

Here is one short version with few ragas :

Ahir Bhairav - Basant Mukhari - Bhairavi - Asavari - Bhimpalasi - Patdeep - Madhuvanti - Yaman - Tilak Kamod - Khamaj - Bageshri - Prabhateshwari . ( Then Ahir Bhairav again )

Please bear in mind that there might be some inaccuracies , due to the fact that some ragas are maybe played in a different order than what I wrote . I just tried to respect the span of the 8 prahars ( Of course some people differ about the prahar of some ragas ) .
I don´t have the longtime experience as many of the senior members here who might have more insight and who know lots of ragas that I haven´t heard before and that might be better suited as transitory ragas .

Concerning Prabhateshwari , I didn´t know this raga before trying to make this list , but I like the way it sounds like Bageshri just with a komal Re ; and it also makes a nice transtion to Ahir Bhairav by changing the Ga . I actually found this raga using the scale finder from Oceanofragas .
Now I found the transition from the the third night-prahar ( 12pm ) to the fourth ( 3 am ) the most difficult , because there is a sudden jump from Bhairavi , Asavari and Kafi thaats to Kalyan , Purvi and Marva thaats . I did find some very obscure ragas in Oceanofragas that might give entrance into Lalit or Basant , but besides the name there is almost no additional info , what to speak of a sound file .....
I would like to mention that there is Basant Bahar , which could serve as a transition from Bahar to Basant ; in this way that would serve as a bridge between the two prahars , but it is not the kind of smooth transition I am looking for , where only one note changes .

An exception for the " tough " fourth night-prahar is Hindol , for which I found a nice entrance through Hindolita , which I just discovered the last few days , by listening to the sound files from Oceanofragas . The chosen " path " would be :

Tilak Kamod ( or Maand , Hemant , etc .. ) - Adbhut Kalyan - Bhinna Shadja - Hindolita - Hindol .

Of course , now I should work my way from Hindol to the ragas of the first day-prahar , but I leave that for another moment .

However , I am aware of the fact that in my short first version from Ahir Bhairav to Bageshri I left out many important raga families ( raagangas ) ; like for example the Purvi and Marva thaat ragas from the dusk period . I have some " paths " for them also , but I will post them later .

For the moment I will write a path for getting into some of the Sarangs :

Basant Mukhari - Bhairav - Nat Bhairav - Shuddha Bilaval - Alhaiya Bilaval - Samanta Sarang ( or Badhans Sarang ) - Brindavani sarang - Madhmad Sarang - Dhani - Palasi - Bhimpalasi ....

In my personal experience , my listening to ragas ( and sometimes practicing them ... ) gets enhanced when I am anticipating the raga I am going to listen next , knowing that there will be only a small change . But this one single note can change the feeling considerably . On the other hand , when I listen to a raga , sometimes I can get a little remembrance of a raga from the previous prahar that has some similarity . For example I am just listening to Badhans Sarang which has some phrases that remind me of Alhaiya Bilawal , like GmRS .
Another practical application of these " paths " is when I use these transitory ragas for making a kind of improvised raga-mala , while fooling around on the piano .
Moreover I like to observe and hear the practical applications of the time-theories of Bhatkhande and others . Like for example the gradual passing form bhairavi and asavari thaats in the late morning to kafi thaat in the afternoon , and similar examples . I know lots of people don´t like the time theory , but I am fascinated by this idea . That´s why I try to find ( or manufacture , speculate ...) practical examples of how the thaats and their ragas progress during a day .

[nigama]

Hi,
Personally I find the modulating experience of great value if one has mastered the seven suddha jati melodies of medievial indian music. The theory has it that modulating or mixing the seven suddha jatis one can arrive at 11 more mixed jaties. Jaties are the melodies in which ragas started to shine through, as stated in scriptures. Such they were regarded as the origin of ragas. The big question here is, why should there be 11 mixed jatis? Modulating could perhaps provide an answer? On the other hand 11 = 22/2, which could relate the mixed jaties to the number of shruties. The 22 shruties do have sentiments each, that is they are conceived as emotional. So 11 mixed jatis could be the results when you mix 22 shruti based melodies two by two? Although this is stated nowhere, it could have been possible to have existed at a time and was forgotten, the memory of 11 jaties remained and the phenomena was explained as resulting from modulating the 7 suddha jaties.

If you like to modulate jaties you may post me a PN.

[chrisitar]

I really like your idea and I think you've done a great job 'flowing' through the hours with Samay-specific raags. I too have always been fascinated with the concept of samay-raag. I think it's a beautiful set of guidelines to help shape or encapsulate the mood created by the day, or the mood reflected by the music. The idea about only changing one note from raag to raag is really interesting too, so much can change with just one note being altered. Some of the transitions could be hard to make because of very distinct raags like Lalit or Todi in the morning and also tanpura tuning (sa-pa or sa-ma). If im not mistaken some raags do not have a samay associated with them (Charukeshi, Kirwani, ?) so they could be used as gateways to other thaats. Keep it up! I'l try to make a 'plan' when I have more time.

