Glossary · glossary · 1 min read
Avaroha
अवरोह; descent
Avaroha is the descending order of notes in a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. It is the path the melody takes from the upper Sa down to the home Sa.
By SJN, Founder, BeatRootRaga · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 27 Sept 2026
What does avaroha mean?
Avaroha is the descending order of notes in a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. It describes the path a melody takes coming down from the upper Sa to the home Sa.
Aroha is the ascending order of notes. Learning a raga means learning its aroha and avaroha together, because the downward path can differ from the upward path. The descent may use different notes, or a different form of a note, rather than simply reverse the ascent.
An example of avaroha and where to learn more
Here is the avaroha, or descending order of notes, of Raga Kirwani. A raga is a melodic framework in Indian classical music.
Sa' Ni dha Pa Ma ga Re Sa
Learn this descent alongside the raga’s aroha, its ascending order of notes. The two paths belong together. A descent can differ from an ascent in the notes it uses or the form of a note.
This is a short definition with one example. For the full explanation of avaroha, follow the linked BeatRootRaga learning page.
Keep going
- What is a raga? A plain-language guide for listeners · A raga is a melodic framework in Indian classical music for creating pieces and inventing melody during performance. Listen for four things: which notes appear, how the melody moves, where the musician lingers, and which short phrases return.
- Raga vs scale: what Western musicians get wrong · A raga adds rules for movement, emphasis, identifying phrases and ornamentation to a scale or mode, a scale with a home note. Producers lose its identity when they treat it as a note list, ignore its tuning and phrasing, or let changing chords reshape the melody’s meaning.