Lalit is a prominent
raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
in
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
. It is commonly described as serene and devotional and is performed at dawn time of the day.
The
swara
Svara or swara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as ''swar'') is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or '' ...
(notes of the Indian musical scale) of Lalit put emphasis on the minor second (Re) and minor sixth (Dha), and include natural and sharp fourth (Ma), but omit the commonly used perfect fifth (Pa).
Author Peter Lavezzoli stated the raga was difficult to play for
Western classical musicians because of its scale.
Jairazbhoy argued the use of both forms of Ma was an apparent
chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses o ...
, but that one of the Ma notes was a diminished Pa.
[Jairazbhoy 1995, p. 49] Lalit with a different scale was identified in the 16th century, and a raga Lalita existed before.
Pakad - Chalan of Lalit: Re♭, Ma-Ma#-Ma Ga Ma, Ma#Ni, Sa
As can be seen from above, the raga uses both the flat and the upper Ma and that makes this raga very distinct from other ragas. Deliberate oscillation on the cusp formed between Ma-Ma# and Ni is commonly heard.
In the
Gwalior tradition of singing, and among many dhrupadiyas(colloquial term used to refer
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...
singers), Lalit is sung with a shuddh dhaivat (natural sixth), and has a slightly different chalan (way of moving).
Film songs
Language:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
Language:
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
Hindustani Classical Music Composition(Bandish) set in Raga Lalit
References
External links
More details about the Lalit raga
{{Rāgas as per Performance Time
Hindustani ragas