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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• 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)—

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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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• 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

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

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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.

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

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–gG–m–P–D–nN–S

• Reverse: SrRgmPdDnS (=Amiri Todi)

• Negative: 5-5-2

• 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)—