Sohini | SrGMDNS | Hindustani Raga Index

S-r-G-M-D-N-S

Sharing its six swaras with Marwa and Puriya, Sohini aims for a looser, more sprightly flavour to these more famous congruents – focusing on agile movements in madhya and taar saptaks, and uttarang-based phrases built on a strong Dha–Ga sangati. Re is banned in aroha, and Sa assumes greater strength than in Marwa, while madhya saptak Ga serves as the low scale-bound for most melodic activity. For Tanarang, Sohini evokes “a pleasingly moist atmosphere…late in the night before dawn” (whereas Rajan Parrikar calls it, “an instant pleaser: much like that buxom leotard-wrapped babe at your local gym…by way of comparison, think of Marwa as your mother-in-law: solid, ponderous, and unfunny”). Also see Deepak Raja’s superb piece Marwa, Puriya, Sohini: The Tricky Triplets (“The true test of differentiation would be [to] perform them one after the other. In living memory, only Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Vilayat Khan…have performed this feat…”).

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राग सोहनी

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SGMDNS

Avroh: SNDMGrS

Chalan: e.g. GMDGMG; rS; NSG; MDNSrS; SrNSDN; NDG; MGrS (Raja)

—Roopa Panesar (2021)—

[refrain, e.g. 2:31] D NSND, M MGGMDNS, N/r S, NSND…

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• Guitaragas •

My attempts to capture the raga on electric guitar (see more of these clips)

—Sohini on electric guitar (gat)—

Covering Roopa Panesar’s divine Imdadkhani gat above…

• Recent Raga Index Updates (Dec 2025): Added new ragas: e.g. Asa, Basant Bahar, Badhans Sarang, Bayati, Chandni Todi, Chandraprabha, Deepavali, Firozkhani Todi, Gaud, Japaniya, Kaushiki, Latangi, Maru, Palas, Sarangkauns, Shivanjali, Shrutivardhini • ‘Bifurcations‘: analysis via ‘poorvang + uttarang’ formulas • DoGa Kalyan & the Beatles’ Blue Jay Way • Amir Khan’s ‘168 merukhands’ • Uncovered Prabhateshwari‘s origins • Transcribed Manjiri Asanare-Kelkar’s ‘Amodini‘ lec-dems • Experiments (e.g overtonal Bhairav, jazz Malkauns) • Survey of Sa Tunings • More Masterlist ragas (1000+)

• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

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.

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: Marwa, Puriya

Also see other shadav ragas which omit Pa

–Proximate Forms–

Hindol = ‘Sohini no re‘

Puriya Kalyan = ‘Sohini add Pa‘

Raj Kalyan = ‘Sohini shuddha Re‘

Lalita Sohini = ‘Sohini double Ma‘

(n.b. these are just ‘scalar similarities’, with nothing particular implied about phraseological overlap)

–Swara Geometries–

• Core form: S–r–G–M–D–N–S

• Reverse: SrgMdNS (=Gujiri Todi)

• Negative: 4-1-2-2-1-2 (e.g. Saheli Todi)

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, re)

• Detached: 1 (Sa)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Marwa set

• Quirks: ‘detached Sa‘

–Global Translations–

• Carnatic: ~Hamsanandi

S-R₁-G₃-M₂-D₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Lydian b2 (no 5th)

1-b2-3-#4-6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-4-6-9-11-0

(1–3–2–3–2–1)

o o • • o • o • • o • o o

• Tanpura: Sa–Ni (+Dha)

• Names: Sohini, Sohani, Sohni

• Transliterations: Hindi (सोहनी); Bengali (সোহিণী); Kannada (ಸೋಹ್ನಿ)

—Bismillah Khan (1989)—

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An open-ended project seeking to bring North Indian raga closer to all who approach with open ears. Combines direct input from dozens of leading Hindustani artists with in-depth insights from music history, global theory, performance practice, cognitive science, and much more besides!

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Sa | Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!