Indian classical music has one of the most complex and complete musical systems ever developed and also has its origins as a meditation tool for attaining self realization. Like Western classical music, it divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 7 basic notes are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa also called moveable seven-note scale. A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. When seven notes Indian scale sounds harmonically it sounds melodious and harmonious. The melodic foundations of Indian music are called ragas. One possible classification of ragas is into parent scales, known as thaats, under which most ragas can be classified based on the notes they use. Thaats may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or swars. Indian musicians name these pitches using a system called sargam. Sargam is singing the swars instead of words of a composition. Keyboard and harmonium in desi style have explained basics of Indian classical music in a very simple style with no complexity. The author makes accessible to the general reader as well as to the practitioners of fundamental importance not only for the study of Indian sub-continent achievements in the sphere of music-but also for the future development of one of the greatest contributions made by India to the musical culture of the world. The chapter on the history of ragas, a large mass of materials have been imbedded and set forth in a historical sequence-revealing a fascinating story of the growth and development of Indian melodies. The peculiar theories governing the principles of Indian music are set forth with remarkable ingenuity from the unexplored sources. Apart from the data essential for the correct understanding of Indian music theories, the researches embodied in this volume have revealed surprising materials for the study of the mythology of Indian music and connecting links which intimately bind together the masterpieces. This indeed is a very revealing chapter in the history of Indian culture itself. It was never realized earlier-as to what extent musical culture has offered valuable materials for the development of Indian ragas and to what extent the Indian performer has collaborated in publishing fundamental concepts, sometimes of extremely complex spiritual significance, for the apprehension of the general public in an easily accessible form. Pictorial diagrams of thaat and ragas will help to analyze the fundamental emotive character-the philosophy of each raga so that the practitioner should not use indiscriminately any pattern of Indian melody except to express its appropriate emotional concept. The most valuable data offered in this volume is the carefully collected material bearing on the the classification of the ragas set out in simple detail with color graphics of ten basic thaat. Moreover hundreds of raga based film songs are provided with diagrams of scales for the practice.