Sohni is a raga

Raga

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...

 in Hindustani classical music

Hindustani classical music

Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...

 in the Marwa

Marwa

Marwa may refer to:* Marwa, raga of Hindustani Classical Music* Marwa, Lebanese singer* Marwa Hussein, Egyptian hammer throw athlete* Marwa El-Sherbini, Egyptian woman murdered in a courtroom in Dresden, Germany* Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, hills in Saudi Arabia...

 thaat

Thaat

A thāt is a mode in northern Indian or Hindustani music. Thāts always have seven different pitches and are a basis for the organization and classification of ragas in North Indian classical music.- System :...

. It may be spelt Sohani, Sohini,Sohinee or even Shohini.It is an extremely melodious raga.

Technical Description

The raga is of audav-shadav nature, i.e, it has five swaras (notes) in the arohana

Arohana

Arohana, Arohanam or Arohan, in the context of North Indian Classical Music and South Indian Classical Music, is the ascending scale of notes in a raga...

 (ascent) and six in the avarohana

Avarohana

An Avarohana, Avarohanam or Avarohan in Indian classical music terminology is the descending scale of any raga. Each raga has an avarohana and arohana. The notes descend in pitch from the octave tonic down to the lower tonic...

. Rishabh (Re)is komal and Madhyam (Ma) is Tivra (denoted below by Re# and Ma#), while all other swaras are shuddha. Pancham (Pa) is not used.

Arohana: Sa Ga Ma# Dha Ni Sa.

Avarohana: Sa Ni Dha, Ga Ma# Dha Ga Ma# Ga Re# Sa.

Pakad

Pakad

In Hindustani music, a pakad is a generally-accepted musical phrase thought to encapsulate the essence of a particular raga. The pakad contains the melodic theme of the raga, on listening to the pakad a person who knows the raga is usually able to identify it...

: Sa Ni Dha, Ga Ma# Dha Ga Ma# Ga.

The vadi

Vadi

Vadi may refer to:* Vadi , musical note of special significance in Indian classical music* "Vadi" or Wadi, an Arabic term for valley or a dry riverbed* Fillipo Vado, author of De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, an Italian treatise on fighting...

 swara is Dha, and samvadi is Ga.
The rishabh is weak, but Gandhar (Ga) is strong, unlike Marwa

Marwa

Marwa may refer to:* Marwa, raga of Hindustani Classical Music* Marwa, Lebanese singer* Marwa Hussein, Egyptian hammer throw athlete* Marwa El-Sherbini, Egyptian woman murdered in a courtroom in Dresden, Germany* Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, hills in Saudi Arabia...

. It is an Uttaranga pradhan raga, with the higher notes on the saptak

Saptak

Saptak means "gamut" or "the series of seven notes". It denotes the set of swaras, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni which comprise a musical scale in Indian classical music...

 (octave) being used more frequently.

Samai (Time)

Raga Sohni is associated with very late night / pre-dawn, the last or eighth period of day, roughly from 3-6AM.

Further information

It is somewhat similar to Marwa

Raga Marwa

Marwa is an hexatonic Indian raga; Pa is omitted. Marwa is also the name of the thaat.- Aroha and Avaroha :ArohanaṆi re_ Ga Ma_ Dha Ni re# S'In the Western scale this would roughly translate to: C D-flat E F-sharp A B cAvarohana...

 and Puriya

Puriya

- External links :Examples* -Literature:...

 ragas in the same thaat, and also to Basant in the Poorvi thaat.

Important recordings

most probably the oldest recording is of Abdul Karim Khan from 1905