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raga

raga

1 9.8
A pattern of musical notes and rules used to make and play Indian classical music
  • noun
  • /ˈrɑːɡə/
  • Specialized
: raga
  • In Indian classical music, a raga is an essential framework that guides the improvisation of melodies.
  • Indian raga

Examples

  • Perhaps Ravi Shankar improvising a six-hour raga on the sitar could give an idea of his mind.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Each raga evokes a certain emotion like love, sorrow, hatred, peace, etc.

    Blog text (19)
  • One must learn whether an Indian raga expresses the feelings of morning or evening.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In this practice, the performer bends a sustained pitch after the initial attack as a way to develop the mood of the raga.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Are they broadening their musical education through exposure to ragas, klezmer, and spirituals?

    Academic text (2005)
  • Their music is based on ragas (scales) and has been influenced by early and ongoing cultural exchange with North India (Moisala 2000).

    Academic text (2016)
  • Ravi Shankar is perhaps the most famous raga virtuoso (to us Westerners).

    Blog text (7)
  • Areas of focus might include Indian ragas, the Javanese gamelan, Gypsy music, the Appalachian folk song tradition, spirituals, and the blues.

    Academic text (1998)
  • If we have learned to teach the clarinet or violin, we can learn to teach guitar; similarly, if we have analyzed the music of J. S. Bach or Indian raga, we can certainly discern and teach the forms of today's popular music.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Additionally, performance skills in other sophisticated music styles—American jazz, Irish Celtic music, Argentinean tango, and Indian raga, among a myriad—traditionally have been aurally developed and maintained.

    Academic text (2012)

Surface Forms

raga singular
ragas plural

Etymology

Raga comes from an old Indian word raga that means 'color' or 'passion'. Think of a raga as a pattern of notes that 'paints' music with a mood, which is why a raga is used to bring out particular feelings.