Carnatic music has a long history of tradition and devotion. With its rigid structure, it “is one of the purest forms of Indian music”, and remains uninfluenced from outside sources (Mammen et al. 2016).  Originating in South India, Carnatic music has spread its influence and renown worldwide. By discussing the building blocks of Carnatic music such as the notation, raagas, and gamakams, a richer understanding of this ancient influential craft can be achieved.

         The foundations of Carnatic music are “shruti (the relative musical pitch), swara (the musical sound of a single note), raaga (the melodic mode), and taala (the rhythmic pattern)”, along with elements of improvisation (Koduri et al. 2011). While terms such as pitch and rhythmic pattern are used to describe aspects like raagam and taala, in reality these concepts are completely different, and carry levels of depth that are oversimplified with a western musical approach.  

         Carnatic music is an oral tradition, and so its notation differs from that of western music. While notation dates back to the time of the Vedas, each musician historically maintained their own style of notation. However, with modernity, a standardized notation has emerged, and two most prominent are “viz, the old notation and modern notation. The old notation…can be found in many ancient books … modern notation or Sargam notation is widely used for notating Carnatic music in various books, reviews, and in academia…[and] uses a subset of symbols used in old notation” (Mammen et al. 2016).

        The musical notes of Carnatic music are known as swaras, and they determine the pitch, tone, octave, and whether the note is played with a gamakam. The notes are shadja (sa/S/s), rishabha (ri/R/r), gandhara (ga/G/g), madhyama (ma/M/m), panchama (pa/P/p), dhaivata (dha/D/d), and nishada (ni/N/n). Following a typical western concert B♭ scale, S acts as a low B♭, R as a C, and so on and so forth up the scale until the octave S. Each note itself, with the exceptions of S and P, have multiple note varieties that may be used in a raaga, similar to how western notes have sharps and flats.

        A raaga is “a set of rules which can together be called a melodic framework” (Koduri et al. 2011). Raagas contain properties like“a set of notes (swaras), their progressions (arohana/avarohana), the way they are intonated using various movements (gamakaas), and their relative position, strength and duration (types of swaras)” (Koduri et al. 2011).  Musicians travel between and around notes, as often they are “a region rather than a point” (Koduri et al. 2011). Raagas also have signature phrases that can be used to identify them which are “very crucial for conveying the feeling of the raaga” (Koduri et al. 2011).  These phrases are key to improvisation, and are used by the artist to introduce the song and raaga before performing. A raaga with all seven swaras in its ascension (arohana) and descension (avarohana) is called a “janak” or a complete raaga. “There are 72 janak ragas in Carnatic music called the Melakartha ragas” (Kaimal and Barde 2018). “Melakartas are parent ragas from which the other ragas evolved”(Mammen et al. 2016). There are 22 Melakarta raagas in Carnatic music. All raagas also have their own characteristic gamakas, which is how the musician travels between the notes. Gamakams are the soul of Carnatic raagas, and bring out the unique emotions of each raaga.

       Carnatic music is a testament to the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of South India. Its intricate structure, founded on shruti, swara, raaga, and taala, showcases a depth that transcends other music styles. Marked by unique notation, raagas, and gamakams, Carnatic music continues to inspire and evolve, even into the modern age. Understanding Carnatic music preserves this ancient art and deepens appreciation for its unparalleled contribution to global music heritage.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kaimal, V. and Barde, S. (2018) “Introduction to Identification of Raga in Carnatic Music and its Corresponding Hindustani Music,” International Journal of Computer        Sciences and Engineering, 6(6), 955–958, available: https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v6i6.955958.

Koduri, G.K., Miron, M., Serr`A, J., Serra, X., Music Technology Group, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (n.d.) COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF MELODY IN CARNATIC MUSIC, conference-proceeding, 12th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference (ISMIR 2011), available: https://repositori.upf.edu/bitstream/handle/10230/22725/Koduri_ISMIR_2011.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Mammen, S., Krishnamurthi, I., Varma, A.J., and Sujatha, G. (2016) “iSargam: music notation representation for Indian Carnatic music,” EURASIP Journal on Audio Speech and Music Processing, 2016(1), available: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13636-016-0083-z.

Viswanath, R. (2015) Commercialization and Corporatization of Indian Classical Music, journal-article, Sangeet Galaxy, available: https://sangeetgalaxy.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/8644789863-CommercializationandcorporatizationofIndianmusic.pdf.