Learn Raga Khamaj in 60 Minutes (Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar)

By Abhijit Chavda

About the eBook Series (Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar):

If you are a creative guitarist and are seeking to expand your musical horizons, then you will love playing Indian Ragas.

Ragas are millennia-old musical constructs that originated in Indian music. They are widely used in Indian and Asian music, and were first introduced to Western audiences in the 1950s and 1960s by Ravi Shankar and the Beatles. The pioneering guitarist Davy Graham used Ragas extensively in his music, as did Jimmy Page of the legendary Rock Band Led Zeppelin. Many other artists and bands such the Rolling Stones the Doors also experimented with Raga music in the 1970s. Kula Shaker had great success in the 1990s with their brand of Raga Rock.

Exotic as they may appear to be, Ragas are surprisingly easy to understand and learn, and can be incorporated into any kind of Western music, be it Blues, Rock, Jazz, Folk, or any other genre.

Several contemporary Western artists experiment with Ragas, but Ragas remain an obscure branch of music because very little literature is available about them. This eBook series - Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar - is an attempt to redress this imbalance.

Each eBook in this series assumes that the reader has no prior knowledge of Ragas or Indian music, and therefore serves a two-fold purpose: firstly, to instruct the reader about Ragas in general – what a Raga is, what its aspects are, and how it should be played; and secondly, to instruct the reader about the particular Raga in question.

About Ragas:

Ragas consist of the following elements:

1. An ascending scale

2. A descending scale (which may not be the same as the ascending scale)

3. A predominant note or sonant

4. A subdominant note or consonant

5. Two drone notes

6. Characteristic melodic phrasings

7. A signature motif

Each Raga has a distinct character and personality, which is defined by the mood and the ambiance it creates.

About this eBook (Learn Raga Khamaj in 60 Minutes):

This eBook contains numerous fretboard diagrams, tabs, do-it-yourself examples, and practice and improvisation tips to cover the basics and get you started on the road to becoming an advanced exponent of Raga Khamaj. You need not have any prior knowledge of Ragas or Indian music. Advanced soloists will gain the most from this eBook.

Most readers will be able to read this eBook in an hour and start applying the concepts immediately. They will find a whole new musical experience opening up to them.

About Raga Khamaj:

Raga Khamaj is a night Raga. It is traditionally played in the first quarter of the night. It evokes the emotions of tenderness, joy, contentment, hope, and desire. Some of the adjectives that describe the character of this Raga are: playful, passionate, peaceful, confident, lively, joyful, sensuous, moonlit, awake, and sensuous.

Raga Khamaj is asymmetric in its ascending and descending scales. It has a hexatonic ascending scale and a heptatonic descending scale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abhijit Chavda
• Release date: May 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476192789

Book preview

Learn Raga Khamaj in 60 Minutes

#7: Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar Series

Abhijit Chavda

Published by Abhijit Chavda at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Abhijit Chavda

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal usage only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

About the eBook Series (Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar)

If you are a creative guitarist and are seeking to expand your musical horizons, then you will love playing Indian Ragas.

Ragas are millennia-old