Hindustani raga
Pentatonic Bhairav-thaat raga.
Your guide to Gunakali
New to classical music — moods, stories, film songs and simple listening.
Press play to hear the notes of Gunakali, rising then falling.
Karuna. Traditionally heard at morning.
Film songs you may know ↓New to classical music?
Think of a raga as more than a scale: a set of rules and a personality. Gunakali has its own notes, its own favourite phrases, its own time of day and its own mood, the way a person has a recognisable voice and way of talking.
Gunakali sounds a mix of light and shade, sliding between bright and dark notes. Its emotional colour is tenderness and sorrow, the feeling of a sad song that still comforts you. Traditionally it is traditionally performed in the morning, because Indian musicians believe each raga matches the feeling of a certain hour or season.
Pentatonic Bhairav-thaat raga. The beauty of Gunakali comes from patience: a good performer doesn't rush through the scale but lingers, bending into notes and letting each phrase breathe, so the mood builds slowly until it fills the room.
Listening exercise: Try this: press "Full scale" above, then open one of the recordings below. In the first few minutes, see if you can hear the missing Ga. Once you catch it, you've started to recognise Gunakali.
Hindustani ragas mostly developed through oral tradition, passed guru to disciple. Medieval treatises such as Sangita Ratnakara (13th c.) and the later Raga-Ragini systems grouped them into 'families'.
In the early 20th century, V. N. Bhatkhande organised Hindustani ragas into ten thaats (parent scales). Gunakali is classified under Bhairav thaat. The thaat is a modern classification, not necessarily the raga's historical origin.
Each gharana (school) interprets ragas slightly differently, so a raga's phrasing has kept evolving through the 19th and 20th centuries, and further through recordings and radio.
Looking for more history…
Arohana (ascent) · 5 notes
S r M P d S'
Avarohana (descent) · 5 notes
S' d P M r S
Synthesised with Sa = A3. A real performance uses gamakas, meends and phrasing that a bare scale can't capture.
| Swara | Interval from Sa | Western (Sa = C) |
|---|---|---|
| Sa | Unison | C |
| Komal Re | Minor 2nd | C# |
| Shuddh Ma | Perfect 4th | F |
| Pa | Perfect 5th | G |
| Komal Dha | Minor 6th | G# |
Omitted (varjya) swaras: Ga, Ni.
Jati (Audava–Audava). The ascent uses 5 distinct notes and the descent 5. Audava = 5, Shadava = 6, Sampurna = 7.
Krama (straight) movement. Notes are taken in order going up and coming down.
Parent scale. Bhairav thaat: Komal Re and Dha. Equivalent to Carnatic Mayamalavagowla.
Time (Morning). Sung in the morning prahars (roughly 7 AM–noon). Morning ragas often stress the lower tetrachord (purvanga).
Vadi and samvadi. d is the king note, the most emphasised and returned to. r is the minister, the second most important note.
Karuna
Compassion, pathos and sorrow.
Each link opens a YouTube or Spotify search for this raga by the instrument or artist.
These ragas use exactly the same notes, though their phrasing and ornaments differ.
Gunakali is traditionally sung: Morning.
Ragas that sound most like Gunakali, and how to tell them apart.
No well-known Hindi film song is confidently attributed to this raga yet.
No regional film song is confidently attributed to this raga yet.
Film songs often take liberties with a raga, so treat these as "based on" rather than strict renditions.
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Notation: Hindustani komal notes are lowercase (r g d n), M# = tivra Ma, ' = upper octave. Carnatic numbers mark swara variants (R1, G3, …).