The Music of Hindostan c18.5

c18.5

This scale is the plagal form of the *Sa-grāma* beginning on *F*; hence the notes are *g♭*, *a*, and *B♭*, instead of (as from *C*) *f♯*, *A*, and *b♭*. *F* was chosen as a more convenient starting point than *C* because then all the ‘black’ notes can be called flat, instead of one of them being an *f♯*. Taking the scale as it appears above, it will be observed that no chord but a first or second inversion can stand on *D*, *e♭*, *B♭*, or *b*; so that none of these notes could, if harmonized, be used in a prominent or a final sense. The writer suggests, however, that these ‘natural’ harmonies would be sufficient for the harmonization of Indian melodies.