Tansen of the nine Ratnas in the court of King Akbar is definitely one of the most outstanding examples of the history of Indian music. It is said when he sang he could bring rainfall with his ragas. Indian Music has two concepts raga and rasa. Raga literally means that which tinges the mind with a particular feeling, passion or emotion. The structure of each raga and the melodic movement within its framework are governed by definite and extensive rules laid down in ancient treatise on music written much before the Christian era.
Indian music recognizes twenty-two notes and microtones in the octave.
The technique of a raga, put in the simplest form, consists in the use of certain fixed notes and microtones to the deliberate exclusion of others. Within this fixed framework, however, there is unlimited scope for improvisation. Each artiste can have his own individual interpretation and vision of a particular raga. No two renderings of the same raga by the same singer or player may be exactly the same . There is no written composition in the Western sense of the term.