• Raag Des Malhar •

S-R-G-m-P-D-nN-S


A well-established fusion of the pastoral-themed Desh and the rain-bringing Malhar, spanning the full swara sets of both via characteristic movements such as RmP, PNSRmGR; mPnDP, PNS. Steadily popular with both instrumentalists (e.g. Ali Akbar Khan’s many renditions) and singers (e.g. the Bodas clan’s duets). Dinkar Kaikini’s daughter Aditi Upadhya recounts the inspiration behind the Agra exponent’s own stellar bandish: “He reached the Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill in Bombay…Looking up, he saw clear blue sky and, looking down, the clouds were so low the trees were hidden…Inspired, he immediately worked out a lyric (‘Dark, dark, looms the canopy of clouds, They gather, swell, and shower their heavy bounty…Trees and vines, garbed green sprouts, smile and sway in the wind…’).


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—Dinkar Kaikini (1974)—


[motifs, e.g. 0:42] (mRm)SRmPn P/S, n(D) D(P) P(DP) m(Gm) GR, (mRm)SRmPn P/S; (P)NN(SN), S(NSN), N(SRS) nDP…

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• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):


Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.


Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

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–Swara Geometries–

Core form: S-R-G-m-P-D-nN-S
Reverse: SrRgmPdnS (=Gandhari)
Inverse: dha; SmPnS (=none)
Imperfect: 1 (Ni)
Detached: none
Symmetries: mirror (Gm—nN)
Murchanas: Bihag set

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–Global Translations–

Carnatic: Kedaragaula
S-R2-G3-M1-P-D2-N2-N3-S
Jazz: Bebop Dominant
1-2-3-4-5-6-b7-7-8
Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):
0-2-4-5-7-9-10-11-0
(2–2–1–2–2–1–1–1)

o • o • o o • o • o o o o


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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa
• Names: Des Malhar, Desh Malhar

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—Ali Akbar Khan (1970s)—

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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!

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