Thaat
Encyclopedia
A thāt is a mode
in northern Indian or Hindustani music. Thāts always have seven different pitches (called swara
) and are a basis for the organization and classification of raga
s in North Indian classical music.
in the early decades of the twentieth century. Bhatkhande modeled his system after the Carnatic
melakarta
classification, devised around 1640 A.D. by the musicologist Venkatamakhin
. Bhatkhande visited many of the gharana
s (schools) of North Indian classical music, conducting a detailed analysis of Indian raga
. His research led him to a system of ten thāts, each named after a prominent raga associated with it. Many correspond to one or other of the European church modes. They are listed here according to their pitches; lower-frequency pitches are represented with lowercase letters and higher-frequency pitches with uppercase letters.
One can arbitrarily designate any pitch as Sa (the tonic
) and build the series from there. While all thāts contain seven notes, many ragas (of the audav and shadav type) contain fewer than seven and some use more. A raga need not use every swara in a given thāt; the assignment is made according to whatever notes the raga does contain (but see note 5). The relatively small number of thāts (compared to the 72 melakarta
s of South Indian music) reflects Bhatkhande's compromise between accuracy and efficiency: The degree of fit between a raga and its thāt is balanced with the desire to keep the number of basic thāts small. Ambiguities inevitably arise. For example, Raga Hindol, assigned to Kalyan thāt, uses the notes S G M D N, which are also found in Marwa thāt. Raga Jaijaivanti contains both shuddha nishad and komal nishad (and sometimes both versions of gandhar as well), which by definition corresponds to no thāt. Bhatkande resolved such cases "by an ad hoc consideration, appealing to musical performance practice" (see Ramesh Gangolli's article, cited in note 4 above).
Each thāt contains a different combination of altered (vikrt) and natural (shuddha) notes. The flattening or sharpening of pitches always occurs with reference to the interval pattern in Bilawal thāt.
In effect only heptatonic diatonic scales are called "thāt." Bhatkhande applied the term "thāt" only to scales that fulfill the following rules:
). Narada
's Sangita-Makaranda, written sometime between 7th and 11th century, gives warnings to musicians against playing ragas at the incorrect time of day. Traditionally, disastrous consequences are to be expected. Bhatkhande stated that the correct time to play a raga had a relation to its thāt (and to its vadi
).
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
in northern Indian or Hindustani music. Thāts always have seven different pitches (called swara
Swara
The seven notes of the scale , in Indian music are named shadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad, and are shortened to Sa, Ri or Re , Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni and written S, R, G, M, P, D, N. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam...
) and are a basis for the organization and classification of 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...
s in North Indian classical music.
System
The modern thāt system was created by Vishnu Narayan BhatkhandeVishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was an Indian musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani Classical Music , an art which had been propagated earlier for a few centuries mostly through oral traditions...
in the early decades of the twentieth century. Bhatkhande modeled his system after the Carnatic
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
melakarta
Melakarta
Melakarta is a collection of fundamental ragas in Carnatic music . Melakarta ragas are parent ragas from which other ragas may be generated. A melakarta raga is sometimes referred as mela, karta or sampurna as well.In Hindustani music the thaat is equivalent of Melakarta...
classification, devised around 1640 A.D. by the musicologist Venkatamakhin
Venkatamakhin
Venkatamakhin also known as Venkateshwara, was a prominent musicologist and composer of Carnatic music; renowned for his Chaturdandi Prakashika in which he explicates the melakarta system of classifying ragas...
. Bhatkhande visited many of the gharana
Gharana
In Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style. A gharana also indicates a comprehensive musicological ideology. This ideology sometimes changes substantially from one...
s (schools) of North Indian classical music, conducting a detailed analysis of Indian 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...
. His research led him to a system of ten thāts, each named after a prominent raga associated with it. Many correspond to one or other of the European church modes. They are listed here according to their pitches; lower-frequency pitches are represented with lowercase letters and higher-frequency pitches with uppercase letters.
- Bilawal (=Ionian modeIonian modeIonian mode is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C , which uses the diatonic octave species from C to the C an octave higher, divided at G into a fourth species of perfect fifth plus a third species of perfect fourth : C D...
): S R G m P D N S' - KhamajKhamajKhamaj is one of the ten Thaats of Hindustani music. It is also a specific raga in Khamaj thaat.-Khamaj Thaat:The parent-scale Khamaj Thaat, notated in sargam notation, has the following structure:S R G m P D n S'.n is komal here....
