Hindustani classical
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
raga belonging to the Bilaval Thaat. It is a melodious Raaga for beginners as well as experts. Raga Bihag uses all seven music swars. In Bihag, both the Madhyams (Shuddha & teevra) are used. The Shuddha Madhyam is the prominent one while Teevra Madhyama is only used with
Panchama
Pancham is the fifth svara from the seven svaras of Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Pancham is the long form of the syllable प. For simplicity in pronouncing while singing the syllable, Pancham is pronounced as Pa (notation - P). It is al ...
in Phrase PA MA' GA MA GA. In Avaroha, Rishabh and Dhaivat are not used as resting notes however they are used in Meend. In this Raag, Nishad is a prominent note and Aalaps or Taans are generally started from this note.
Theory
Aroha and avaroha
Aroha
Aroha is a Māori word meaning "love", cognate with the Hawaiian term ''aloha''. It is also a given name.
Notable people
Notable people with the name include:
* Aroha Awarau, journalist and playwright from New Zealand
* Aroha Reriti-Crofts, ...
:Ni Sa Ga ma Pa Ni Sa
Avaroha
An Avarohana, Avarohanam or Avaroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the descending scale of any raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The notes descend in pitch ...
:Sa' Ni (Dha)* Pa Ma Ga ma Ga (Re)* Sa
*note : the swars are taken as need and their actual pronunciation is done.
Structure
Raag Bihag is a beautiful raag. If the number of Nyaas Swaras in a raga is more and if its chalan is not complicated(vakra), then the raag is quite expandable. Along with being melodious, Bihag is quite expandable due to many Nyaas swars. In Bihag, The nyaas is mainly on Gandhaar, Hence Gandhaar is referred as the Vaadi swar (main swar) & Nishaad is referred as Samvadi swar (second-most prominent swar). Along with Gandhaar & Nishaad, Presence of Nyaas is also felt on Shadja & Pancham.
Purvaang pradhan
The Vaadi swar of Raag Bihag is in purvaang (first half of the octave). As per the rules, the raag is said to be "Purvaang Pradhan" if the vaadi swar is in the purvaang (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa) and the raag is said to be "Uttarang Pradhan" if the vadi swar is in the Uttarang (MA,PA,DHA,NI,SA^). Hence, raag Bihag is "Purvaang Pradhan" Raag.
Hence, Bihag seems to Blossom more in the Mandra & Madhya saptak (lower and middle octave).
Aalap
The phrase "PA MA' GA MA GA" is the Characteristic RAAGVAACHAK phrase of Raag Bihag. Also, in Bihag, we get to see the VAADI-SANVAADI interactions in the aalap. Also, SHADJA-PANCHAM BHAAV is seen between GANDHAAR & NISHAAD which adds to its beauty. As the Vaadi swar of the raag is GA, most of the gaayaki of the raag of Bihag revolves around GA.
For example:
NI* SA GA MA GA
PA* NI* SA GA NI* SA GA
SA GA MA GA
PA MA' GA MA GA
GA MA PA NI DHA_PA MA' GA MA GA
(Not in sargam)
As NI is the Sanvaadi swar of Bihag, it plays pivotal role in developing the raag. GA-NI interactions are the Demonstrative phrases of Bihag.
The phrases of GA-NI interactions are as follows:
GA MA PA NI DHA_PA MA' GA MA GA
NI DHA _PA......PA_MA' PA MA' GA MA GA
As Bihag is "PURVAANG PRADHAAN" raag, the Aalapi mainly blossoms in the MANDRA & MADHYA Saptak. There is special importance of Mandra PANCHAM in the initial Raag development . Also Pancham plays important role to ply the raag in Madhya Saptak.
Some of the Phrases demonstrating Mandra PANCHAM are as follows:
SA NI* DHA*_PA*.........
PA* NI* SA GA.......
PA* NI* SA GA NI* SA GA.........
The Phrases demonstrating nyaas on pancham are as follows:
NI* SA GA MA PA.....
SA GA MA PA........
