Sohini is a

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

in the Marwa

thaat A ''thaat'' () is a "parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term '' Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scal ...

. Alternate transliterations include Sohani and Sohni. Like Bahar, it is a small raga, with not much space for elaboration. It emotes the feel of longing, of passive sensuousness.

Technical Description

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

arohana Arohana, Arohanam, Aroh or Aroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the ascending scale of notes in a raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The pitch increases a ...

(ascent) and six in the

avarohana An Avarohana, Avarohanam or Avaroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the descending scale of any raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The notes descend in pitch ...

. Rishabh (Re) is and Madhyam (Ma) is , while all other swaras are shuddha. Pancham (Pa) is not used. The vadi swara is Dha, and

samvadi The samavadi or samvadi is the second-most prominent (though not necessarily second-most played) note of a raga in Indian classical music. The primary note of the raga is the ''Vadi (Hindustani classical music), vadi''; the vadi and samavadi are i ...

is Ga. The rishabh is weak, but Gandhar (Ga) is strong, unlike Marwa. It is an Uttaranga pradhan raga, with the higher notes on the

saptak Saptak means "gamut" or "the series of seven notes". It denotes the set of swaras i.e. Shadja (Sa), Rishabha (Ri), Gāndhāra (Ga), Madhyama (Ma), Panchama (Pa), Dhaivat (Dha), Nishada (Ni), Shadja (Sa) which comprise a musical scale in India ...

(octave) being used more frequently.

Samay (Time)

Raga Sohini is associated with very late night / pre-dawn, the last or eighth period of day, roughly from 3-6AM. (3 AM - 6 AM) : 4th Prahar of the Night : Sandhi-Prakash Raag

Film Songs

Language :
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Language:
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Note that these are composed in the Carnatic ragam

Hamsanandi Hamsanandi (pronounced hamsānandi) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a hexatonic scale (''shadava'' rāgam, which means "of 6"). It is a derived scale (''janya'' rāgam), as it does not have ...

, which Sohni sounds similar to.

Further information

It is somewhat similar to Marwa and Puriya ragas in the same thaat, and also to Basant in the

Poorvi Purvi or Poorvi () is a raga in Hindustani classical music that exemplifies its own thaat, the Poorvi thaat. Purvi has a deeply serious, quiet and somewhat mystical character. It is uncommon in performances nowadays. Aroha & Avaroha Aroha ...

thaat.

References

Hindustani ragas {{India-music-stub