The Khamaj Thaat: A Complete Guide To This Important Indian Music Scale.

The Khamaj thaat is one of the most important thaats in the Indian musical system. It is a parent scale that features five notes, and therefore it is also known as a pentatonic scale. The thaat has been used extensively in compositions by musicians from all over India, but especially in Punjab and Rajasthan. 

What is Khamaj thaat?

The Khamaj thaat is an Indian music scale. It is a parent scale of several other thaat including the popular Marwa and Bhairavi thaats, but it is not used as much as them in Hindustani classical music. By replacing the Shuddha Nishad of Bilaval with the Komal Nishad, you can obtain the Khamaj Thaat. Ragas such as this are typically sung in light classical forms, such as thumris, tappas, horis, and kajri.

The notes of the Khamaj Thaat

The Khamaj thaat has six notes, R, G, M, P, D, N (or C♯), which are saptak (octave) apart from each other. The tones of this Thaat are R
The Khamaj thaat (also spelled Khamach, Khamac or Kamach) is the 6th thaat of Hindustani music from the melakarta scale of Carnatic music.
The Khamaj thaat is a Hindustani music scale.
In the octave, there are 5 notes: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma and Pa.

Ragas in Khamaj thaat include: Khamaj, Rageshree, Jhinjhoti, Desh, Sorath, Tilang, Gara etc.

Key characteristics of the Khamaj Thaat

The Khamaj thaat is the second thaat of Indian classical music. It is also known as the Bhairavi Thaat and belongs to the group of North Indian thaats. The Khamaj thaat has a few characteristics that make it unique, such as it does not contain any komal (flat) notes and its scale consists only of shuddh or natural notes, hence giving it a very pure sound.

Khamaj thaat is the sixth thaat of Indian music (scales). This Thaat was originated in Khamaj Rag, which is a combination of Kharaharapriya and Bhairav ragas. The composer who brought this thaat to limelight was Mian Tansen, the musician at the court of Akbar.