Gayakapriya (pronounced gāyakapriya) is a
ragam in
Carnatic music
Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...
(musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 13th ''
Melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music.
It is called Geyahejjujji in
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar)(, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical ...
school of Carnatic music.
[''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications][''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras]
Structure and Lakshana
It is the 1st rāgam in the 3rd ''chakra Agni''. The mnemonic name is ''Agni-Pa''. The mnemonic phrase is ''sa ra gu ma pa dha na''.
Its structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see ''
swaras in Carnatic music'' for details on below notation and terms):
*
:
*
:
(the notes used in this scale are ''shuddha rishabham, antara gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, shuddha dhaivatham, shuddha nishadham'')
As it is a ''melakarta'' rāgam, by definition it is a
''sampoorna'' rāgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the ''shuddha madhyamam'' equivalent of ''
Dhavalambari'', which is the 49th ''melakarta''.
Asampurna Melakarta
Geyahejjujji is the 13th ''Melakarta'' in the original list compiled by
Venkatamakhin
Venkatamakhin (; ) or Venkatamakhi, was an Indian poet, musician, and musicologist of Carnatic music. He is renowned for his '' Chaturdandiprakashika'' in which he explicates the melakarta system of classifying ragas. Venkatamakhin composed ...
. The notes used in the scale are the same, but the ascending scale is different and ''vakra'' (zig-zag usage of notes in phrases of the scale). It is an ''shadava-sampurna'' raga (6 notes in ascending scale, while full 7 are used in descending scale).
[Shree Muthuswami Dikshitar Keerthanaigal, by A Sundaram Iyer, Music Book Publishers, Mylapore, Chennai]
*
:
*
:
''Janya'' rāgams
''Gayakapriya'' has a few minor ''
janya
''Janya'' is a term meaning "derive". In Carnatic (South Indian) music a ''janya raga'' is one derived from one of the 72 ''melakarta'' ragas (fundamental melodic structures). ''Janya'' ragas are classified into various types based on a varie ...
'' rāgams (derived scales) associated with it, of which ''Kalagada'' is heard occasionally in concerts. See
List of ''janya'' rāgams to see all the rāgams associated with ''Gayakapriya''.
Compositions
Here are a few common compositions sung in concerts, set to ''Gayakapriya''.
*''Nada nilai'' by
Koteeswara Iyer
*''Sri Mahavishnum'' by Dr.
M. Balamuralikrishna
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar)(, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical ...
's composition ''Ramachandra bhakthum'' is set to ''Geyahejjujji'' rāgam.
Related rāgams
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.
''Gayakapriya's'' notes when shifted using ''
Graha bhedam'', yields a minor ''melakarta'' rāgam ''
Dhatuvardani''. ''Graha bhedam'' is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the ''shadjam'' to the next note in the rāgam. For further details and an illustration refer ''
Graha bhedam on Gayakapriya''.
Notes
References
{{Janya, state=collapsed
Melakarta ragas