S-gG-m-d-n-S

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As recounted in The Hindu, Mohankauns “was spontaneously created by Ravi Shankar in 1949. On hearing of [Mohandas K.] Gandhi’s death, Pandit-ji was asked by All India Radio to play a piece dedicated to the Mahatma. On the spot, he created a variation of…Malkauns”. As well as the occasional use of shuddha Re, his new raga adds a shuddha Ga in aroha, bringing special prominence to a ‘Ga-Ni-Dha’ catchphrase: chosen by Shankar to spell out the Mahatma’s surname [here‘s the sloppily-distilled motif on own sitar, also audible in Shankar’s take below at 1:56, 12:57, 18:58, etc: and see my Alphamelodics: the hidden sounds of words article for more!]. Also recorded by Zia Mohiuddin Dagar on the rudra veena, as well as Nazakat & Salamat Ali Khan‘s spellbinding vocal duet.

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—Ravi Shankar (1981)—

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[refrain, e.g. 18:44] G GGm, n (n)d d, (dm)G Gm, G(R)Gm, m m(d) G m S, (n)d dd, (dS)n nnS S, (m)GGm, (m)G n d(nd), (dm)G, GGm, G(R)Gm, m…

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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.

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S-gG-m-d-n-S

• Reverse: SRGPdDS (=none)

• Inverse: Ni; SRgPdnS (=none)

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, Ga)

• Detached: 1 (Ga)

• Symmetries: mirror (G—n)

• Murchanas: Hemshri set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Ragavardhini

S-G₂-G₃-M₁-D₁-N₂-S

• Jazz: Epogimic

1-b3-3-4-b6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-4-5-8-10-0

(3–1–1–3–2–2)

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o • • o o o • • o • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+dha)

• Names: Mohankauns, Mohan Kauns

—Nazakat & Salamat Ali Khan (1978)—