Nathaniel School of Music

Carnatic Ragas Meet Western Chords: Harmonizing Melakarta Ragas on Piano

To harmonize a Melakarta raga on piano, write out its seven notes (Sa and Pa fixed, plus one choice each of Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni), then stack thirds on every note of the raga to get its triads and seventh chords, including unusual ones such as augmented and flat-five chords.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 24 min

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Key points

This lesson by Jason Zac of Nathaniel School of Music explains how the 72 Melakarta ragas of Carnatic music are built, how they line up with Western scales and modes, and how to turn any of them into a set of chords on the piano. It suits pianists who only know major and minor harmony, and Carnatic musicians curious about Western chords. Jason is clear that he is not a trained Carnatic theorist; his view comes from years of composing with Carnatic musicians in South India.

What harmonizing a raga means

Harmonizing means getting a set of chords to work with, either to accompany an existing melody from a bandmate or composer, or to support your own tune. Good harmonization gives you options, so if a collaborator dislikes one chord you can offer another, and it scales to your level: simple major and minor triads first, then every chord the raga allows, then seventh chords.

How the 72 Melakarta ragas are built

The system is basic maths. Sa and Pa are fixed, and Pa is always a perfect fifth, never diminished or augmented. Everything else is chosen:

In the key of C, Sa is C and Pa is G. The three Re are Db, D and D#; the three Ga are Ebb, Eb and E; the two Ma are F and F#. Because some of these overlap in sound, the combinations reduce to exactly 72 seven-note scales, covering every possible arrangement of intervals around a fixed Sa and Pa.

The twelve chakras

The 72 ragas are grouped into 12 chakras of six ragas each. The first six use Shuddha Madhyama; the second six (Rishi, Vasu, Brahma, Disi, Rudra, Aditya) repeat the same pattern with Prati Madhyama. Within the first half, the Re and Ga choice defines each chakra:

  1. Indu (R1, G1): starts with raga 1, Kanakangi.
  2. Netra (R1, G2): very Phrygian; home of Hanumatodi.
  3. Agni (R1, G3): Arabic or Middle Eastern in flavour.
  4. Veda (R2, G2): the minor-sounding ragas such as Natabhairavi, Kiravani and Kharaharapriya.
  5. Bana (R2, G3): where the major scale, Shankarabharanam, lives.
  6. Rutu (R3, G3): rarer and a little bluesy.

Inside each chakra, the Dha and Ni choices decide the exact flavour, for example whether a minor-sounding raga behaves like natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor or Dorian.

Ragas and Western modes

Turning a raga into chords

Write the scale out, then build a triad on each note by stacking every other note of the raga. Take G Mayamalavagowla: G Ab B C D Eb F#. This gives familiar chords such as G major (G B D) and C minor (C Eb G), which are enough to get by playing over the scale, but also unusual shapes: D F# Ab is a major chord with a flat five, and Eb G B is Eb augmented. Inverting an augmented chord gives another augmented chord, so Eb augmented inverts into G augmented, which inverts into B augmented. Some note stacks even produce cluster-like chords. Seventh chords come from adding one more third.

Janya (derived) ragas use fewer notes, so they offer fewer chords. Jaganmohini, for instance, loses the augmented chord that the full Mayamalavagowla gives you.

How to practise

Play each raga's scale ascending (arohana) and descending (avarohana), ideally against a tanpura drone. Then write its triads, learn their inversions and repeat in other keys. Doing all 12 keys by hand is slow, which is why Jason uses the Melakarta Sphere app to show every raga's chords, inversions and functions instantly.

Questions about this lesson

Why are there exactly 72 Melakarta ragas?

Sa and Pa are fixed, and you choose one Re, one Ga, one Ma, one Dha and one Ni. Overlapping sounds remove some combinations, leaving six Re-Ga pairs, six Dha-Ni pairs and two Ma options: 6 × 6 × 2 = 72.

Which Western scale is Mayamalavagowla?

Mayamalavagowla, the 15th Melakarta, is the double harmonic major scale. In G it is G Ab B C D Eb F#.

What chords can I play with Mayamalavagowla?

Stacking thirds in G Mayamalavagowla gives chords such as G major, Ab major, C minor, a D major flat-five chord and Eb augmented. G major and C minor alone are enough to get by playing over the scale.

Can the fifth be altered in a Melakarta raga?

No. Pa is always a perfect fifth. If you want that tense, flattened-fifth sound, you use Prati Madhyama, the augmented fourth, and keep the perfect fifth.

Practise it

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