72 parents, thousands of children: How India classified ragas using mathematics

72 parents, thousands of children: How India classified ragas using mathematics

Thousands of ragas exist, and every one is built from the same 12 notes. Two musicologists, 250 years apart, sat down to count how many scales were even possible. The south arrived at 72 and published every one. The north arrived at 32 and kept 10. This instalment of Science of Sound follows both sums.

How India classified ragas using mathematics

There is a raga that may only be sung at dawn, and another that belongs to the hour before rain. There is one Hindustani musicians handle with care, because it is said to carry grief the way a glass carries water.