S-r-G-M-D-N-S
Sharing its six swaras with Marwa and Puriya, Sohini aims for a looser, more sprightly flavour to its more famous congruents – focusing on agile movements in madhya and taar saptak, 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” – while 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…”) – and compare to derivatives such as Lalita Sohini, Sohini Bahar, and Sohini Pancham.
• Raga Masterlist (1000+) •
राग सोहनी
Search | Glossary | Tags
• Hindustani Raga Index •
Aroha: SGMDNS
Avroh: SNDMGrS
Pakad: e.g. GMDNSrS; GMDGMG
Chalan: illustrative sequences e.g. GMDGMG; rS; NSG; MDNSrS; SrNSDN; NDG; MGrS (Raja)
• Shares its SrGMDNS swara-set with Marwa and Puriya, but invites a lighter, more ‘flirtatious’ character – distinguished by playful ornaments around high Sa (e.g. DN(SrS); NS(rSNS)ND) and a greater focus on madhya and taar saptak (e.g. NDMDNSrS)
• Komal re tends to be banished in aroha, with launches commonly rising from shuddha Ga (e.g. GMDNSrS) – and the turnaround to descent often pivots on shuddha Ni (e.g. MDNSrS; NDMG)
• The Dha-Ga axis is particularly strong, explored through characteristic movements such as GMDGMG; NDGMG – and Sa is given more independence than in Marwa or Puriya (e.g. SrSrSNS)
• Associated with the hours just before dawn – and generally considered a ‘light’ raga, linked to the suggestive devadasi courtesan performances of past eras
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—Roopa Panesar (2021)—
(hear me play this jor on guitar!)
[refrain, e.g. 2:31] D NSND, M MGGMDNS, N/r S, NSND…
• Guitaragas •
My attempts to capture the raga on electric guitar (see more on my Insta)
—Sohini on electric guitar (gat)—
Covering Roopa Panesar’s divine Imdadkhani gat above…
• Recent Raga Index Updates (Jul 2026): Melodic ‘snapshots’ of prachalit ragas • Up to 365 raga pages! Some highlights: Bayati, Basant Mukhari, Bilaskhani Todi, Chandranandan, DoGa Kalyan, Jog, Kalavati, Kaushiki, Malkauns, Maru, Meladalan, Parameshwari, Sarangkauns, Vachaspati (+ try out ‘Audav Meladalan‘) • What does ‘Kauns’ mean? Analysing 60+ Kauns ragas • ‘Bifurcations‘: ‘poorvang vs. uttarang’ splits • Amir Khan’s ‘168 merukhands’ • Experiments (e.g. overtonal Bhairav, jazz Malkauns) • Survey of Sa Tunings • More Masterlist ragas (1000+)
Raag Jog: exploring different ways the electric guitar can support a Dhrupad-ang nomtom (syllabic improvisation)…
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#dhrupad #raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic
Jun 28
Raag Kafi: Electric guitar improv around the adha bandish ‘Aaj Khel Shaam Sang Hori’
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
Jun 22
Raag Jog: some sawal-jawab (‘question-answer’) fun with Marc Clayton on tabla
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
Jun 15
Some tintal improv around a wonderful Durga bandish I’ll be playing at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla
https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/
‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc)
#indianmusic #raga #icm #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
Jun 10
Come see me play some bendy raga-guitar at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla
https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/
‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc) – including this piece, a famous Bhairavi bhajan by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada)
#bhajan #raga #indianmusic #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
Jun 5
tomato can jungle/DnB (distracted while cooking)
#drumming #percussion #dnb #jungle
May 23
A great Jaunpuri gat from Senia-Shahjahanpur sarod legend Pt Buddhadev DasGupta, full of fast bends and slides (originally released for Joep Bor’s 1997 Raga Guide, in many ways a precursor to my own raga index)
Raag Jaunpuri: a late morning raga, likely originating in the Sultanate-era music of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh (as per Subodh Agrawal: “The rulers of Jaunpur were keen patrons of the arts, and the last one – Sultan Hussain Sharqi – was himself a distinguished musician; it is probable that the Jaunpuri flavor of Asavari was developed by him, or under his patronage“). Rajan Parrikar elaborates on its “Asavariant” status, noting that some (including Omkarnath Thakur) see it as essentially indistinguishable from Shuddha Re Asavari, while others consider Jaunpuri to follow more ‘rounded’ melodic motions…
#sarod #ragaguitar #stratocaster #worldmusic #jaunpur
May 6
just for fun…I had to defend the honour of my main instrument against my second instrument (many thanks to @mountainhead for the original video, as well as some tasty bends) – still no match for the surbahar’s meend range though!
#sitar #guitar #raga #bends #ragaguitar
May 4
• 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
Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact
Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra
Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row
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: Marwa, Puriya
See all 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)
• Complement: SRgmPdnS (=Darbari)
• 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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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!
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