Bilaval

Bilaval is a Hindustani classical raga.

The "Bilaval" is an Indian raga (musical composition) that appears in the Sikh tradition from northern India, and is part of the Sikh holy scripture (Granth), the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Every raga has a strict set of rules which govern the number of notes that can be used; which notes can be used; and their interplay that has to be adhered to for the composition of a tune.

In the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, there are a total of 31 raga compositions. The "Bilaval" is the sixteenth raga to appear in the series. The composition in this raga appear on a total of 64 pages from page numbers 795 to 859.

The "Bilaval" had become the basic scale for North Indian music by the early part of the 19th century. Its tonal relationships are comparable to the Western C major scale. "Bilaval" appears in the "Ragmala" as a ragini of "Bhairava", but today it is the head of the "Bilaval" thata. The "Ragmala" gives Bilaval as a putra (son) of Bhairav, but no relation between these two ragas is made today. "Bilaval" is a morning raga to be sung with a feeling of deep devotion and repose, often performed during the hot months. Over 170 hymns were composed to this raga by Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadar.

= Theory =

Writing about the musical theory of Indian classical music is fraught with complications. First of all, there have been no set, formal methods of written notation. Indian music is an aural tradition, and therefore writing is not an essential part of attaining talim(knowledge).

Arohana & Avarohana

Arohana
Sa Re Ga, Ma Pa, Dha, Ni Sa
AvarohanaSa Ni Dha, Pa, Ma Ga, Re Sa

Vadi & Samavadi

Vadi
Dha

Samavadi Ga

Pakad or Chalan

Ga Re, Ga Ma Dha Pa, Ma Ga, Ma Re Sa

Organization & Relationships

Related ragas: List related ragas here, making each raga a link with .

Thaat: Choose closely applicable thaat here. Choices are Bilawal, Khamaj, Kafi, Asawari, Bhairavi, Marwa, Purvi, Todi.

Behavior

Behavior refers to practical aspects of the music. It is complicated to talk about this for Hindustani music since many of the concepts are fluid, changing, or archaic. The following information cannot be "accurate," but it can attempt to reflect how the music existed.

Samay (Time)

easonality

Certain ragas have seasonal associations.

Rasa

Historical Information

Origins

Important Recordings

References

Bor, Joep "(ed)." Rao, Suvarnalata; der Meer, Wim van; Harvey, Jane "(co-authors)" "The Raga Guide: A Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas". Zenith Media, London: 1999.

Links

[http://www.itcsra.org/sra_others_samay_index.html SRA on Samay and Ragas]
[http://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_index.html SRA on Ragas and Thaats]
[http://www.sawf.org/music/articles.asp?pn=Music Rajan Parrikar on Ragas]
[http://www.gurmatsangeetproject.com/ Gurmat Sangeet Project]
[http://www.rajacademy.com/ Raj Academy of Asian Music]
[http://www.sikhnet.com/GurbaniKirtan/ Sikhnet: Shabad for Printing]

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