Kanada

Kanada is a Janya Raga derived from Kharaharapriya (Melakarta 22) in Carnatic music. Its swaras are drawn from the parent scale Kharaharapriya, and the way it selects, omits or bends those swaras is what gives it a character of its own. Use the arohanam and avarohanam above as your starting point: play the scale slowly on the harmonium, hold each swara until the pitch settles, and only then sing it back.

Rasa: karuna and shringara — sorrow and love together. Kanada is a janya of Kharaharapriya with a vakra arohanam and a distinctive oscillating gandharam. Because the same phrase can be approached tenderly or plaintively, the raga genuinely holds both emotions rather than alternating between them.

It is a major concert raga with substantial kritis in the repertoire. Classical theory lists it under both sorrow and love, and that dual classification is accurate to how it is sung.

Start with the plain arohanam and avarohanam in slow speed, holding each swara until it is steady. Once the scale is secure, practise it against a shruti drone and only then move to gamaka-laden phrases. Whenever a phrase feels uncertain, go back to the scale and check yourself swara by swara before building speed.