Classification of Raagas in Hindustani Music
Classification of Raagas in Hindustani Music takes places according to scale-type called ‘thats.’ A completely successful and comprehensive means of classification is yet to be achieved.
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Classification of Raagas in Hindustani music is important due to the great diversity of this musical style. The classificatory approach to life has been widely applied in the Hindu tradition. Classification as such seems to have been primarily a concern of Hindu rather than Muslim culture in India. After the arrival of the peoples of Islamic faith in India, music making gradually became largely a Muslim sphere in North India. It remained a Hindu sphere in South India. Classification was pursued hotly in South India, but was practically ignored in the North until this century. The most recently adopted means of classifying Hindustani raagas is by scale type- called 'that' in the North.
The 'that' system is based on musical practice. That is, it was devised as a means of organizing existing raagas into groups with basically the same pitch selection. Bhatkhande suggested ten thats. These ten thats are the basic tunings for a Hindustani stringed instrument with movable frets, the sitar.
They are scale types, not raagas. The ten thats are given below:
1 |
Kalyan |
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Mai |
Pa |
Dha |
Ni |
Sa |
|
2 |
Bilaval |
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Ma |
Pa |
Dha |
Ni |
Sa |
|
3 |
Khamaj |
|
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Ma |
Pa |
Dha |
Ni |
Sa |
4 |
Bhairav |
|
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Ma |
Pa |
Dha;, |
Ni |
Sa |
5 |
Purvi |
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
MaS |
Pa |
Dhal |
Ni |
Sa |
|
6 |
Marva |
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Mai |
Pa |
Dha |
Ni |
Sa |
|
7 |
Kafl |
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Ma |
Pa |
Dha |
Ni, |
Sa |
|
8 |
Asavari |
|
Sa |
Re |
Ga |
Ma |
Pa |
Dha, |
Ni, |
Sa |
9 |
Bhairavi |
|
Sa |
ReS |
Ga |
Ma |
Pa |
Dhai |
Ni |
Sa |
10 |
Todi |
Sa |
Re, |
Gai |
MaS |
Pa |
Dhai |
Ni |
Sa |
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For each that there is also a raaga of the same name. But the raaga also involves a group of characteristics, like pitch hierarchy, ascent-descent form, characteristic melodic motion or ornamentation, and the like.
However, it may be mentioned here that there are certain difficulties with the system of Bhatkhande's classification. One of the difficulties of Bhatkhande's that system is that he did not explain thoroughly his reasons for classifying certain raagas together. For example, Raag Komal Re Asavari, strictly speaking, includes the pitches of Bhairavi that, but it is not classified as such because of other of its characteristics, which are very close to those of Rag Asavari. Raag Malkosh, on the other hand, has the pitches of both Bhairavi and Asavari that but by tradition it is classified as belonging to Bhairavi that. Another difficulty with the Bhatkhande that system is that there are not enough thats to include the variety of scale types that currently appear in raagas.
To counter this, musicologist Nazir Jairazbhoy has suggested effective extension of the system to 32 thats. But however many scale types there could be, other factors seem as important, if not more so, in Hindustani raaga. A wholly successful means of classification has not yet been achieved.
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