Raga rock

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For the reggae subgenre, see Reggae rock.

Raga rock is a generic term used to describe rock and roll records with heavy South Asian influence, either in construction, timbre or use of instrumentation, such as sitar and tabla.

The term is not usually used to refer to a specific genre of music, but rather as a more general descriptor for any sort of rock with heavy, audible debts to Indian classic music. Since Indian influences extend in particular through much 1960s rock, the term is most frequently used to refer to certain sounds from that decade, although heavily Indian-derived sounds are found in some post-1960s rock.

"Ragas" are specific melodic modes used in classical music of South Asia. Thus, any rock songs with obvious Indian influences can be deemed "raga-rock" although the term is frequently used to refer to much more explicitly Indian musical outings. The advent of raga rock is often traced to the July 1965 release of "See My Friends", a top ten single for The Kinks in England, although The Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul", released earlier that year, featured a sitar-like riff by guitarist Jeff Beck. The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" popularized the genre and caused it to bloom. By the end of the 1960s, the style had virtually completely lost mainstream attention.