Thaat and melakarta explained

Parent scales help organise ragas

Bhoop and Mohanam share the notes Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha, but Mohanam uses Carnatic phrasing and ornaments. Shared notes do not make them the same musical framework. A raga is a melodic framework for creating pieces and inventing melody during performance. It guides which notes appear, how the melody moves, where you linger and which phrases return.

A parent scale is a set of seven notes, one form of each swara, or note, used to classify ragas. The seven basic note names are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni. In Hindustani, or North Indian music, this parent scale is called a thaat. In Carnatic, or South Indian music, it is called a melakarta.

The parent scale gives you a place to start, not everything you need to perform the raga. Two ragas grouped under the same parent can sound completely different. The scale alone cannot tell you their phrases, ornaments, emphasis or time of day.

A thaat is a Hindustani parent scale

In Hindustani (North Indian) music, a thaat is a seven-note parent scale used to classify ragas. It specifies one form of each note. Bilawal, for example, uses all shuddha, or natural, notes and corresponds to the Western major scale.

• Kalyan uses the same notes as Bilawal, but with tivra, or raised, Ma.
• Kafi uses komal, or lowered, Ga and Ni.
• Bhairavi uses komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni.

The musicologist Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande set out the ten-thaat scheme in the early 20th century. The ten are Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. These are practical categories, not a complete account of every raga's notes.

Bhairavi names both a thaat and a raga, but the two mean different things. The thaat is the abstract note set, not something sung as a raga. A raga is a melodic framework for performance, with movement, emphasis and characteristic phrases beyond its parent scale.

A melakarta is a Carnatic parent scale

In Carnatic, or South Indian, music, a melakarta is a parent scale used to organise ragas, the melodic frameworks musicians perform. It provides seven notes from which other ragas can be derived. Carnatic music has 72 melakartas.

Every melakarta is sampoorna, meaning it uses all seven notes. These appear in order both going up and coming down. The ascent does not skip a note, and the descent does not take a different route through the scale.

For example, Keeravani is the 21st melakarta, known as Kirwani in Hindustani music. With Sa, the home note, set to C, its notes are C D Eb F G Ab B. This gives you a concrete note set to try.

Unlike a thaat, the Hindustani parent-scale category, a melakarta is also performed as a raga. It is not only a label for sorting other ragas. In performance, phrases, ornaments and emphasis give those notes a musical identity beyond their order.

Why there are 10 thaats and 72 melakartas

Kirwani also shows why the numbers need context. In Hindustani music, it is usually described by its notes rather than assigned a thaat, a seven-note parent scale. The ten-thaat scheme does not cover every raga, or melodic framework, neatly.

The musicologist Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande set out the ten-thaat scheme in the early 20th century. It is a practical classification, not a complete catalogue of possible scales. Some ragas use notes outside these parents; others use both forms of a note.

A melakarta, a Carnatic parent scale, belongs to a complete scheme of 72 allowed note combinations. Every parent uses all seven notes in order, both ascending and descending. The count comes from those permitted combinations, rather than a practical selection.

Venkatamakhin systematised the melakarta scheme in the 17th century in the treatise Chaturdandi Prakasika. The modern names and order were fixed later. That distinction keeps the historical scheme separate from the form musicians use now.

So 10 and 72 reflect different approaches to organising parent scales, not different amounts of music. Correspondences between them are nearest equivalents, not identities. Neither count tells you how a raga moves, where it lingers, or which phrases define it.

How the 72 melakartas are organised and named

The 72 melakartas, Carnatic parent scales, are arranged in twelve chakras. A chakra is a group of six melakartas. Rather than treating the names as one long list, you can follow how the note choices change between groups.

Start with Ma, one of the seven note syllables Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni. The first 36 melakartas use shuddha Ma, the natural form. The second 36 use prati Ma, the raised form.

Within each half, six chakras cover the combinations of Re and Ga. Within each chakra, its six members cover the combinations of Dha and Ni. So Ma identifies the half, while the other note combinations organise the groups and their members.

The names also carry numbers through katapayadi, a system that encodes numbers in syllables. The first two syllables of each melakarta’s name encode its number. A musician trained in the system can read that number from the name.

For example, Dheerasankarabharanam is number 29, placing it in the shuddha Ma half. Mechakalyani is number 65, placing it in the prati Ma half. Before learning to decode the names, use these numbers to locate each scale’s Ma.

A janya raga is derived from a melakarta

Mohanam and Hamsadhwani are five-note examples of janya ragas, meaning ragas derived from a melakarta, a Carnatic parent scale. Mohanam uses Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha. Hamsadhwani uses Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Ni. Each uses fewer notes than a seven-note parent.

Janya does not mean simply playing a shorter version of the parent scale. The relationship can involve which notes appear, how the melody travels, or a note outside the parent's set.

• Omit notes. Mohanam and Hamsadhwani show how a derived raga can use five notes instead of seven.
• Change the route. A janya raga can take one path going up and a different path coming down.
• Include an outside note. A janya raga can add a note that does not belong to its parent scale.

Most ragas heard in Carnatic concerts are janya ragas. The melakartas themselves are performed too, unlike thaats, the Hindustani parent scales used for classification. Being a parent or a derived raga does not tell you its phrases, ornaments or emphasis.

Common thaat and melakarta correspondences

Yaman and Kalyani offer another way to connect notes with a parent scale, a seven-note set used to organise ragas, or melodic frameworks. Compare Kalyan thaat, a Hindustani parent scale, with Mechakalyani, the 65th melakarta, a Carnatic parent scale. Kalyan uses the same notes as Bilawal, corresponding to the Western major scale, but with tivra, or raised, Ma. These connections concern scales, not identical musical treatment.

Read these as nearest scale equivalents, not interchangeable ragas.

| Hindustani thaat | Nearest Carnatic melakarta | Number |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Bilawal | Dheerasankarabharanam | 29 |

| Kalyan | Mechakalyani | 65 |

| Khamaj | Harikambhoji | 28 |

| Kafi | Kharaharapriya | 22 |

| Asavari | Natabhairavi | 20 |

| Bhairavi | Hanumatodi | 8 |

| Bhairav | Mayamalavagowla | 15 |

Kirwani and Charukeshi need a different approach. These Carnatic imports are usually described in Hindustani music by their notes rather than assigned a thaat. Their Carnatic counterparts are Keeravani, melakarta 21, and Charukesi, melakarta 26. Do not force either into the ten-thaat scheme just to complete a comparison.

Use the parent scale, then learn the raga

Now try the same process with a raga you already play. A raga is a melodic framework, not just a set of notes. Keep the parent scale and the performed phrases as separate parts of your practice.

• Write down the notes you hear, with Sa, the home note, fixed. Mark any natural, lowered or raised forms.
• Compare your list with a thaat, a Hindustani parent scale, or a melakarta, a Carnatic parent scale. Treat the match as a starting point.
• Check the movement up and down. Notice omitted notes, both forms of a note, or notes outside the proposed parent.
• Practise a short returning phrase. Listen for ornaments, the ways notes are decorated, and emphasis, where the musician lingers.

If the fit is awkward, describe the notes rather than forcing a label. The ten-thaat scheme does not cover every raga neatly. Even within one parent scale, two ragas can sound completely different.