Carnatic music is a very complex system of music that requires much thought, both artistically and technically. This page is devoted to the technical side of Carnatic Music.
This is an exhaustive primer on Carnatic Music that explores all of its technical aspects. I strongly recommend checking this out if only briefly.
The Melakarta Ragams are the 72 basic Janya (Root) ragams for all of the infinite others in Carnatic Music. All of these ragams are saptaswaras, that is that they have all seven notes - Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ne, and Sa. The system is divided into two sets of 31 ragams - one set with the first Ma and the second Ma. This is very similar to the Western concept of scales and the circle of flats.
This system of talams is the rythmic basis for Carnatic music. It is based on 7 core talas whcih use only 3 of the 6 possible components of an Indian talam - Anudrutam, Drutam, Laghu, Guru, Plutam, and Kakapadam. The Seven Talams are Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata, and Eka Talams. Using these sapta talas all of the 150 Carnatic talams can be derived.
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