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Janya raga · parent: 22. Kharaharapriya

Huseni

Confidence: medium Last verified:

Scale

Derived from the printed scale: sampurna in both ascent and descent (7 notes up, 7 down); vakra (zigzag) in the ascent; bhashanga (borrows D1, outside its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Huseni is a janya raga : it is derived from the melakarta Kharaharapriya (number 22), which means it takes its notes from that parent's scale. It also uses a note from outside the parent (D1), which makes it a Bhashanga raga: that note is an foreign note to the parent scale.

Going up, its notes are S R2 G2 M1 P N2 D2 N2 S'; coming down, S' N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S. Its ascent and descent each use 7 different notes (Sampurna ). The path is Vakra (zigzag) going up: some notes are visited out of straight order.

If Sa is C on a keyboard, the notes it uses fall on C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, A, B♭. This only shows where the notes sit: a raga is more than its notes, and its ornaments and phrases are not shown here.

A bit deeper

Its parent. Huseni is placed under Kharaharapriya (melakarta 22) by karnatik.com, the source for this page's parent. It uses all of the parent's notes.

A borrowed note. Huseni uses D1 although its parent has a different D. In theory this is what makes a raga bhashanga. No single melakarta holds all of its notes, so its parent is the one it is felt to grow from, by convention.

Same notes, different raga. Bhairavi and Mukhari use exactly the same set of notes as Huseni but differ in the path, the ornaments or the phrases.

Why start here? How likely you are to meet it

●●○ (rating 2 of 3: 1 = met very often)

Rating 2 of 3 (editorial, a rough guide to how often you are likely to meet this raga): karnatik.com's tally of compositions per raga (based on a list of 38,000 songs) places it in the top 100, with 210 compositions. A 1 means met very often and 3 means met rarely. It says nothing about how hard the raga is to sing, which depends on its ornaments and is not rated here. The tally counts songs by raga name and dates from 2011.

Characteristic features

Key notes, characteristic phrases and ornaments are not recorded here yet: they could not be confirmed from two sources, and this site leaves them out rather than guess.

Where the notes sit

The twelve swarasthanas. Where two names share a row, they are the same pitch.
#Semitones above SaShort nameFull name
10SShadja
21R1Shuddha Rishabha
32R2 = G1Chatushruti Rishabha = Shuddha Gandhara
43R3 = G2Shatshruti Rishabha = Sadharana Gandhara
54G3Antara Gandhara
65M1Shuddha Madhyama
76M2Prati Madhyama
87PPanchama
98D1Shuddha Dhaivata
109D2 = N1Chatushruti Dhaivata = Shuddha Nishada
1110D3 = N2Shatshruti Dhaivata = Kaishiki Nishada
1211N3Kakali Nishada

Related ragas

Compare with another raga

Notable compositions (titles only)

Songs listed for this raga on karnatik.com by composers covered on this site. Lists are community-compiled, so a missing song does not mean it does not exist. Talas are as the source names them; no lyrics are reproduced.

Annamacharya

  • Venekedo Mundarero Adi·Telugu

Muthuswami Dikshitar

  • Paradevate Bhakta Adi·Sanskrit
  • Shri Kalahastisha Jhampa·Sanskrit

Papanasam Sivan

  • Arut-tivilai Tamil
  • Pizhai Poruttarulvai Chapu·Tamil
  • Rajan Maharajan Adi·Tamil
  • Vandadellam Tamil
  • Vandadellam Varattum Adi·Tamil

Purandara Dasa

  • Ellaru Maduvudu Adi·Kannada
  • Enna Raksiso Rupaka·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

  • Ayisakhi Mp Chapu
  • Endu Ceyyavu Rupaka
  • Kanakamayamayidum Rupaka
  • Pahi Pankaja Nayana Adi

Tyagaraja

  • Bhaja Ramam Satatam Adi·Telugu
  • Emani Vegintune Adi·Telugu
  • Raghuvira Ranadhira Rupaka·Telugu
  • Rama Ninne Adi·Telugu
  • Rama Rama Rama Sita Rupaka·Telugu
  • Sarvaloka Dayanidhe Telugu
  • Vinata Suta Rara Adi·Telugu

How this was checked

  • Partly agree: Scale of Huseni: ascent S R2 G2 M1 P N2 D2 N2 S'; descent S' N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; List of Janya ragas. The two sources differ; see Variations & debates.
  • Sources agree: Huseni is a janya of melakarta number 22, Kharaharapriya. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; Royal Carpet: Introduction to Carnatic Raga (the melakarta ragas). Parent per karnatik.com. The raga borrows D1 from outside the parent, which is what bhashanga means; Wikipedia's table also names the foreign note.

References for this page

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