Article: Notes on Ragas and Tanpura Tuning

By Haresh Bakshi
	The Ragas can be divided into four catagories: [1] Those which omit madhyama. Examples: Bhupali, Shankara, Desakar Tanpura tuning: 1st string: 'P 2nd string: S 3rd string: S 4th string: 'S [2] Those which include both pa and ma. Here we have two types: (a) Those dominated by pa. The strings are tuned as in [1]. Examples: Bhairava, Yaman. Tanpura tuning: 1st string: 'P 2nd string: S 3rd string: S 4th string: 'S (b) Those dominated by ma. Here the first string is tuned in 'm , that is , shuddha ma in mandra saptaka. The remaining three strings remain the same. Examples: Bageshri, Lalit pancham. Tanpura tuning: 1st string: 'm 2nd string: S 3rd string: S 4th string: 'S [3] Those which omit panchama. The strings are tuned as in [2b]. Examples: Malkaus, Lalit. Tanpura tuning: 1st string: 'm 2nd string: S 3rd string: S 4th string: 'S [4] Many evening ragas like Marva, Puriya, Poorvi; also, Sohani. Here the first string is tuned in 'N, that is , ni in mandra saptak. The remaining three strings remain the same. Tanpura tuning: 1st string: 'N 2nd string: S 3rd string: S 4th string: 'S