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(Sanskrit, colors; sing., rāg). A system of MODES used in the classical music of northern India, representing not only a succession of certain INTERVALS (not necessarily corresponding to the TEMPERED SCALE), but a meaningful relationship to spiritual values. In Indian theory, correspondences exist not only with human moods, such as joy or sorrow, loneliness and waiting, love and revulsion, but also with a definite time of the day or season of the year. The playing of the ragas by native musicians assumed, therefore, a mystical and magical quality of meditation and communication.

The modes of the ragas are usually PENTATONIC in their primary structure. Supplementary tones may be added, increasing the GAMUT to that of seven degrees. A rāg may exceed a range of a OCTAVE by a few pitches. Also, many ragas differ in pitch going up from going down, as does the Western melodic minor scale. The hierarchy of the primary and secondary tones of the ragas is strictly observed, and transitions from one rāg to another, corresponding to Western MODULATIONS, cannot be made within the same performance. The goal of improvisation is the expression of the intended meaning of a rāg. Each note must be thoroughly explored, with the appropriate ornamentation, and the movement from note to note must follow the appropriate rules of the rāg.

Melodic improvisation requires the support and challenge by the tablā player, who also has a system to work within, the TALA. The rhythmic structure of the tala is additive and cumulative: additive in the sense that divisions containing different numbers of beats in each are added to form a fixed rhythmic unit of considerable complexity, often making an arithmetic progression (e.g., 4 + 5;2 + 3 + 4 + 5;3 + 5 + 7), and cumulative (cyclical) in the sense that such rhythmic units are repeated to form larger units.

To an uninitiated listener, it appears magical that a group of native performers, playing without scores and without a visible signal by a principal player or conductor, could strike several drums or sound several instruments together after a long interval of time. This ability is explained by the fact that professional musicians can conceive such units, usually up to a 16-beat (tīn-tāl) cycle, but even potentially larger. To this capacity must be added the constant rhythmic variations that are skillfully but instinctively fitted into the main metrical divisions.

The standard form of the classical Indian improvisation is as follows: (1) the opening ālāpa, for the melodic and drone instruments; after a musical tuning check, the rag is introduced in its basic form and improvised upon in a slow, arhythmic, meditative manner; (2) the jod (jhālā) or tānam, an improvisation with a regular pulse produced on the drone strings and repeated motives or sung with repetitive nonsense syllables; (3) the gat adds the tablā and tāi to the melodic instrument; the drone continues but is virtually inaudible. This final section alternates between a brief precomposed piece and free improvisation, with a friendly rivalry between melodic instrumentalist and drummer. The work concludes with a cadential formula repeated three times, assuring a smooth, satisfying close.