n.
In the classical music of India and Pakistan, a melodic framework for improvisation based on a given set of notes (usually five to seven) and characteristic rhythmic patterns.
A raga can be regarded as a vocabulary of melodic figures that tend, as a group, to emphasize certain tones of a scale, giving the raga a specific emotional character and implying the kind of music to be improvised. The emphasis on certain pitches effectively divides the scale into primary and secondary tones; the secondary tones serve to ornament the primary tones, thus reinforcing the emphasis. Each scale can have several different ragas, depending on which tones of the scale are made primary. Two additional factors contribute to the artistic potential of the raga: the division of tones between primary and secondary is not always hard and fast; moreover, a tertiary level (ornaments of the ornaments) is often made available to the performer. The concept of raga, introduced sometime before the 9th century, became influential throughout South and East Asia. See also South Asian arts .