About the Speaker:

Sandeep Bagchee studied Physics from Delhi University and joined government service as IAS officer. Considered as one of the finest officers, served many ministries including Science and Technology. He has deep interests and understanding of Indian classical music. He is the author of two scholarly books, N ā d and Shruti, on music. N ā d is arguably the best book on Indian classical music, considered next only to the treatise on Hindustani Classical Music by the legendary VN Bhatkhande. He continues to pursue this interest after retirement.

Abstract:
This paper attempts to use the principles of cognitive musicology, widely used in understanding western music, to present another approach to understanding the concept of “r ā ga” in Indian music.
Generally, the R ā ga as a concept, and individual r ā gas are described in normative terms: which tones to use, the manner of ascent and descent , the tones to be emphasized, the tonal phrases to be sung and so on.
By viewing r ā ga from the prism of cognitive musicology, we get a better understanding of how we come to recognize individual r ā gas. This paper examines how the cognitive processes operate in respect of music to understand how the mind perceives the individual tones, how these tones cohere to form melody, and how the mind groups tones into patterns, and after repeated listening of various performances of the same r ā ga, forms a general “schema” of that r ā ga which then becomes its identity or the signature by which the r ā ga is recognized.