Aroh, avroh, pakad and thaat
Purvang, uttarang, thaat (mela), jaati, audav, shadav and sampurna.
Aroh, avroh and pakad
- Aroh: the ascending order of notes of a raga (Sa to Sa').
- Avroh: the descending order (Sa' to Sa).
- Pakad: a short characteristic phrase that "catches" and identifies the raga. Example for Yaman: Ni Re Ga Re, Pa Re, Ni Re Sa.
Purvang and uttarang
The octave is divided into two halves. Purvang is the lower half (Sa Re Ga Ma) and uttarang is the upper half (Pa Dha Ni Sa'). A raga whose main movement and vadi lie in the lower half is a purvang-pradhan raga, and one centred in the upper half is uttarang-pradhan.
Thaat (mela)
A thaat is a parent scale from which ragas are classified. V. N. Bhatkhande grouped Hindustani ragas into ten thaats:
- Bilawal: all notes shuddha.
- Kalyan: teevra Ma.
- Khamaj: komal Ni.
- Bhairav: komal Re and Dha.
- Poorvi: komal Re and Dha, teevra Ma.
- Marwa: komal Re, teevra Ma.
- Kafi: komal Ga and Ni.
- Asavari: komal Ga, Dha and Ni.
- Bhairavi: komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni.
- Todi: komal Re, Ga and Dha, teevra Ma.
Rules of a thaat: it has all seven notes in serial order; it needs only an aroh; it is not sung for its own sake; and it is named after a well-known raga. In Karnatak music the equivalent is the mela (melakarta); Venkatamakhi's scheme gives 72 melakartas.
Jaati
Jaati classifies a raga by the number of notes used: audav (5 notes), shadav (6) and sampurna (7). Since aroh and avroh can differ, combinations such as audav-sampurna or shadav-sampurna are possible, giving nine jaatis in all.
Key points
- Pakad = identifying phrase of a raga.
- Purvang = Sa to Ma, uttarang = Pa to Sa'.
- Ten thaats in Bhatkhande's system; 72 melakartas in Karnatak music.
- Audav 5, shadav 6, sampurna 7 notes.
Common mistakes
- Saying a thaat needs aroh and avroh; it needs only aroh.
- Confusing Kafi (komal Ga, Ni) with Asavari (komal Ga, Dha, Ni).