thāt harmonization

Hindustani classical music uses a system known as rāga for the melodic organization of compositions and improvisations. A rāga has an ascending form and descending form, which can twist and turn on the way to the octave, including multiple versions of scale steps (e.g. sharp 4, natural 4) as well as a primary note and a secondary note.

One way a rāga may be theoretically classified is with the thāt system. A thāt is a scale, with none of the melodic sophistication of a rāg.

Hindustani music uses a tonic drone as a harmonic reference for the rāga melody, without chords or chord progressions. What happens if we harmonize a thāt?

Six of the ten thāt are the same as the European church modes. Three of them include an embedded major pentatonic scale, and which gives them a polytonal power. Below, three harmonization worksheet videos demonstrate these scales in a harmonic context.