Raga Bhoopali - Major Pentatonic

Posted on 02 January, 2021 • 5 min read

Raga Bhoopali also called variously as Bhupali, Bhoop, Bhopali or Mohanam, is one of the oldest scales in Indian music. It is an audava or a pentatonic scale. It is also known as the major pentatonic scale in Western music. This scale is also found in traditional music of Chinese and Japanese origin. An interesting aspect of this scale lies in the fact that every Murchhana (also known as Graha Bheda or scale change) gives rise to another well known pentatonic scale. Take a look at these scales below.

Scale of main Raga (Raga Bhoopali): Sa Re Ga Pa Dha (Please see Program Notes for nomenclature).
First Graha Bheda: Re Ga Pa Dha Sa. Transposing this back to Sa, we get Sa Re ma Pa ni - Madhmadh or Madhyamadi or Madhyamavati.
Second Graha Bheda: Ga Pa Dha Sa Re. Transposing this to Sa, we get Sa ga ma dha ni - Malkauns or Hindolam
Third Graha Bheda: Pa Dha Sa Re Ga. Transposing this to Sa, we get Sa Re ma Pa Dha - Shuddha Saveri or Durga
Fourth Graha Bheda: Dha Sa Re Ga Pa. Transposing this to Sa, we get Sa ga ma Pa ni - Dhani or Shuddha Dhanyasi, also known as minor pentatonic in Western music.

How remarkably cool is this! In Indian Classical Music, many ragas were derived as a murchhana of a scale. While in the earlier tradition of Jati Gayan (music of the Jati system), each scale started at different starting notes called Graha Swara (Graha means “home” and is also spelled as Griha, Gruha, etc), in the Aadhara Shadaj tradition of current times, all scales are sung to a single “home” or fundamental note, i.e, Sa.

Here I present a short Alap in Raga Bhoopali followed by a Pallavi in Chautala. This Raga is also called Mohanam in some parts of India.

Program Notes

Short Alap in Raga Bhoopali

Raga Alapana is an improvisation and a systematic presentation of a Raga. This part has no rhythmic accompaniment. Usually, it has three parts - Alap, Jod and Jhala. This format is also known as Ragam and Tanam. But here just a short Alap is played to introduce the Raga before performing the Pallavi or the Composition.

Here are some notes about the Raga and the Tala.

Pallavi in Raga Bhoopali set to Chautala

Pallavi is a melodic phrase or lyrics set to a fixed set of beats in a rhythmic cycle. The improvisation here is creating interesting rhythm based melodic patterns while maintaining the framework of the Raga and the rhythmic cycle of the Tala. This part of the performance is accompanied by Pakhawaj.

Here are some notes about the Raga and the Tala.

Raga - Bhoopali

Scale - Sa Re Ga Pa Dha

Family - Kambhoji

Melakarta - Varjit Janya Raga of 28th Melakarta Harikambhoji (Sa Re Ga ma Pa Dha ni)

Prahar - 3rd and 4th prahar (equivalent to 3 PM - 9 PM)

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., Re 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 capitalized first letter.

Varjit Janya Raga

A Varjit Raga is a Janya (derived) Raga of a Melakarta (parent scale) in which one or more notes are dropped from the parent scale. In this case, ma and ni are dropped from the parent scale Harikambhoji.

Note: Bhoopali or Mohanam can be classified as a Varjit Janya Raga under Kalyani or Mechakalyani family (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) or under Harikambhoji. I have chosen to put it under Kambhoji due to the usage of phrases that identify Kambhoji.

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.

About the Tala

Chautala has 12 beats split as 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 denoted by solfas or syllables representing various rhythmic patterns. The basic solfas of Chautala are given below.

Tala - Chautala

Beats - 12 (4+4+2+2)

Solfas - Dha Dha Dhin Ta | ThiTa Dha Dhin Ta | ThiTa KatTa | GaDhi GaNa |