Musical Features of Lullabies-Importance of Raga Perspective

Abstract

Lullaby is a unique musical compositional form. It is a song of coziness and comfort. Every culture has its rich repertoire of lullabies. There have been many studies on the cultural aspects and therapeutic aspects of these songs. However, a comparative musical study of lullabies of different cultures from ‘Raga’ perspective is a less explored area. ‘Raga’, is a unique melodic concept of Indian music that encompasses multiple features. ‘Lullaby’, being one of the most aesthetic musical genres, has many more performative possibilities using the raga perspective, if we disengage it from the cultural context. The research problem is to study the musical features of ‘Lullabies’ of different cultures using ‘Raga’ as the basic comparison tool. The study aims to highlight the importance of a ‘Raga’ approach, to enrich the variety in the performance of these songs. The melodic structures of selected popular lullabies of different cultures are studied and compared to the scales of existing ragas. Although a scale refers specifically to the skeletal structure of a raga, it encapsulates the unique combination of notes that define the raga and therefore the songs are intricately related to ragas. Data collection is through sources that include research papers, books and audio recordings. The study results in identifying different ragas/ scales from the selected lullabies. The findings include, projecting the ragas/scales common across these songs, comprehending the ornamentations, rhythmic features and specific musical features like those based on octaves and modulations. The comparative study results in highlighting the immense scope of the melodic variety in the lullabies that follow the Indian raga system. Applying a ‘Raga’ perspective can open the doors for different melodic contours and emotions to pitch into the genre, to enhance its melodic scope, as a performative form.