Carnatic music
Tanjavur-style tambura
Concepts
Śruti Svara Rāga Tāḷa Mēḷakarta Asaṃpūrṇa Mēḷakarta
Compositions
Gītaṃ Svarajati Varṇaṃ Kr̥ti Kīrtana Rāgaṃ Tānaṃ Pallavi Tillana
Instruments
Melody Sarasvati Vīṇā Veṇu Nādasvaraṃ Goṭṭuvādyaṃ (Citra Vīṇā) Violin Percussion Mr̥daṅgaṃ Ghaṭaṃ Morsing Kanjira Thavil Drone Tambura Shruti box
Composers Glossary
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Graha Bhedam inCarnatic music is the process (or result of the process) of shifting theTonic note (śruti) to another note in the rāgam and arriving at a different rāgam. Its equivalent inHindustani classical music is called amurchhana. Expressed inWestern music theory terms, this is the process of arriving at a different scale by shifting to another mode in the key, i.e,modulation.

Graha literally meansposition andBhedam meanschange. Since the position of theśruti is changed (pitch of the base note ordrone), it is also sometimes calledSwara Bhedam orŚruti Bhedam thoughŚruti Bhedam andGraha Bhedam have some technical differences.^[1]

Modal shift of the Tonic note to higher notes of a rāgam, while retaining the note's positions (swara sthānas – sthāna means position/ pitch), results in different rāgams. This is calledGraha Bhedam.

A simple practical demonstration ofGraha Bhedam can be taken up by playing the structure of a rāgam with the drone set to Sa (Shadjamam). Then if we keep playing the same keys/ notes, while shifting the drone to another note in the rāgam, to form the new śruti/ tonic note, the result is a different rāgam.

WhenGraha bhedam is applied onShankarabharanam's notes, it yields 5 other majorMelakarta rāgams, namely,Kalyani,Hanumatodi,Natabhairavi,Kharaharapriya andHarikambhoji.

Notes on above table

• C as the base forShankarabharanam is chosen for above illustration only for convenience, as Carnatic music does not enforcestrict frequency/pitch structure. TheShadjam (S) is fixed by the artist as per the vocal range or the instrument's tonic note. All the otherswarams are relative to thisShadjam, falling into a Geometric progression-like frequency pattern. This note is applicable to all tables that are illustrated further below in this page.
• The 6thGraha Bhedam ofShankarabharanam has bothMadhyamams (Ma) and noPanchamam (Pa) and hence will not be considered a validMelakarta (ragam having all 7 swarams and only 1 of each). This is only a classification issue with respect toMelakarta, while this structure could be theoretically used well to create good music. Hindustani classical raga Lalit has 2 Ma and no Pa, however it has different Ga and Ni than this structure
• The gaps in the above table are for the missingswara positions in these ragams, which happens to be the Sharp / Flat notes in western music.
• The 6 Melakarta ragams in above table in graha bhedam are equivalent to the westernMajor Scale (Ionian mode) and it's 5 consequent modes with the exception of 7th mode (Locrian) as it doesn't correspond to any valid Melakarta ragam.

Graha Bhedam can be applied on mostMelakarta rāgams to yield otherMelakarta rāgams (16 of the 72 do not yield any validMelakarta scale). When applying such modal shift of tonic note, some results are not valid Melakarta rāgams (rules of the definition of Melakarta are violated). Example scenarios are missingPanchamam (Pa) or two of particular note (Rishabham (Ri),Gandharam (Ga),Madhyamam (Ma),Dhaivatam (Da) orNishadam (Ni)).

