S-R-g-M-P-d-n-S

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A strange scale imported from the Carnatic mela #56, equivalent to ‘Darbari tivra Ma’ (or ‘Hemavati komal dha’). Despite its Southern popularity, it is still little-known in the North, with only a few Hindustani artists having explored it in any depth. Among these, Rampur-Sahaswan singer Hafeez Ahmed Khan provides direct insight into its workings (see his full remarks below): “Shanmukhpriya is of a very devotional character – its name means ‘Goddess of Six Faces’. As regards interpreting the raga in Hindustani music, the scale doesn’t come under the purview of the so-called ‘ten thaats’…I think that it represents six ragas, one after another” – giving these ragas as Desi (SRgSRnS), Jaunpuri (nSRRndP), Darbari (PdnRS), Madhuvanti (gMPMgRS), Ramkali (MPdndP), & Bhairavi (PdnS). Also recorded by sitarist Balaram Pathak (who may have been the first to import the scale, sometime in the 1950s), as well as by Carnatic-born and Dagarvani-trained sarodiya K. Sridhar, who mined its odd contours to great effect at a 1986 concert in Stockholm (see transcription below). Compare to proximate ragas from the ‘32 thaat’ (=all possible 7-swara sampurna scales): including Komal Ramkali (komal re instead), Rishabhapriya (shuddha Ga instead), and Simhendra Madhyamam (shuddha Ni instead).

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• Raga Megalist (365+) •

राग शनमुखप्रिया

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SRg, MPd, nS

Avroh: SndP, MgRS

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Chalan: variable – e.g. SRgSRnS; nSRRndP; PdnRS; gMPMgRS; MPdndP; PdnS (Ahmed)

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—K. Sridhar (1986)—

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[taans & sthayi, e.g. 6:31] SRgMP, n dPd PMP MgSRgMP Md Pn dn(S) dn Pd MP g, gRgMPdP MgRS, SRgMPg MPgMP; P P P, d(n) n(d) P(MP) P, gMd P P P, d(n) P(d) M(P), gMd P P P…

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• More •

Histories, melodies, mythologies, etc…

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—Hafeez Ahmed Khan explanation—

In the preface to his full-length 1983 rendition, Rampur-Sahaswan vocalist Hafeez Ahmed Khan provides valuable insight into how a master Hindustani musician goes about interpreting a fresh scale from the South. Here are his full remarks, lightly edited for clarity:

 

“Now, a Carnatic melody: Raag Shanmukhpriya. For the last few years, it is a healthy sign that, based on mutual understanding, ragas travel from North to South, and vice versa. This raga has come to the North, and has become very popular in festivals and concerts. But of course, the ‘shape’ of [my interpretation] is strictly Hindustani in character – I will present the sargam in Hindustani form also. But I love Carnatic melodies! There are a lot of South Indian ragas that should be taken up by the North – and many Northern ragas have been adopted by Carnatic musicians too.

 

Shanmukhpriya is of a very devotional character – its name means ‘Goddess of Six Faces’. As regards interpreting the raga in Hindustani music, the scale doesn’t come under the purview of the so-called ‘ten thaats’ – but the aroha–avroh is very simple, although delicate: SRg, MPd, nS; SndP, MgRS. I think that it represents six ragas, one after another. I will analyse these these shades before you:

• SRgSRnS (Desi)
• nSRRndP (Jaunpuri)
• PdnRS (Darbari)
• gMPMgRS (Madhuvanti)
• MPdndP (Ramkali)
• PdnS (Bhairavi)

Listen out for these six shades in Ahmed’s performance below, which also includes a range of other ideas including a ‘Carnatic-ang’ section with distinct ornamental shapes (from 14:43). Also see Khat, another raga which combines six others.

 

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—Hafeez Ahmed Khan (1983)—

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“Ustad Hafeez Ahmed Khan, who passed away in 2006, straddled the old and the new. He was trained in the traditional gurukul system, imbibing the intricacies of his gharana over several years of study, and at the same time he had a masters degree in politics, taught at Minnesota University, served as Deputy Chief Producer at All India Radio Delhi, and was Vice-Chancellor of Indira Sangeet University at Khairagarh (the only university devoted exclusively to music). His recitals abroad, interspersed with explanations to help foreigners understand the intricacies of Indian classical music, were a great hit. He also acted in a German movie about Tansen called The Rain Maker…” (The Hindu)

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• Carnatic Origins •

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—Ragam Shanmukhpriya (mela #56)—

(Aruna Sairam)

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–All ragas of Carnatic origin–

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• Experiments •

Novel interpretations of the raga’s essence…

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—Shanmukhapriya: The Mystic (Shankar Mahadevan)—

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An intriguing fusion track led by Shakti vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, featuring sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee alongside Snarky Puppy’s jazz-funk bass star Michael League, plus U. Rajesh on mandolin and V. Selvaganesh on kanjira

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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: (thaat #15)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–g–M–P–d–n–S

• Reverse: SRGmMDnS

• Negative: 2-4-1-3-2

• Imperfect: 3 (Re, Ma, ni)

• Detached: 1 (Ma)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: (none found)

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Shanmukhpriya (mela #56)

S-R₂-G₂-M₂-P-D₁-N₂-S

• Jazz: Aeolian #4

1-2-b3-#4-5-b6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-6-7-8-10-0

(2–1–3–1–1–2–2)

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o • o o • • o o o • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Shanmukhpriya, Shanmukhapriya, Shanmukha Priya

• Transliterations: Hindi (शनमुखप्रिया); Malayalam (ഷണ്മുഖപ്രിയ); Punjabi (ਸ਼ੰਮੁਖਪ੍ਰਿਆ); Tamil (சண்முகப்பிரியா); Telugu (షణ్ముఖప్రియ)

—Hafeez Ahmed Khan (1994)—