S-g-m-P-n-S

---

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 five swaras, although komal ga and ni tend to assume prominence – and a few performers add shuddha Re in avroh, a relic of its roots in the Dhanashree family (some call the ‘strictly no Re’ version ‘Dhanikauns‘). See melodic summary below – and compare to 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‘).

---

• Raga Masterlist (1000+) •

राग धानी

Search | Glossary | Tags

• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: nSgmPnS

Avroh: SnPmgS

---

Pakad: e.g. variable, nSg; SgmPg; nPgS

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

• Draws on its Dhanashree roots with Bhimpalasi-ang phrases such as nSgmP; PmgmP – while also hinting at the Kauns-ang in movements around Sa (nSgS; SgmgS)

• Komal ga is typically considered the vadi, often placed on the sam and appearing in dynamic motions such as SnPnSg; gmPmgS

• The scale form ‘repeats from Pa’ (i.e. Sgm and PnS both comprise interval jumps of ‘3-2’) – strengthening the role of Pa as an anchor and opening up congruent motions (e.g. nSgmg; mPnSn)

• Individual interpretations vary, with chayas of several nearby ragas available (e.g. Jog as PnP; PnSgS, Nayaki Kanada as mPgmnP; nmPS) – although generally tend towards a bold, direct character

• Some gharanas still uphold the traditional practice of including touches of shuddha Re, typically coming in avroh as SgR or gmgRS

• Compositions •

—Shruti Sadolikar (Jaipur-Atrauli khayal):

• [tintal] g gS nS g, P PmPm gmPn PmPmg, g gS nS g, (S)gmPnPnS, g(S) S(n) n(P) P(m)g, ggmP P(nP)Pmg

—Satish Vyas (Shivkumari santoor):

• [ektal] SnPnSg, SgmPmgSn S(n)g SnS | ggmg Smmm PmPn nnSn Pmgg nSg S gSS SSS S

—Satish Vyas (2001)—

(hear me play this gat on guitar!)

---

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

---

• Guitaragas •

My attempts to capture the raga on electric guitar (see more on my Insta)

---

—Drut ektal (electric guitar)—

---

My brief electric guitar cover of the Satish Vyas ektal gat above…

---

• 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

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

---

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–

---

• 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

---

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

---

–Global Translations–

---

• 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)

---

o • • o • o • o • • o • o

---

• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ga)

• Names: Dhani, Dhanee, Dhauni

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

—Malini Rajurkar (~1960s)—