SeeExample Illustration in previous section.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofKanakangi isKamavardhini and vice versa.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofMayamalavagowla areRasikapriya andSimhendramadhyamam.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofRagavardhini isVarunapriya and vice versa.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofVachaspati areCharukesi,Gourimanohari andNatakapriya.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofShanmukhapriya areShoolini,Dhenuka andChitrambari.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofKeeravani areHemavati,Vakulabharanam andKosalam.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofRatnangi areGamanashrama andJhankaradhwani.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofGanamurti areVishwambari andShamalangi.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofVanaspati isMararanjani and vice versa.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofManavati isKantamani and vice versa.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofSooryakantam areSenavati andLatangi.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofKokilapriya isRishabhapriya and vice versa.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofGayakapriya isDhatuvardani and vice versa.

TheGraha Bhedam derivatives ofDharmavati areChakravakam andSarasangi.

TheGraha Bhedam derivative ofHatakambari isGavambhodi and vice versa.

Thegraha bhedam derivatives ofNaganandini areBhavapriya andVagadheeshwari.

Thegraha bhedam derivative ofGangeyabhooshani isNeetimati and vice versa.

Thegraha bhedam derivative ofChalanata isShubhapantuvarali and vice versa.

Thegraha bhedam derivative ofShadvidamargini isNasikabhooshani and vice versa.

Graha bhedam can be applied to some of thejanya rāgams to yield otherjanya rāgams. UnlikeMelakarta rāgams, where strict rules are adhered to, in terms of whichswaras can be chosen in a rāgam,janya rāgams do not have such rules. Hence, such modal shift of tonic note is valid on allswaras, but may not have been chosen as a rāgam, experimented with, elaborated and composed with. Hence they lead to theoretical rāgams, which have not yet been discovered (all combinations of notes exist, but one may never have been used or exposed to the world at large).

Mohanam rāgam and itsgraha bhedam derivatives are one of the key scales in use all over the world, especially East and South Asia. The other four derivatives areHindolam,Shuddha Saveri,Shuddha Dhanyasi andMadhyamavathi.

Notes on above table

• C as the base forMohanam is chosen for above illustration only for convenience, as Carnatic music does not enforcestrict frequency/note structure. TheShadjam (S) is fixed by the artist as per the vocal range or the instrument's tonic note. All the otherswarams are relative to thisShadjam, falling into a Geometric progression-like frequency pattern. This note is applicable to all tables that are illustrated further below.
• The gaps in the above table are for the missingswara positions in these ragams, which happens to be the Sharp and Flat notes along with F and B notes, in western music.
• If a Sharp / Flat key is chosen as tonic note and ONLY the black keys are played in a piano/ organ/ keyboard/ harmonium, then these 5 are the ragams played successively. That is if you have only black keys, with tonic note from C#, it isShuddha Saveri. From D# it isUdayaravichandrika, from F# it isMohanam, from A-flat it isMadhyamavathi and from B-Flat it isHindolam.
• This statement is true for simplified ragam structure only. Ragams though are more complex in that there are phrases to use and phrases to avoid,gamakas, elongation of notes, a specific mood/ bhava/rasa to be evoked while singing/ playing, etc. These cannot be captured well in scientific notations.

Shivaranjani rāgam and itsGraha Bhedam derivatives areRevati andSunadavinodini.

Notes on above table

• The difference between this set andMohanam set shown above it, is that the 3rd note differs between E and D# (reference note purpose only). Hence,Shivaranjani differs fromMohanam by one note – G2 in place of G3,Revati differs fromMadhyamavati by one note – R1 in place of R2, whileSunadavinodini differs fromHindolam in all notes other than S (as that step is equivalent of shifting down tonic note, Sa, by one note while retaining all other notes ofHindolam).

Hamsadhwani rāgam and itsgraha bhedam derivative isNagasvaravali.

Abhogi rāgam and itsgraha bhedam derivative isValaji.

Amritavarshini rāgam and itsgraha bhedam derivative isKarnataka Shuddha Saveri.

Gambhiranata rāgam and itsgraha bhedam derivative isBhupalam.

• Melakarta

Wikiquote has quotations related toGraha bhedam.

• Ragamath.com

• Melakarta ragas
• Janya ragas

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