S-R-g-M-P-D-n-S

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Adopted from Carnatic mela #58, Hemavati matches the swaras of ‘Kafi tivra Ma‘, ‘Madhuvanti komal ni’, or ‘Vachaspati komal ga’. Prominently associated with Hariprasad Chaurasia, although it is unclear who may have first borrowed the scale from the South: Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan also recorded it, as has Amjad Ali Khan, with broad melodic variance evident between each individual interpretation (see other ‘open-form‘ ragas). Refer to an engrossing compendium of Chaurasia compositions by his nephew Rakesh, a santoor interpretation by Sandip Chatterjee, and a double-Ni take by Bhimsen Joshi (although some releases title this track as ‘Madhuvanti Malhar’: see Tanseni Madhuvanti) – plus Southern interpretations from L. Subramaniam and Mandolin Srinivas. Also see its prakritis: Madhukant (now near-extinct) and Saugandh (an ultra-rare sarangi raga) – as well as Harikauns, Tivrakauns, & Madhukauns: a trio of audav ragas which share Hemavati’s curious ga/Ma/ni combo. Pleasingly, Hemavati’s scale also matches the main hook of Britney Spears’ Toxic (SS gRSRg, (P)MR gRS; PPDDn mnD…).

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राग हेमावती

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SRgMPDnS

Avroh: SnDPMgRS

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Pakad: variable, e.g. SRgMP; nDnPMg

Chalan: (open-form)

—Hariprasad Chaurasia (1998)—

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[refrain, e.g. 12:23] (R)gR n(Dn)P S, gMP S, PnSgR(gR) n(DnD)P, (R)g(RSn)R, (R)gR n(Dn)P S, gMP S…

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• Carnatic Origins •

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—Ragam Hemavathi (mela #58)—

(Mandolin Srinivas)

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–All ragas of Carnatic origin–

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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: Thaat #13, Madhukant, Nirmalkauns, Saraswati Chandra

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–g–M–P–D–n–S

• Reverse: SRgmMDnS

• Complement: SrGmdNS

• Imperfect: 3 (Ma, Dha, ni)

• Detached: 1 (Ma)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Kirwani set

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• Quirks: ‘tivra Ma, komal ni‘ (rarest pairing)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Hemavathi (mela #58)

S-R₂-G₂-M₂-P-D₂-N₂-S

• Jazz: Dorian Diminished

1-2-b3-#4-5-6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-6-7-9-10-0

(2–1–3–1–2–1–2)

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o • o o • • o o • o o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ni)

• Names: Hemavati, Hemvati, ‘Goudi’

• Transliterations: Hindi (हेमावती)

—Rakesh Chaurasia (2012)—