Western notation for Indian ragas

[Chidi Subramanian]

Is anybody aware of Indian Ragas being expressed in Western musical notations ?
If such notations exist, then it would facilitate the playing of Indian ragas in
instruments such as the piano or the violin. I am particularly interested in
Piloo or Iman ragas. Please provide the name and the telephone number of the
institution, if applicable, that uses the western notations.

Thanks.

[Sanjeev Krishnan]

ch...@eng.umd.edu (Chidi Subramanian) writes:

I think the book "Northern Indian Music, Vol 2 (The Main Ragas)"
by Alain Danielou has many ragas in western notation.

Sanjeev Krishnan
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

[J. Kippen]

>ch...@eng.umd.edu (Chidi Subramanian) writes:
>
>>Is anybody aware of Indian Ragas being expressed in Western musical notations ?
>>If such notations exist, then it would facilitate the playing of Indian ragas in
>>instruments such as the piano or the violin.

Western notation (and Indian notational systems, for that matter) are
wholly inappropriate for the transmission of performance information.
At best they can preserve a melodic outline -- what we call a
prescriptive notation. A detailed version of what a musician actually
does is far more complicated that this, however. We call that a
descriptive notation, and to be accurate it must involve the precise
notation of the subtlest melodic and rhythmic nuances, the exact pace
of a slide (meend), every murki, and every note in a gamak taan. It
has been tried, even with a complex system of symbols for the various
ornaments, by many people, myself included. The problem is that these
notations are unreadable because of the wealth of detail.

Devanagari notation is just as efficient for outlines, so if you want
to examine North Indian ragas such as Yaman and Piloo, delve into
Bhatkhande's Kramika Pustaka Malika for an endless supply of
compositions. It is easy to learn to read this.

A word of advice. The reason written notations are inefficient for
the transmission of Indian music is that there already exists a
perfectly good system of transmission that relies on aural acuity and
close observation. It has not been necessary to invent a more
efficient system. Solmization systems (sargam or bols) are perfectly
good oral notations. Use your ears. Listen to recordings of your
favourite ragas, and pick out what you hear on your piano or violin.
It will be a much quicker and more satisfying experience. Good luck!

Jim Kippen

[jacobbry...@gmail.com]

Don't get the book raga guide. It's entirely mistransposed.

[v4us...@gmail.com]

Here are some ragas that usually on the descent are very similar to many of the modes and scales we use in our neck of the woods.

1. Rag Bhimpalasi (ascending) C-Eb-F-G-Bb-C (descending) C-Bb-A-G-F-Eb-D-C

This raga reminds me of a minor Pentatonic ascending and the Dorian scale descending.

2. Rag Bihag (ascending) C-E-F-G-B-C (descending) C-B-A-G-F#-E-D-C

This is similar to both the plain Major scale and the Lydian scale on the descent.

3. Rag Kirvani (ascending) C-D-Eb-G-Ab-B-C (descending) C-B-Ab-G-F-Eb-D-C

This resembles the Harmonic minor scale.

4. Rag Tilang (ascending) C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C (descending) C-Bb-A-G-F-E-D-C

This one is the Major scale going up and the Mixolydian scale coming down.

5. Rag Pilu (ascending) C- Eb- F-G-B-C (descending) C-Bb-Ab-G-F-Eb-D-C

Similar to Melodic minor going up and Aeolian on the way down.

[v4us...@gmail.com]

http://www.geetnote.com/p/indian-thaat-in-western.html

[brihad.a...@gmail.com]

this is my first post on this group.
I saw the link on Mr Parrikar's web site.

To answer your question, it is possible to write indian classical into western notation using softwares available, I will post a few I have composed, very basic ones if I can figure out how.

[perfopt]

As someone already mentioned notation is not great for ragas.

I have tried using western notation for transcription. I can offer a pdf og Manasasancharare if you are interested.

Simpler ragams like carnatic Mohanam can perhaps be expressed "correctly".