(=Mixolydian modeMixolydian modeMixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode.-Greek Mixolydian:The idea of a...
): S R G m P D n S' - KafiKafi ragaThe raga Kafi is an important raga of the Hindustani classical music.Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande’s classification of the Ragas has ten different logical groups, consisting of various closely related ragas; Kafi is one of them. The raga, Kafi, is the principal one, which essentially describes...
(=Dorian modeDorian modeDue to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different musical modes or diatonic scales, the Greek, the medieval, and the modern.- Greek Dorian mode :...
): S R g m P D n S' - AsavariAsavariAsavari is a Hindustani classical raga. It belongs to the Asavari thāt and is performed in the morning hours.-Structure:Arohana: S R m P d S'Avarohana: S' n d P m P g R SVadi: dhaSamavadi: gaImportant Anuvaadi: PJaati: Audav-Sampoorn...
(=Aeolian modeAeolian modeThe Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale called the natural minor scale.The word "Aeolian" in the music theory of ancient Greece was an alternative name for what Aristoxenus called the Low Lydian tonos , nine semitones...
): S R g m P d n S' - Bhairavi (=Phrygian modePhrygian modeThe Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...
): S r g m P d n S' - Bhairav: S r G m P d N S'
- Kalyan (=Lydian modeLydian modeThe Lydian musical scale is a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. This sequence of pitches roughly describes the fifth of the eight Gregorian modes, known as Mode V or the authentic mode on F, theoretically using B but in...
): S R G M P D N S' - MarwaMarwaMarwa 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...
: S r G M P D N S' - Poorvi: S r G M P d N S'
- TodiTodi (raga)Todi is a Hindustani classical raga which gave its name to the Todi thaat, one of the ten modes of Hindustani classical music. Ragas from the Todi raganga include Todi itself, Bilaskhani Todi, Bahaduri Todi, and Gujari Todi....
: S r g M P d N S'
One can arbitrarily designate any pitch as Sa (the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
) and build the series from there. While all thāts contain seven notes, many ragas (of the audav and shadav type) contain fewer than seven and some use more. A raga need not use every swara in a given thāt; the assignment is made according to whatever notes the raga does contain (but see note 5). The relatively small number of thāts (compared to the 72 melakarta
Melakarta
Melakarta is a collection of fundamental ragas in Carnatic music . Melakarta ragas are parent ragas from which other ragas may be generated. A melakarta raga is sometimes referred as mela, karta or sampurna as well.In Hindustani music the thaat is equivalent of Melakarta...
s of South Indian music) reflects Bhatkhande's compromise between accuracy and efficiency: The degree of fit between a raga and its thāt is balanced with the desire to keep the number of basic thāts small. Ambiguities inevitably arise. For example, Raga Hindol, assigned to Kalyan thāt, uses the notes S G M D N, which are also found in Marwa thāt. Raga Jaijaivanti contains both shuddha nishad and komal nishad (and sometimes both versions of gandhar as well), which by definition corresponds to no thāt. Bhatkande resolved such cases "by an ad hoc consideration, appealing to musical performance practice" (see Ramesh Gangolli's article, cited in note 4 above).
Each thāt contains a different combination of altered (vikrt) and natural (shuddha) notes. The flattening or sharpening of pitches always occurs with reference to the interval pattern in Bilawal thāt.
In effect only heptatonic diatonic scales are called "thāt." Bhatkhande applied the term "thāt" only to scales that fulfill the following rules:
- A thāt must have seven notes.
- The notes must be in sequence: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni (whether shuddha or vikrt—both versions of a single note are not allowed).
- A thāt, unlike a raga, does not have separate ascending and descending lines.
- A thāt has no emotional quality (which ragas, by definition, do have).
Thāt and time of performance
Ragas are normally ascribed to certain periods of the day and night (See SamaySamay
Samay is a unit of time representing the blink of an eye, or about a quarter of a second. An ordered set of these instants is known as an Avalia....
). Narada
Narada
Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...
's Sangita-Makaranda, written sometime between 7th and 11th century, gives warnings to musicians against playing ragas at the incorrect time of day. Traditionally, disastrous consequences are to be expected. Bhatkhande stated that the correct time to play a raga had a relation to its thāt (and to its vadi
Vadi (Hindustani classical music)
Vadi, in both Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music, is the dominant swara of a given raga . "Vadi is the most sonant or most important note of a Raga." It does not refer to the most played note but it rather refers to a note of special significance.It is usually the swara which is...
).