Well, yes and no.

First of all, what's different from modern western music about the "chords" in Indian music that are formed in passing by the notes of the thaat (scale) played on the melody instrument against the two notes of the drone (usually sa and pa - root and fifth - but can be sa and ma - root and fourth - or sa and ni - root and seventh) is that, because the tuning used in the indian system - a form of just intonation - any of the combinations of notes that sound momentarily will be in some form (however complex) of integer ratio relationship. The intervals can all be expressed as integer ratios, and can all be derived from the harmonic series (however far up) of the root, thus forming a system of overall consonance, of being in tune. (Sur, in the Indian nomenclature.) Thus, this consonance is ultimately traceable back to the root, which is why the root is so important, and why Indian music does not modulate but stays in a fixed "key."

This is definitely *not* true of western (equal temperament) chords, where various combinations of notes, most if not all of which are *not* related to the harmonic series of the root note of whatever key you're in, will sound (to Indian ears) dissonant. ("Besur", or out of tune.)

The notes of the drone form, to western ears, a sort of two-note chord, but this is not how Indian music theory conceives of it. Whichever secondary note is used in the drone is conceived of simply as a subsidiary note with a relationship ultimately derived from the harmonic series. A consonance.

The way that Indian musicians conceive of the interval relationships between the notes of the thaat and the root and fifth, fourth or seventh gives primacy to the sa - the root. Everything else relates to the root for its significance. The only relationships of significance are those between the scale notes and the root and, to a lesser degree, those notes and whichever one of the other three possible drone notes is used in the drone. The relationships between the notes of the scale themselves (other than the root and secondary drone note) are incidental in significance. Their ultimate meaning and effect is derived from their relationship to the root, either directly or indirectly through their relationship to the other drone note. Technically, yes, "chords" are formed, but Indian music does nothing with such entities in its theory and implementation. The concept of chords as it has been developed in the West ultimately has no meaning in Indian music.

This may be what Khansahib was alluding to when he told us in that class that "this is *not* harmony!"