Revati is a rÃÂgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an audava rÃÂgam (or owdava rÃÂgam, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a janya rÃÂgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes).
In Hindustani music a raga that closely resembles Revati is Bairagi Bhairav. It is said to evoke Karuá¹Âa rasa (pathos). This scale has also been used in chanting Vedas.
Revati is a symmetric rÃÂgam that does not contain gÃÂndhÃÂram or dhaivatam. It is a pentatonic scale (audava-audava ragam in Carnatic music classification â audava meaning 'of 5'). Its ' structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
(notes used in this scale are shuddha rishabham, shuddha madhyamam, panchamam, kaisiki nishadham)
Revati is considered a janya rÃÂgam of Ratnangi, the 2nd Melakarta rÃÂgam, though it can be derived from other melakarta rÃÂgams, Vanaspati, Hanumatodi, Natakapriya, Vakulabharanam or Chakravakam, by dropping both gÃÂndhÃÂram and dhaivatam.
Revati rÃÂgam lends itself for elaboration and exploration and has many compositions. Here are some popular kritis composed in Revati.
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rÃÂgam.
In Japanese/Western music Revati corresponds to Insen scale
Revati's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields 2 other pentatonic rÃÂgams, namely, Shivaranjani and Sunadavinodini. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rÃÂgam. See Graha bhedam on Shivaranjani for more details and an illustration.