Hamsanadam


Hamsanadam is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is a pentatonic scale, as it is sung in current days. It is a derived scale, as it does not have all the seven swaras, from the 60th Melakarta rāgam Neetimati.

Structure and Lakshana

Hamsanadam, as it is sung now-a-days, is a symmetric scale that does not contain gandharam and dhaivatam. It is called an audava rāgam, in Carnatic music classification. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is as follows :
  • ārohaṇa :
  • avarohaṇa :
This scale uses the notes shadjam, chatusruti rishabham, prati madhyamam, panchamam and kakali nishadam.

Other structures

Earlier structure of this scale were as follows:
  • Ascending scale :
  • Descending scale :
In the above, shatsruti dhaivatam is added in the scale compared to current usage, with a vakra prayoga.

''Graha bhedham''

Hamsanadam's notes when shifted using Graha bhedham, yields three pentatonic rāgams, Gambhiranata, Neela and Bhupalam. Graha bhedham is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. For more details and illustrations of this concept refer Graha bhedham on Gambhiranata.

Popular compositions

Hamsanadam has a few popular compositions:

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Tamil Serial Title Song

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