Lakshan Geet:

What is a Lakshan Geet?

Its a raga geet and its verses show the mood and the details of particular raga. It also teaches the way of singing raga and completely depicts the picture of the raga.  Lakshan Geet is probably the most typical fixed composition used for vocal instruction. This is a style of singing where the lyrics of the song actually describe the features of the raga.

If the lakshan geet is memorized, one will never forget the raga. Throughout ones life, whenever the raga is heard the words keep coming back. Below given raga asavari lakshan geet is sung in a beautiful style by Iqbal Yousuf Ramzi (ghazal geet singer). This geet will show what is real mood and properties of raga asavari and you will be able to play raga asavari songs in a better way shortly after listening lakshan geet.

1. RAGA/RAGNI ASAVARI BANDISH

Asavari is not a raga but ragni  and ragni asavari is derived from thaat asavari (Parentalscale). Still we can call it raga asavari to some extent. Its Vaadi (main note) is d and samvaadi (second in importance) is g and important anuvaadi is P. Its Jaati (class) is audav-sampoorn. Its time of performance is morning. Its pakad is R-m-P-S'- (n) d-P -R-m-P-n-d-P. It is played from madh - taar saptak. Its bhaav is shad-madhyam. Ragni asavari evokes the moods depicting yearning for love, anguish, and melancholy. Each raga has its own bandish. Whenever a music director composes a song based upon a given raga, he makes sure that he uses the bandish of that raga. This is the precise reason why two songs composed on the same raga sound similar. In a way, bandish is a common factor within all the tunes composed on a given raga.

Asavari is a very ancient ragni as is the allied raga gandhari; We will here train our sights on contemporary musical practice. Throughout this discussion, M=shuddh madhyam and m=tiver madhyam. The ragni, asavari, itself comes in three flavours, each distinguished by the manner of rishab use. They are, respectively, the shuddh rishab-only (R) asavari, the komal rishab-only (r) Asavari, and the third type employing both r and R. The swars of the R-only asavari are aligned with the asavari thaat proper whereas those of the r-only asavari belong to the bhairavi thaat.

Vadi:  Komal Dhivat (d)

Samvadi:  Komal Gandhar (g)

Jati:  Audav-Sampooran

Pakad: R-m-P-S'-(n)d-P  R-m-P-n-d-P

Sa Re  Ma Pa Dha Sa'

Sa' Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa

Play Lakshan Geet Asavari      Notations Of Lakshan Geet

Singer Iqbal Yousuf Ramzi

Asavari Lakshan Geet Video

Asavari Lakshan Geet           

Asthayee:

Kaanha mohe asavari raag sunaa we

Ga Ni Ko Arohan mein chupa we

Sa Re -  Ma Re - Ma Pa - Da Pa - Dha Gha Re  - Sa Re Ni Sa Pa

Kaanha mohe asavari raag sunaave

Antra:

Dhaivat vadi, Ga samvadi

madhayam surrat hai  nya  susu pancham

avrohan sampooran dikhaa we

Kaanha mohe asavari

Kaanha mohe asavari

Kaanha mohe asavari raag sunaa we

MEANINGS

This is a lakshan geet in asavari raga.  A lakshan  geet is a composition that talks about the structure of a raga, its not, mood and all its technical aspects.

My Kanha (Krishna) sings the Asavari raga to me,

During Amrohi (ascent) he hides "Ga" and "Ni",

Dha is the vaadi, Ga is the samvadi

Keeps the medium notes in High Fives

Expresses everything in Amrohi (descent)

My Kanha (Krishna) sings the Asavari raga to me,

2. RAGA ALAHIYA BILAWAL BANDISH

Raga Alhaiya Bilawal belongs to thaat bilawal. Its time of performance is between 9 am to 12 pm. Its vaadi note is D, samvaadi note is G and important anuvaadi note is P. Its bhaav is shadj-madhyam. Raga Alhaiya Bilawal Jaati is Shadav-Sampoorn and pakad is GPDnS',S'NDnDP-mGmRS. It is played between madh-taar saptak. Tanpura tuning will be set on note P. Keep Diagram of the raga Alhaiya Bilawal in front while practicing.. You have to practice each raga for at least one to two weeks and then try to practice other ragas. Only use those notes that are present in ragas.  Although very few songs have been rendered in this raga but this raga is still important for initial fingering practice.

