S-R-gG-m-P-D-nN-S

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Gara is a disparate melodic lineage, derived from thumri compositions of centuries past: Manuel’s research describes it as “a loose, informal melodic entity until the 18th century, after which [its] grammar was organised by classically trained musicians…like Kafi, Pilu, Jungala, Barwa, and Zila”. Often close to Jaijaiwanti, the modern Gara may also draw from Pilu, Khamaj, and Jhinjhoti, setting their melodies within a vakra framework focused on mandra-madhya saptak: low Pa is used as the scale-base, and low Sa is home to a pakad of DnSNS [Also see Pancham se Gara (‘Gara from Pa’) a murchana-based derivative which rotates this catchphrase upwards a perfect 5th to form GmPMP, as well as Madhyam se Gara, rotated a perfect 4th to give RgmGm]. Typically considered an evening or night raga (although Bhatkhande classified it as time-neutral) – the liner notes to a 1966 Nikhil Banerjee album describe Gara as ”a traditional evening raga of a somewhat less serious nature, light in spirit and emotional in character, signifying sringara rasa“. Refer to Deepak Raja’s superb analysis for more (“Conventional wisdom regards Gara as vivacious and romantic…Vilayat Khan adopts the Pilu–Jhinjhoti axis of the raga described by Bhatkhande, however, towards the upper end of the melodic canvas, [he] tilts mildly towards Jaijaiwanti of the Bageshri–ang…).

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• Raga Masterlist (1000+) •

राग गारा

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: e.g. mPDNS, RgR, GmP

Avroh: e.g. PmgR, SnDP, DNS

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Chalan: signatures, e.g. RgRS; DnPDNS; GmRgR (Raja)

—Ravi Shankar (2001)—

(hear me play a classic Allauddin Khan Gara gat on electric guitar!)

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[refrain, e.g. 1:12] (SNS)N S(mR) R(mgmgRgRS), (RS)R SS(RS), (nDP)DP (PD)PD N(SN), N(SN), S, (NSR)S (nD)n, R, RR, Rg(Rmg) (R)SS, N(SmRmg), g(RgR), (RSNS)N N(SN), S(mR), R(gRmgRg), (RS)R S(RS), (nD)nD (DPD)PD N(SN), (nD)PDNS NS…

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• Guitaragas •

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

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—Allauddin Khan gat (guitar)—

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My guitar cover of a rapidfire Allauddin Khan gat, recorded by the great Maihar master on sarod in the 1930s

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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: Jaijaiwanti, Jaijaiwanti Nat, Zila Kafi, Hanskinkini, Jayant Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar, Rageshri Bahar, Tilang Bahar, Nagadhwani Kanada, Patdeepaki

Also compare to other members of the Khamaj raganga (n.b. not all Gara renditions display a notable Khamaj influence)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–gG–m–P–D–nN–S

• Reverse: SrRgmPdDnS (=Amiri Todi)

• Complement: SrMdS

• Imperfect: 1 (Ni)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (r—P)

• Murchanas: Jaijaiwanti set

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• Quirks: ‘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: ~Kapi

S-R₂-G₂-G₃-M₁-P-D₂-N₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Dorian-Ionian

1-2-b3-3-4-5-6-b7-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-4-5-7-9-10-11-0

(2–1–1–1–2–2–1–1–1)

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o • o o o o • o • o o o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Gara, Gaara, Ghara

• Transliterations: Hindi (गारा); Bengali (গারা); Kannada (ಗಾರ)

—Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (2018)—