Texts And Traditions Of A Ragam

A sneak peek into the melodic framework of Bhairavi raga with Pandit Chetan Joshi, a Hindustani Flautist

- 

SURELY, we must have all observed how nature's movements are different. The gentle sound of the breeze as it caresses the leaves of a tree may be different from the howling sound of the wind during a cyclone. On the same lines, when it comes to the sounds of the stillness in nature, we would have come across the changing colours and texture of the sky.

Paying attention to these nuances of nature, the Hindustani music constructed the tangible and intangible aspects of the melodic framework, the ragas. The tangible aspects of the raga are technical like the number of notes used and the arrangement of notes in ascending and descending scales. The intangible aspects are the relationship that the notes share with one another and with other ragas giving it a personality and emotion. It also includes certain adherences to traditional practices.

In Hindustani tradition there are some concert protocols usually followed. The protocol associated with the usage of Bhairavi raag in concert presentation is that: only the artiste who is concluding the concert could choose to perform Bhairavi.

Pandit Chetan Joshi, Hindustani flautist