The object of this treatise is to give a scientific interpretation of the Raga system of North Indian melodic music. The book has been divided into three parts, of which the first embodies an elucidation of the scientific principles underlying the melodic art in general, the second contains an exposition of the musical systems of ancient and medieval India, and the third deals with the modern Raga system of Hindusthan and contains descriptions on scientific lines of seventy Ragas, with illustrative notations of some difficult and disputed Ragas. It seeks to standardize the present musical system of Hindusthan and thus put an end to vexatious controversies amongst followers of contending Gharanas. A notable feature of the book is that it presents music in just intonation. A scheme for preparing a standard stringed instrument capable of being tuned in intonation, as correct as practically possible, has been given in an appendix.
This treatise is the outcome of wide study of musical literatures of both India and Europe (Vide Bibliography), careful investigation and long research work extending over a period of more than three decades. The current theories of melody were found to be inadequate either for explaining some Scales peculiar to Indian music or for solving many intricate problems. A chain of original theories required for establishing a rational system of melodic music has been propounded and demonstrated with scientific precision in this treatise. The most important of these theories are stated below:-
(1) A Scale is "bi-centric" in character, and not "unicentric", having two central notes instead of one as hitherto believed.
(2) A Scale is continuously consonant in character, consisting of a continuous chain of consonant Thirds, with a break between the first and the last links, which make a "False Third".
3) A Scale is composite in character, being composed of two Unitary Scales, one pentachordal and the other tetrachordal.
(4) Melodic music is based on twenty Scales (Gramas), whereas, the harmonic music of Europe is based on only two Scales, the Major and the Minor. Ten of these Scales, including five characterized as "Primary" and five others characterized as "Secondary", are of simple structure like the European Scales; the remaining ten characterized as "Chromatic" are of peculiar structure, having double Thirds (Major and Minor) either above or below their central notes.
(5) Melodic Types (Ragas) of Indian music are based on the Modes or Species of Octave (Murchhanas) of the twenty Scales, which are one hundred and forty in number, each Scale having seven Modes, starting from its seven notes.
(6) Melas, on which modern melodic music of India is mainly based, represent Common-Initial forms of the Modes, the common Initial of all Melas being the first note of the Indian gamut (Sa). The number of Melas is one hundred and five, which are capable of representing all the Modes.
(7) Melodic structure is based on "Perfect Phrases", just as harmonic structure is based on "Chords". These Perfect Phrases are derived from "Dissonant Triads", consisting of three notes, two of which are dissonant to each other and consonant to the third; whereas, chords, their analogues in harmony, are derived from "Consonant Triads", consisting of three notes, which are all consonant to each other, The former have been characterized as "Melodie Triads" and the latter as "Harmonic Triads".
Vocal melody is almost coeval with the human race as a gift of nature if not as an art. Philologists hold that it is even anterior to language itself. It is, indeed, so natural to man that it may be said to be, in the language of Dr. Burney, implied in the original principles of his constitution. The most primitive peoples have been found to possess melodies of their own in the shape of short crude phrases. Exuberance of human feelings has always sought expression either in rhythmic movements of the body or in melodious modulation of the voice. Melody had its birth in a natural human instinct, which with the cultural progress of the race developed into what is known as the musical faculty. The essential feature of this faculty consists in the appreciation of certain relation-ships of sounds which scientists of the eighteenth century discovered to be determinable with mathematical precision. These relationships had long before been known as Consonances. An appreciation of these is the sine qua non for the birth and growth of melody. It is not implied in this statement that this appreciation has ever been either conscious or complete. But, as music is the only fine art which is firmly based on scientific principles, some amount of instinctive appreciation of these principles must be presumed in order to explain the great development the art has achieved. That development was attained pari passu with the growth of the faculty referred to above. Those consonances which are easy to perceive, viz, the Octave, the Fifth and the Fourth were recognised by musicians in very ancient times. Others, which are rather difficult to perceive, viz. the Thirds and the Sixths were recognised very late and a certain amount of uncertainty about their exact nature has always been felt by musicians so far at least as their explicit recognition in the theory of music was concerned. We are told that the Greeks and their followers the Romans never acknowledged these latter rolationships as consonances. In the Pythagorean intonation these intervals are very much out of tune and so long as this into-nation prevailed in Europe, appreciation of their consonant character remained almost an impossibility until some urgent artistic need drew the attention of the rausicians to their true nature. That need arose after the invention of polyphony in the middle ages. In the earliest contrapuntal writings of the 13th and 14th centuries the only concords used were the Octave, the Fifth and the Fourth. But, in course of time, as the harmonic poverty of these intervals came to be more and more keenly felt, the superior harmonic quality of the imperfect concords came to be more clearly appreciated, until the rules of harmony were completely inverted; and we come across a paradoxical revolution of ideas in the fact that consecutive Thirds and Sixths, which were strictly forbidden in medieval discant, became the rule of harmony in the mature polyphonic art of the 16th century, while consecutive Octaves and Fifths, which once reigned supreme, were now strictly forbidden. It should, however, be pointed out that only the Major Third and its inversion the Minor Sixth were accepted as concords in the 16th century polyphony. The other two imperfect concords were fully recognised after the growth of harmony about the time when their consonant character was finally established by scientific investigation. In India both the kinds of consonances were appreciated by the earliest writers on music. But the inferior kind does not appear to have ever received explicit recognition from practical musicians. A word which looks like literal translation of the word 'consonance' (con, together, and sono, to sound) is to be found in a Sanskrit work of the Ist century A. D. named Bharatiya Natya Shastra. That word is Samvada (sam, together, and vad, to speak). Evidently this Sanskrit word was used to express the same idea as that con-veyed by its English equivalent
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