Raga Charukauns on Chandraveena by S.Balachander
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To read the full story on the Raga :
www.chandraveena.com/blog/r10-charukauns/
The scale of Raga Charukesi, the 26th Melakarta, is Sa Re Ga ma Pa dha ni. In this rendition, I have used the scale of Raga Charukesi, but approached it in the style of Raga Kaushiki and Raga Panchamkauns. At the end of the recording, I had not yet formed an identity or name for the Raga. On further inspection, I found a recording of Pandit Ravi Shankar on Sitar taking a similar approach to this scale, and he had named it Raga Charukauns. As a mark of respect to this great musician, I have retained the name as Raga Charukauns.
I present Raga Alapana in 3 parts - Alap, Jod and Jhala, also known as Alapana and Tanam.
Program Notes
Raga Alapana in Raga Charukauns
Raga Alapana is an improvisation and a systematic presentation of a Raga. This part has no rhythmic accompaniment. It has three parts - Alap, Jod and Jhala. This format is also known as Ragam and Tanam.
About the Raga
Raga - Charukauns
Scale - Sa Re Ga ma Pa dha ni
Family - Vakra Vikrit Raga of Kaushiki (Sa Re ga ma Pa dha ni)
Melakarta - Charukesi (Sa Re Ga ma Pa dha ni)
Prahar - 6th Prahar (equivalent to 9 PM - 12 AM)
Reading the scale
In Indian Classical Music, the seven notes in an octave are called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni and then Sa comes again. Notes with a capitalised first letter are called Tivra (or sharp) notes. E.g., Ga above. Notes written fully in lower case are called Komal (or flat) notes. E.g., ma and ni above. Sa and Pa are always written with a capitalised first letter.
Vakra Raga - A Janya (derivative) Raga of a Melakarta (parent scale) in which phrases are taken in a zig zag fashion.
Vikrit Raga - A Janya (derivative) Raga in which a modified note is used from a family scale. In this case, ga (komal ga) from Kaushiki is modified to Ga (Tivra Ga).
Prahar
In Indian Classical Music, Ragas are classified into Prahars (time periods of a day or night) which are said to represent the most appropriate time to perform the Raga.
Release Links
The full video recording of the Raga Alapana is available at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsspJ_StQ8M.