MICROTONALITY IN INDIAN MUSIC: MYTH OR REALITY ?

Abstract

Microtonality (shruti) is regarded as an essential and core aspect of the raga performance in Indian art music. In fact, musicians invariably refer to and rely on specific intonations as an identifying feature for certain ragas, like the komal Gandhar (flat third) in raga Darbari. In this paper an attempt is made to ascertain the validity of this assumption with an empirical case study of intonation of komal Dha (flat sixth) in five different ragas, viz. Darbari, Bhairavi, Puriya dhanashri, Jaunpuri and Bhairav, performed (one after the other) by the same vocalist. Although our results validate the presence of microtonality in Indian music they provide evidence for flexible intonation, ruling out the notion of pitch as fixed points. The influence of melodic context on pitch is also clear from this study. The present meaning of shruti seems more related to melodic shapes (ornamentation) and melodic context.