ON THE RAGA

[scubadoo97]

I recently saw Anushka Shankar, Ravi's daughter, in concert. She was fantastic. I enjoy the exploration of a scale or rag. In Mid-Eastern music a similar improvisation or taqasim is used to explore the scale or maqam and show proficiency of playing skills. Unlike classical Indian music where the performer must stay with in the Rag, in middle eastern music the performer will modulate in and out of related scales or maqamat which adds a lot of complexity. I am a big fan of classical music of the near east.