The Musical DNA of Carnatic Melakarta Ragas: The New Simple Method for Melakarta Ragas to Understand the Foundation of Carnatic Music

By Sridhar Jagannathan

This book is intended for beginners and practitioners of Carnatic music, which is the type of classical music common to Southern India. In this book we will look at the underlying structure of Carnatic music, which defines a methodology for Melakarta ("janaka" or "parent") ragas and from which other janya ("derived" or "child") ragas are obtained or associated with. In the Carnatic system, there are 72 Melakarta ragas, which are all derived from a 12 note system. All Melakarta ragas utilize a distinct set of seven notes ("sapta swara"), in both the arohanam (ascending) sequence and in the avarohanam (descending) sequence. Janya ragas are derived from these Melakarta ragas and have variations such as fewer notes and pattern variations. This variability and flexibility enable the creation of thousands of ragas. The matrix notation developed in this book for Melakarta ragas is new and brings a modern elegance and simplicity to an older algorithm that was common in the preceding centuries. Melakartas were named and encoded in a particular manner so as to identify their positions within twelve "chakras" or rings, with each ring consisting of six swara variations, thereby containing 72 Melakarta ragas. Unfortunately, this system has fallen out of vogue, as it required some knowledge of Sanskrit and an understanding of a delightful ancient algorithm. This older method is explained in detail for those who wish to understand and use it. The vital concept of "diagonal Melakarta ragas" is introduced as the backbone of the Melakarta system. The richness of these six diagonal Melakarta ragas is illustrated through diagrams detailing relationships and affinities to other Melakarta ragas. Numerous keyboard illustrations are provided for understanding these relationships. Finally, we evolve a new musical DNA approach for Melakarta ragas from the six diagonal Melakarta ragas, using a genetic framework to characterize the remaining 66 Melakarta ragas. This yields a "new simple method" to understand the swaras of all Melakarta ragas.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CNM2BYKJ
• ISBN13: 9798868074141
• Release Date: November 2023
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 54 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.1" x 8.5"