Sangeet ke Siddhant and Swar-Saadhana
Naad and raag lakshan
Naad is of two kinds: ahata (struck, produced by voice or instrument) and anahata (unstruck). A raag must have swar, varna, aroha and avaroha, vadi and samvadi, pakad, an appropriate time, and rasa. The old definition is ranjayati iti raagah - that which colours the mind.
Shruti-graam and swar ke prakar
- 22 shrutis; three gramas (shadja, madhyama, gandhara) and murchhanas in older theory.
- Shuddha (seven), vikrit (four komal plus one teevra).
- Achala swar: Sa and Pa, which have no vikrit form. Chala swar: the rest.
- Vadi (king), samvadi (minister), anuvadi (attendant), vivadi (dissonant).
- Ornaments: kan, meend, gamak, khatka, murki, andolan, ghasit.
Worked example
Bhairav uses komal Re and komal Dha. Its vadi is Dha and samvadi Re; both are komal, and the slow andolan on komal Re and komal Dha is what makes the raag recognisable. Use shuddha Dha and the raag's shape collapses even though the other notes are correct. The reasoning: vadi-samvadi plus ornament, not the scale alone, defines a raag.
Traps
- Saying Sa and Pa become komal in some ragas; they are achala.
- Confusing vivadi with a merely wrong note - vivadi is a theoretically present but avoided swar.
- Defining raag by aroha-avaroha alone.
- Treating 22 shrutis and 7 swaras as the same concept.