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Thaat · one of Bhatkhande’s ten

तोड़ीTodi

Komal Re, Ga and Dha, and a tivra Ma: an intense, searching scale for the late morning.

60 madhya
About these soundsMeend makes the harmonium and santoor sounds itself. They aren’t recordings of real instruments, so they sound close, but not quite the same. They are here to let you hear how the swaras go.The tanpura and tabla are recordings of real ones.
SRGMPDNतोड़ी

Tap a swara to hear it

Its swaras
S r g M# P d N
What sets it apart
Komal Re, Ga and Dha, tivra Ma
How bright
-2, two steps below Bilawal
In the West
No common Western mode: a minor scale with its second and sixth lowered, its fourth raised, its seventh major
In the South
Shubhapantuvarali, the 45th melakarta

Todi lowers Re, Ga and Dha to komal and raises Ma to tivra; of the five swaras that can change, only Ni is left shuddh: Sa komal-Re komal-Ga tivra-Ma Pa komal-Dha Ni. It is an intense, searching scale, and its raags, sung in the late morning, are among the most profound in Hindustani music.

Its swaras

Aaroh and avaroh
SRGMPDNS
SNDPMGRS

Raag Todi lives in its slow, plaintive komal Re and Ga, reached gently from below, while Pa is touched lightly and often passed by. Tivra Ma and shuddh Ni pull upward against the lowered swaras: the scale is all tension, and Todi's raags dwell in it.

In threes, up and down
SRGRGMGMPMPDPDNDNS
SNDNDPDPMPMGMGRGRS

All ten alankars in Todi, to hear in your Sa →

How bright it is

Three komal swaras and one tivra: two steps below Bilawal, beside Kafi and Bhairav.

  1. +1Kalyan
  2. 0BilawalMarwa
  3. -1KhamajPurvi
  4. -2BhairavKafiTodi
  5. -3Asavari
  6. -4Bhairavi
Brighter at the top: a step up for tivra Ma, a step down for each komal swara.

On the circle of thaats

Todi sits between Purvi and Bhairavi. Raise its Ga and it is Purvi. But to reach Bhairavi two swaras must change, Ma lowered to shuddh and Ni to komal: here the ring breaks.

MaNiGaDhaReMa, NiGaDhaReMaSRGMPDNतोड़ीKalyan+1Bilawal0Khamaj-1Kafi-2Asavari-3Bhairavi-4Todi-2Purvi-1Marwa0Bhairav-2
Each thaat a swara from the next, the swara that changes on the line between them. Between Bhairavi and Todi two change; Bhairav stands outside, a swara from Purvi.

Its raags

Todi itself, often called Miyan ki Todi, and Gurjari Todi, which leaves out Pa, are raags of the late morning; Multani belongs to the afternoon, and Madhuvanti, by some teachers' placing, here too.

In the West and the South

There is no common Western mode with these swaras: it is a minor scale with its second and sixth lowered, its fourth raised and its seventh major.

In Karnatic music it is the 45th melakarta, Shubhapantuvarali. Don't confuse it with Karnatic Todi: that is the 8th melakarta, Hanumatodi, whose swaras are those of Hindustani Bhairavi.

Practise it

Tune komal Re and komal Ga close together, each against the tanpura's Sa: they lie a semitone apart, low in the scale, and it takes a steady breath to keep them so.

Sa, komal Re, komal Ga, komal Re
S–––R–––G–––R–––
Up the scale, passing Pa by, as Todi often does
SRGMDNS

To make the ten thaats a daily riyaz, Meend has them ready: begin a riyaz of the thaats.

Questions

Which swaras are altered in Todi thaat?

Re, Ga and Dha are komal; Ma is tivra; Ni stays shuddh.

Which raags are in Todi thaat?

Todi (Miyan ki Todi), Gurjari Todi and Multani, among others.

Is Hindustani Todi the same as Karnatic Todi?

No. Karnatic Todi, the 8th melakarta Hanumatodi, has the swaras of Hindustani Bhairavi; Hindustani Todi's are the 45th melakarta, Shubhapantuvarali.