S-g-m-P-n-S

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Despite its ‘Minor Pentatonic’ scale form enjoying global popularity as the predominant mode of blues, rock, pop, and countless other guitar-driven genres, Dhani is comparatively rare as a raga in its own right – with its swara set mostly being heard as the ‘aroha of Bhimpalasi’ rather than in isolation (…it may be the least-performed of all five Bhupali murchanas). Carrying a lively, playful mood, in spite of its ‘all-komal’ status, the raga is relatively ‘rule-free’ within the bounds of its 5 swaras, although komal ga and ni tend to assume particular prominence – and some performers add shuddha Re in avroh, a relic of its roots in the Dhanashree family (some call the ‘no Re’ version ‘Dhanikauns‘). Also see nearby ragas including Jog (‘Dhani double-Ga‘), Tilang (‘Dhani double-Ni‘), Madhukauns (‘Dhani tivra Ma‘), Shrutivardhini (‘Dhani double-Ma‘), and Audav Meladalan (‘Dhani komal Pa‘)

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Aroha: nSgmPnS

Avroh: SnPmgS

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Chalan: e.g. SnSgS; nS(m)gmP; gmPnPg; mPnP; PnS; (R)SnP; (m)g(R)S; nSgS (Bor/Sadolikar)

—Satish Vyas (2001)—

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[refrain, e.g. 0:06] SnPnSg, gmPm gSnP SgSn Sg…

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• Classifiers •

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

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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

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: (Dhanikauns)

Also see other ragas matching the generic swaras ‘Sa-Ga-Ma-Pa-Ni‘ – and compare to other members of the Dhanashree raganga

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–g–m–P–n–S

• Reverse: SRmPDS (=Durga)

• Complement: SrRGMdDNS

• Imperfect: 1 (Pa)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (m—N)

• Murchanas: Bhupali set

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• Quirks: ‘atritonal‘ (no available tritones) • ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’) • ‘Pa-repeating‘ (poorvang and uttarang take the same ‘semitone shape’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Suddha Dhanyasi

S-G₂-M₁-P-N₂-S

• Jazz: Minor Pentatonic

1-b3-4-5-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-5-7-10-0

(3–2–2–3–2)

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o • • o • o • o • • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ga)

• Names: Dhani, Dhanee, Dhauni

• Transliterations: Hindi (धानी); Kannada (ಧಾನಿ)

—Malini Rajurkar (~1960s)—