ChatGPT prompt for a composition brief in raga Yaman

Who this prompt is for

You want to write a vocal or instrumental piece in Yaman, but first you need a plan for its notes, phrases and rhythm. This prompt is for that planning stage. A raga is a melodic framework for composing and inventing melody during performance. Here, Yaman is the framework you will ask ChatGPT to work within.

A composition brief is a one-page specification you write before the piece, not the finished composition. It sets out the allowed notes, phrases to lean on, rhythm, tempo, form and mood. Use it when you want those choices collected in one place before you start shaping the music.

For this prompt, the rhythmic setting is teentaal, a taal, or rhythmic cycle, of 16 beats grouped into four divisions. The form can be a bandish, a vocal composition, or a gat, an instrumental composition. Choose the version that matches what you intend to sing or play, and give the prompt that direction.

Treat the reply as material to check, rather than permission to use every note or phrase it suggests. The editor's critique will check each numbered item against the Yaman raga card. After that check, take the brief into practice with a tuner and metronome, using the tempo it gives.

What the prompt needs from you

Supply your instrument or voice, tempo and mood. Request a one-page composition brief covering allowed notes, guiding phrases, rhythmic cycle (taal), tempo and form.

Choose a bandish (vocal composition) or gat (instrumental composition). Both usually have two parts: the sthayi, a returning section in the lower and middle octave, and the antara, which reaches the upper octave.

• Include Yaman’s Kalyan thaat. A thaat is one of the ten parent scales of Hindustani music.
• Give the ascent as S R G m P D N S', and descent as S' N D P m G R S.
• Explain that m means tivra Ma, the raised fourth and Yaman’s only altered note.
• Include the practice caveat: Yaman often skips Sa and Pa in ascent, while using all seven notes in descent.
• Name Ga as vadi (most important note) and Ni as samvadi (second most important note).
• Supply the pakad (short identifying phrase): .N R G R S P m G R S.
• Include the first part of the night as Yaman’s singing time, rather than supplying mood words alone.

Specify teentaal: 16 beats in four groups of four. Mark sam (the cycle’s first beat) on 1, tali (claps) on 1, 5 and 13, and khali (a wave) on 9.

The prompt

Paste the block into ChatGPT. The numbered structure is what makes the reply checkable: every item can be compared with the raga card on the Yaman guide.

Write a composition brief for a short instrumental in raga Yaman, Hindustani style, in teentaal. Structure the brief as: 1) notes used in ascent and descent in sargam (S R G M P D N), marking any altered note; 2) three characteristic phrases in sargam; 3) the most and second most important notes; 4) tempo in bpm and the taal with its vibhag structure; 5) a two-part form (sthayi and antara) with where each part sits in the octave; 6) mood and time of day. Keep it factual, no adjectives beyond "slow", "medium" and "fast".

The output

The reply, word for word. The model used its own notation: M with a caret for tivra Ma, a dot below a note for the lower octave and an apostrophe for the upper.

1) Notes
Ascent: Ṇ R G M^ D N S'
Descent: S' N D P M^ G R S
M^ = M raised by one semitone (tivra Ma). P is often omitted in ascent.
Notation: S–N = octave 0; a dot below = octave −1; an apostrophe = octave +1.

2) Phrases
• Ṇ R G R S
• R G M^ P, M^ G R S
• G M^ D N S', N D P, M^ G R S
Use meend to connect notes within phrases.

3) Note hierarchy
Vadi: G.
Samvadi: N.
Give G and N emphasis through duration and phrase endings.

4) Tempo and taal
Slow, 60 bpm, with one matra per beat.
Teentaal: 16 matras, grouped 4 + 4 + 4 + 4.
Claps: 1, 5, 13. Wave: 9. Sam: 1.
Theka: Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Tin Tin Ta | Ta Dhin Dhin Dha.

5) Form
Sthayi: four cycles; center the melody in octave 0, using Ṇ as an approach to R and G. Establish a refrain returning to G on sam.
Antara: four cycles; move through P D N toward S', with excursions to R' and G'. Descend through N D P M^ G and return to the sthayi refrain.
At this tempo, eight cycles last about 2 minutes 8 seconds.

6) Mood and time
Mood: contemplation and devotion.
Time: evening, during the first prahar of night.

The critique

Each numbered item was checked against the raga card on the Yaman guide and the teentaal guide.

Item 1, notes: tivra Ma is marked and named as the only raised note, which is the point most models miss. The descent S N D P M G R S matches the card. The ascent skips Sa and Pa and starts from the lower Ni, which is the performance practice the card calls audav-sampurna, and the model says Pa is often omitted. A student should also know the full ascent S R G M P D N S from the card.

Item 2, phrases: the first phrase, Ni Re Ga Re Sa, is the opening of the pakad on the card, and the third ends with Ma Ga Re Sa as the pakad does. All three stay inside the raga. The advice to connect notes with meend was not asked for but is right for Yaman.

Item 3, note hierarchy: vadi Ga and samvadi Ni, exactly as the card has them.

Item 4, tempo and taal: 16 matras in four groups of four, sam on 1, claps on 1, 5 and 13, wave on 9, as the teentaal guide gives them. The theka is the standard one. The model chose slow at 60 beats per minute without being asked, which makes each cycle 16 seconds; a medium tempo around 90 is easier for a first composition.

Item 5, form: sthayi in the middle octave returning to Ga on sam, antara rising through Pa Dha Ni to the upper Sa and coming back down. That is the usual shape, and the arithmetic for eight cycles at 60 beats per minute, about two minutes eight seconds, is right.

Item 6, mood and time: evening, first part of the night, as the card says. Contemplation and devotion are nouns, so the no-adjectives rule technically held.

Wrong or missing: nothing on the card is contradicted. The one gap is that the brief never says which notes to avoid. In Yaman the natural Ma must not appear at all, and a line saying so would protect a beginner.

Change in the prompt: add 7) notes to avoid and common mistakes, and ask for a tempo marked medium unless told otherwise.

Verdict: a student could work from this brief. Set the online tuner to find Sa, set the metronome to Teentaal at the tempo you choose, and play the sthayi until it lands on sam every cycle before adding the antara.

Adapting the prompt

Keep the composition brief as a one-page specification, not a finished piece. Adapt its form, tempo and mood while keeping the notes and identifying phrases available for checking. Make each requested change explicit.

• For voice, ask for a bandish, a vocal composition. For an instrument, ask for a gat, an instrumental composition.
• Ask for two parts: the sthayi, which returns in the lower and middle octave, and the antara, which rises into the upper octave.
• For tempo, write: “Keep teentaal and give a tempo I can practise steadily.” State your preferred tempo if you have one.
• For mood, write: “Aim for a devotional character, and state Yaman’s association with the first part of the night.”

After a revision, check each numbered item against the Yaman raga card again. A change of form or mood is not a substitute for checking the notes and phrases.

To practise the checked brief, use the online tuner to find Sa, your home note. Set the metronome to Teentaal at the tempo the brief gives. Play the sthayi until it lands on sam every cycle.