Learn Raga Bhimpalashri 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 Bhimpalashri 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 Bhimpalashri. 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 Bhimpalashri:

Raga Bhimpalashri (also known as Raga Bhimpalasi) is an afternoon Raga. It is traditionally played in the third quarter of the day (the day is divided into four quarters: early morning, morning, afternoon, and evening). Raga Bhimpalashri evokes the emotions of tenderness and peace. Some of the adjectives that describe the character of this Raga are: tender, peaceful, loving, ambitious, confident, hopeful, happy, and pleasing.

Raga Bhimpalashri is asymmetric in its ascending and descending scales. It has a pentatonic ascending scale and a heptatonic descending scale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abhijit Chavda
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476170770

Book preview

Learn Raga Bhimpalashri in 60 Minutes

#8: 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

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

[MangoTree · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I know from 20 years of listening to and studying ragas that it's not customary to harmonize them, but this ragas creates such a plethora of gorgeous chords (Bb has over 5 chord variations from Bb to BbM7, Bbsus4(7), Bb6, etc.). Almost every interval has a sus2 or sus 4-- which is fabulous when the harmonized interval is minor, as the suspended chords work wonderfully along with the drone, or as us westerners call the pedal tone, in the background. The sixth interval (on descending scale) harmonized is an Am7b5... perfect for tension.

And if one adheres specifically to NOT changing the way ragas are played, don't play the chords vertically; play arpeggios or play the triads as melody.

And speaking in terms of the scales themselves, THIS particular raga IS indeed peaceful: it's obvious why this is an afternoon raga.

There are so many possibilities when it comes to playing ragas.

Adhere to the rules, or break them like Page did with Zep and REMEMBER SHAKTI did.

If you know theory, you can certainly create modes from each raga taught in this series. THIS raga in particular has FIVE ascending and SEVEN descending modes that are lovely. (A learned player will recognize the descending version of this raga is a popular Western Mode!)

This raga series has opened many doorways in harmonic and melodic possibilities.