Raga, system of scales and associated melodic patterns that make up the basis of Indian classical music. The word raga comes from Sanskrit, the classical language of India, and means “color.” By performing a raga, a musician attempts to instill a certain mood in the audience, in order to create rasa (aesthetic delight). In the North Indian tradition of Hindustani music, ragas are assigned to particular times of the day or night, and, in many cases, to seasons of the year.

Whether in the Hindustani tradition or the southern tradition of Karnatak music, each raga is distinguished from all other ragas by its individual characteristics. Performers use a range from 5 to 12 pitches, although variations can increase this number. Raga notes are arranged into ascending and descending melodic sequences, or scales, with certain notes emphasized more than others. Attempts to classify the hundreds of ragas in existence are usually done according to these scales, but this does not mean that a raga is primarily a scale. Dozens of ragas may contain the same scale, and others share other features and melodic configurations in completely different scales. A musician usually chooses to learn and play no more than about 20 of the hundreds of ragas in existence.