Vadi: Dha

Samvadi: Ga

Jati: Shadav-Sampooran

Bhaav: Shadj-Madhyam

Played: Madhya-Taar

Time:  (6 p.m-12 p.m)

Pakad: GPDnS',S'NDnDP-mGmRS

Arohi:     S – GR – GP – DN - S' 

Amrohi:     S'N - DP, DnDP, mG – mR – S 

Alahiya Bilawal Lakshan Geet         Notations Of Lakshan Geet

Alahiya Bilawal Lakshan Geet Video

Asthayee: Jaag uthee sab jan tum jagoo..

Jaag uthee sab jan tum jagoo..

Gaoon ke charwal chari

Jaag uthee sab jan tum jagoo..

Jaag uthee sab jan tum jagoo.Antra:

Tumhare karan aavat dhaavat..

Tumhare karan aavat dhaavat..

Sada rang man tum so laago..

Jaag uthee sab

Jaag uthee sab

Jaag uthee sab jan tum jagoo..

Everyone has woken up, You wake up,

All Herdsmen of the village have arisen,

They are coming to storm you

Oh Pure coloured!

My heart is fascinated by you

Wake up

3. RAGNI BHAIRAVI BANDISH

Ragni bhairavi, is another popular ragni from the category of “sandhi-parkash ragas”.  In ancient system of “raga-ragni” system of classification, it was regarded as a ragni, a feminine raga, and spouse of raga Bhairav. Bhairavi is a ragni and not a raga. Ragni Bhairavi is a morning Ragni and is derived from thaat Bhairavi (parental scale). Re, Ga, Dha and Ni are Komal (flat) and shown by small letters. P and S are achal swar that is without a saathi swar. Ragni Bhairavi uses seven notes in the ascent as well as descent; its vaadi swar is P and samvaadi swar is S. Its bhaav is Shadj-Pancham.  Its Jati (class) is Sampoorn-Sampoorn. This ragni is played from madh-taar saptak. Its pakad is 'n-S-g-m-d-P-g-m-P-g-m-r-S. In pakad note (‘n) is used from mandar saptak.

This ragni is rarely heard in khayal music but is very commonly used in thumri, ghazals, Punjabi folk music, and is usually encountered at the end of performance. In ragni bhairavi  shuddh Re, Ga, Dha, Ni and tiver Ma are all vivadis so each one can be taken in a certain way to embellish the raga.

Vadi: Tiver Pa (P)

Samvadi: Sa (S)

Jaati: sampooran-sampooran

Pakad: 'n-S-g-m-d-P-g-m-P-g-m-r-S 

Time: 1 (6 am - 9 am)

Arohi:    S - r - g - m - P - d – n - S' 

Amrohi:   S' - n - d - P - m - g - r - S 

Play Lakshan Geet Bhairavi        Notations Of Lakshan Geet

Singer Iqbal Yousuf Ramzi

Bhairavi Lakshan Geet Video

Bhairavi Lakshan Geet        

Asthayee:

Kasi yeh bahlayee re kanhayee

Paniyaa bharan gayee gagari girayee

Karat lagayee....

Sanad kahe aiso dheeth bahayoo kanhayee

Ka karoo mayee nahin manta kanhayee

Karat lagiyee ...

MEANINGS

How impish is this Krishna,

I went to fetch water and he broke my vessel,

He squabbles...

Sanad says that Krishna

has become such a brat

What should I do?

O mother! Krishna would't mend his ways

He squabbles

10 Lakshan Geet with mp3 and bols will be provided with the book.