Probably the most underrated cover by Eric Clapton. (video)

Musical modes in Indian Classical music are called Ragas. People often equate Ragas with Scales. This is wrong. A scale just provide a set of allowable pitches. Ragas are built on top of Scales. They also contain information such as melodic patterns and emotions. This is important to musical systems, such as Carnatic music, that are entirely based on melody. European classical composers don’t depend much on modes, they tend to built their music on top of raw scales. This is because they use harmony to evoke emotions and micro-tones (which are an important constituent of modes), are difficult to harmonize. An analogy might help to understand how the European and Indian compositional techniques differ. Imagine you are preparing a letter using a Word Processor. You can start from an ‘empty document’. In addition to the content, you have to decide on the layout, font types and other embellishments that should go to the design of the document. This is like composing music using a raw scale. You have the set of notes as specified by the Scale and the rest is left to your imagination. But most word processors come with ‘templates’ that provide the basic layout and design for various types of documents. You can just select a ‘letter’ template and improve on that, which of course, require knowledge about what you are trying to accomplish. (If you choose a ‘love letter’ template for a business letter, you won’t be running your business for long!). Templates makes your job much easier. If you choose the right template and respect the patterns set by it, you will be able to produce a professional looking document. Composing a melody based on a Raga is like preparing a letter using a ‘template’. Oriental music systems provide a rich collection of modes that cater to the widest spectrum of human emotions. The composer should know which mode to choose (and its scope) to create a composition with a particular feeling. To conclude, Ragas are not the same as Scales. The similar concept in western music is called ‘Musical Modes’, which lost popularity once European composers started emphasizing harmony.

Note: Just like Indian Classical music, Arabic music has a vast array of modes. A mode in Arabic music is called a Maqam. I must admit: “Arabic music has an enchanting charm!”

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