[Christianamr]

Hi,
Personally I find the modulating experience of great value if one has mastered the seven suddha jati melodies of medievial indian music. The theory has it that modulating or mixing the seven suddha jatis one can arrive at 11 more mixed jaties. Jaties are the melodies in which ragas started to shine through, as stated in scriptures. Such they were regarded as the origin of ragas. The big question here is, why should there be 11 mixed jatis? Modulating could perhaps provide an answer? On the other hand 11 = 22/2, which could relate the mixed jaties to the number of shruties. The 22 shruties do have sentiments each, that is they are conceived as emotional. So 11 mixed jatis could be the results when you mix 22 shruti based melodies two by two? Although this is stated nowhere, it could have been possible to have existed at a time and was forgotten, the memory of 11 jaties remained and the phenomena was explained as resulting from modulating the 7 suddha jaties.

If you like to modulate jaties you may post me a PN.

Thanks for your insights nigama and sorry for the late reply .

I have read some parts about ancient and medieval theory here and there , but mainly I left it asides for future investigation .
In fact , in the 90´s I was reading a book that had some hints about the three ancient gramas , and the fact that I couldn´t grasp the complete concept of it freaked me out .
During the last year however , I could at least understand rationally the difference between shadja and madhyama grama ; after reading various texts about it . In fact I read about a special concert where an investigator took 2 veenas ( or anther instrument ... ) side by side and changed the tuning of the second veena gradually until he had the madhyama grama . That was enough for me , everything was clearly described in detail .
Here at the forum I also found various eblightening topics about different Sa´s ( given by Dhrupad players ) , and that also made me a little more comfortable about shruties .
Still , even after having gotten some clarity about Madhyama grama and shruties , Gandhara Grama still remains a mystery for me ...
But having read that many musicologists leave that topic aside , because of lack of resources and definitive assertions ; I gives me some solace ....

You also go into the ancient jaties , and I have referenced some texts about it for future study , but at the moment it is just too far away from me .... Maybe it the future I could comment on that , but now it escapes me .

Though from the practical point of view ( of what I actually play on the piano ) , I know that the Locrian scale was admitted in the old murchana system , but that both today´s indian systems don´t admit it . This is very curious for me , since I wonder if the old indian systems included some of the more elaborated western scales ( folkloric , classical , jazz ) , that are not permitted in today´s indian theory . ( like the altered scale , scales with flat 5th , symmetrical scales etc ... )

Thanks also for your offer to contact you per PM .

[nigama]

Hallo Christian,

I thought of answering to you and offering PM since I live for the moment in the same city as you do. I can understand the suddha yatis better since they compare to more ancient music, but mixed jatis are not easy to discern, since I find no similarity elsewhere. Therefor my interest in modulating. I write only occasionally here, so I thought if you are really into modulating ragas you might be interested one day in yatis, as well?

To my believe it takes many decades to understand the position of suddha jatis and how they evolved from origin. The scriptures declared them to be marga music, music according to fixed, set rules whereas all other music is deshi by nature. It would take discussion too long here for that topic.

Speaking in terms of Sangita Ratnakara, in regards to Ga Grama, there is no application for it, there are no jatis or ragas transcribed in it. Even if we know Ga Grama from the shruties, there are no songs written in it. It is rather theoretical at the moment, I do not know if there will be time to get into the matter at all? But to start any discussion with I recommend to read what Dr. R. K. Shringy wrote for the annual conference of the Madras Music Academy, Madras in 1972 called : “The concept of shruti as related to svara”. It is reprinted as Appendix III in the “Sangita Ratnakara of Sarngadeva” vol. 1., 2007 by Shringy/Sharma. Understanding this position might come closer to what you could expect from achieving by marga music.

[Christianamr]

I really like your idea and I think you've done a great job 'flowing' through the hours with Samay-specific raags. I too have always been fascinated with the concept of samay-raag. I think it's a beautiful set of guidelines to help shape or encapsulate the mood created by the day, or the mood reflected by the music. The idea about only changing one note from raag to raag is really interesting too, so much can change with just one note being altered. Some of the transitions could be hard to make because of very distinct raags like Lalit or Todi in the morning and also tanpura tuning (sa-pa or sa-ma). If im not mistaken some raags do not have a samay associated with them (Charukeshi, Kirwani, ?) so they could be used as gateways to other thaats. Keep it up! I'l try to make a 'plan' when I have more time.

Thanks for the appreciation , Chris !

Indeed Lalit is one difficult raag to get in and out from , according to the proposed scheme .
I have tried the following path :
- I take the deep-night- ( 2-4 am ) raga Hindol ,
- add komal re ~ Sohini
- add shuddha ma ~ Shuddha Lalit ( I have arrived at pre-dawn = 4-6 )
- replace shuddh dha with komal dha ~ Lalit
- add Pa ~ Basant
- omit tivra Ma ~ Bhairav ( early morning = 6-8 am )

You raised many points about " samay-less " ragas and Todi , about which I have gathered some infos and tried to make them fit in somehow . I will post them at a later moment .