We now learn another new concept. All raags may be categorized as being either in Pancham or Madhyam shruthi.
All raags we have learnt so far are in Pancham shruthi, since their notations had the P, along with the other 2 foundational notes, S and S' (sort of like 3 legs of a stool to keep it stable).
Malkauns is the first raag that we will learn in the Madhyam shruthi, where there is no P. Instead, we use the Shuddha M.
When we use the taanpura (stringed or electronic) or the harmonium to provide the background drone to our singing, we replace the P with the M.
Raag Malkauns.
It is in Bhairavi thaat.
It is a midnight raag. Of course, we can only learn it in our regularly scheduled class time.
Its notes are straight-forward, 5 up and 5 down. Thus, it is an Audav-Audav (5/5) raag.
In the scale we sing in normally, it is easy to play this raag on the keyboard or harmonium - only white keys.
Apart from the shuddha M, its other notes are all komal.
(Aaroha) S g M d n S'
(Avaroha) S' n d M g S
(Pakad) SgMM ggMd gMg n,gS
We will now start learning the song Mai Gulam Mai Gulam, a composition by Saint Kabir Das - more in the next lesson.
Last but not the least, remember that attending the class regularly is very important. A lot more techniques may be taught in the "live" class that may not be all mentioned here on the web. Enjoy singing!