Indian Classical Music - Ragas - Music Therapy - Voice Production

We are pretty familiar with the seven basic modes or scales in western music theory, which are considered useful in composing music. These seven modes are: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. For my better understanding and grasping  of these modes, I have tried to perceive how they resemble some of the Indian ragas. But Before that, I would like to exhibit a chromatic an octave table in both (Indian & Western) the disciplines. Western Notes : C,    C#/Db ,   D     D#/Eb ,   E       F     F#/Gb      G     G#/Ab      A     A#/Bb    B      C  Indian Notes :   S         r          R         g          G ...

Just as the conception of Raga and Tala are unique features of Indian music, so also is sargam . Sargam is singing note syllables in performance. In other musical cultures, slow and fast phrases resembling aalap or tana can be found, but to my knowledge, the usage of notational symbols in performances or even in practicing voice is distinct to Indian music. In Indian music, the proper dignified names of seven notes are : shadja, rishabh, gandhaar, madhyama, panchama, dhaivat, nishaad, which is sung in its abbreviated form as sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni sa respectively . The word sargam  itself is based on the first four abridged note names... sa re ga ma, i.e. sa-r-ga-m . Singing these notes with various patterns making it an organized phrase play a vital role in the development of raga while performances. In fact, raga improvisation at some point, or after adequate slow intonations, explicitly take support of sargams or singing syllables  in the form of Badat or t...

Baroque era is considered as  the golden age for classical music and for musicians. It was the time when western classical discipline flourished and  achieved dignified reputation within the society. 'Baroque' word represents the style of an art, architecture or music developed in Europe during the early seventeenth to mid-18th century. In other words, an era between 1600-1750 AD incorporates baroque era. It emphasizes on dramatic, often strained effect and typified by bold, curving forms, elaborated ornamentation and small balance of desperate parts.  Baroque period in music exhibited the developments such as construction of fundamentals were firmly organized and put in place. Music became more systematic by conceptualizing the melody and harmony through the creation of music theory. For instance, composers like Claudio Monteverdi and Jean Philippe Rameau helped creating the harmonic logic, melodic expressiveness, and rhythmic vitality. More and more research...