GA MA PA NI....DHA_PA........
Also the Taar SHADJA adds to the beauty of the raag. Even though Bihag is a PURVAANG PRADHAN Raag, it also sounds peaceful in the TAAR SAPTAK(higher octave).
Samavadi
The Samavadi is the second-most prominent (though not necessarily second-most played) note of a raga in Indian classical music. The primary note of the raga is the '' vadi''; the vadi and samvadi are in most cases a fourth or fifth apart.
A ''s ...
:The Samavadi swar is Ni.
Pakad or chalan
Bihag uses both ''shuddha'' Ma (ma) and ''teevra'' Ma (Ma).
:It has the ''pakad'' Pa Ma Pa Ga ma Ga.
Both Rishabh and Dhaivat are VARJYA (prohibited) in Aaroha(ascent), but they are used in the Avaroha(way down) in the form of meend.
Organization and relationships
The raag origins from thaat Bilaval ; however many people believe that the raag originates from thaat kalyan, just because the raag comprises both Madhyams. However, the aesthetics of the raag develop with the Bilaval Style and hence, pt. V. N. Bhatkhande, in his book has mentioned the thaat of Raag Bihag as Bilaval.
The Teevra madhyam was used as vivadi swar in the traditional raag Bihag ;but in recent times, the Teevra Ma is widely used in Bihag. It is only used in avarohi pattern. It is always used with PA in phrases such as PA MA' GA MA GA, NI DHA_PA MA' GA MA GA,etc. The Swaras Rishabh & Dhaivat are varjya in the aaroh . All the Swaras are used in the avaroh . hence the Jaati of this raag is considered as Odhav-Sampoorna
Bihag is usually assigned to the
Thaat
A Thaat () is a "Parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term ''Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic Music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scale because t ...
Bilaval. Its Chalan is very close to bilaval thaat. But if Teevra Madhyam is given more importance, Bihag seems to be more akin to
Kalyan
Kalyan (Pronunciation: əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) of Thane district ...
Thaat.
''Samay'' (time)
Bihag is played in the second quarter of night. According to the experts, Bihag is a PURVAANG PRADHAN Raag. "ALL THE PURVAANG PRADHAN RAAGS ARE PURVA RAAGS" Hence, Bihag is a purva raag. All the Purva raags are sung/played between 12 p.m.- 12 a.m. Raag Bihag is sung/played between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. i.e. second part of night.
Origins
The origin can be traced back to pure classical r''agas'' widely prevalent in the 16th century, and in many folk songs in the
Vaishnava
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
period (14th to 18th centuries). It is used in many songs of
Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resha ...
and in various Bengali and north Indian compositions.
Marathi theatre
In the Marathi Natak "SUVARNATULA", the song "PAAARIJAAT PHULALA" ,composed by 'Vidyadhar Gokhale' is in Raag Bihag.
Film Songs
A portion of the '' alap'' of Bihag may be seen in a scene from Satyajit Ray's 1958 film ''
Jalsaghar
''Jalsaghar'' ( bn, জলসাঘর ''Jalsāghar'', "The Music Room") is a 1958 Indian Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on a popular short story by Bengali writer Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, and starring Chhabi ...
'', played by the ''
surbahar
''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it ...
'' player
Wahid Khan
Wahid Khan was an Indian surbahar and sitar player. He was the son of Imdad Khan and belonged to the Imdadkhani gharana or ''Etawah gharana'' of classical music.
Early life
Wahid Khan was born in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. He was still quite young ...
, from 29:50 to 31:58. ''Dil cheez kya hai'' from '' Umrao Jaan'' contains elements of Bihag.
The song "Hamare Dil Se Na Jana" from the film ''Udan Khatola'' is based on Bihag. The song "Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet" from ''Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' is based on Bihag, when
shehnai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.
Film songs
Language:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
Language:
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
Language : Hindi
Theatre
In the
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
Yakshagana play ''Maatanado mativanta preeta'' composition of Shahiprabha Parinaya the ''prasanga'' (plot) is in Behag.