ABSTRACT
The possibility of making mistakes implies the existence of a norm, model or system. The use of the term rag, whatever it may mean, marks dapha out as connected with, participating in, or inheriting features of the ‘classical tradition’ or ‘Great Tradition’ of South Asian music. Dapha musicians have no terms for scale degrees or scales, and they do not use any instruments on which melodic pitches or scales can be produced, so discussion of these matters is virtually impossible. When singers sing as a group, they may or may not converge on a common pitch-level. Despite variable and inconsistent pitching by some singers, therefore, dapha melodies are founded on a set of scale types that are and have been current across South Asia for at least two thousand years. Besides ambiguity as to the tonal reference-point in some dapha melodies, a further typical feature is the transposition of melodic contours or motives to different levels.
