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Chapter 09: Alankars of the Ten Thāts

Before songs, ragas, and musical pieces are examined, it is very important to get the fingers truly used to the harmonium. Since ten different musical scales, known as thāts, were introduced in Lesson 7, these can be used as examples to begin practice. Every musical instrument will practice exercises in note progression which is known as alankāra. Alankāras are usually mathematically composed. Here is an example of an alankāra practice set for the Bilaval Thāt.

Aroha: S-R-G R-G-m G-m-P m-P-D P-D-N D-N-S’ N-S’-R’ S’-R’-G’ R’-G’-m’ G’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-G’ m’-G’-R’ G’-R’-S’ R’-S’-N S’-N-D N-D-P D-P-m P-m-G m-G-R G-R-S

This previous example uses three notes per segment. An example of a segment in the above alankara is S-R-G.

Here is a four note per segment of Bilavala Thāt.

Aroha: S-R-G-m R-G-m-P G-m-P-D m-P-D-N P-D-N-S’ D-N-S’-R’ N-S’-R’-G’ S’-R’-G’-m’ R’-G’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-G’-R’ m’-G’-R’-S’ G’-R’-S’-N R’-S’-N-D S’-N-D-P N-D-P-m D-P-m-G P-m-G-R m-G-R-S

Do you see the pattern? This is a four-note per segment alankara. The first note of the second segment is the second note of the first segment. Thus, the first note of the second segment is “R”. The third segment starts off with “G” and so on. Usually, three and four note segments are good ideas for alankar practice.

Practice the alankars shown on this page.

Practice alankars for Kafi thāt. (3 note)

Aroha: S-R-g R-g-m g-m-P m-P-D P-D-n D-n-S’ n-S’-R’ S’-R’-g’ R’-g’-m’ g’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-g’ m’-g’-R’ g’-R’-S’ R’-S’-n S’-n-D n-D-P D-P-m P-m-g m-g-R g-R-S

Practice alankars for Kalyana thāt (3 note)

Aroha: S-R-G R-G-M G-M-P M-P-D P-D-N D-N-S’ N-S’-R’ S’-R’-G’ R’-G’-M’ G’-M’-P’

Avaroha: P’-M’-G’ M’-G’-R’ G’-R’-S’ R’-S’-N S’-N-D N-D-P D-P-M P-M-G M-G-R G-R-S

Practice alankars for Purvi thāt (4 note)

Aroha: S-r-G-M r-G-M-P G-M-P-d M-P-d-N P-d-N-S’ d-N-S’-r’ N-S’-r’-G’ S’-r’-G’-M’ r’-G’-M’-P’

Avaroha: P’-M’-G’-r’ M’-G’-r’-S’ G’-r’-S’-N r’-S’-N-d S’-N-d-P N-d-P-M d-P-M-G P-M-G-r M-G-r-S

Practice alankars for Bhairava thāt (4 note)

Aroha: S-r-G-m r-G-m-P G-m-P-d m-P-d-N P-d-N-S’ d-N-S’-r’ N-S’-r’-G’ S’-r’-G’-m’ r’-G’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-G’-r’ m’-G’-r’-S’ G’-r’-S’-N r’-S’-N-d S’-N-d-P N-d-P-m d-P-m-G P-m-G-r m-G-r-S

Practice alankars for Bhairavi thāt (4 note)

Aroha: S-r-g-m r-g-m-P g-m-P-d m-P-d-n P-d-n-S’ d-n-S’-r’ n-S’-r’-g’ S’-r’-g’-m’ r’-g’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-g’-r’ m’-g’-r’-S’ g’-r’-S’-n r’-S’-n-d S’-n-d-P n-d-P-m d-P-m-g P-m-g-r m-g-r-S

Practice alankars for Marwa thāt (3 note)

Aroha: S-r-G r-G-M G-M-P M-P-D P-D-N D-N-S’ N-S’-r’ S’-r’-G’ r’-G’-M’ G’-M’-P’

Avaroha: P’-M’-G’ M’-G’-r’ G’-r’-S’ r’-S’-N S’-N-D N-D-P D-P-M P-M-G M-G-r G-r-S

Practice alankars for Todi thāt (4 note)

Aroha: S-r-G-M r-G-M-P G-M-P-d M-P-d-N P-d-N-S’ d-N-S’-r’ N-S’-r’-G’ S’-r’-G’-M’ r’-G’-M’-P’

Avaroha: P’-M’-G’-r’ M’-G’-r’-S’ G’-r’-S’-N r’-S’-N-d S’-N-d-P N-d-P-M d-P-M-G P-M-G-r M-G-r-S

Practice alankars for Asavari thāt. (3 note)

Aroha: S-R-g R-g-m g-m-P m-P-d P-d-n d-n-S’ n-S’-R’ S’-R’-g’ R’-g’-m’ g’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-g’ m’-g’-R’ g’-R’-S’ R’-S’-n S’-n-d n-d-P d-P-m P-m-g m-g-R g-R-S

Practice alankars for Khamaja thāt. (3 note)

Aroha: S-R-G R-G-m G-m-P m-P-D P-D-n D-n-S’ n-S’-R’ S’-R’-G’ R’-G’-m’ G’-m’-P’

Avaroha: P’-m’-G’ m’-G’-R’ G’-R’-S’ R’-S’-n S’-n-D n-D-P D-P-m P-m-G m-G-R G-R-S

UPDATED: June 18, 2009