Kafi काफ़ी

Kafi thaat is one of the ten parent scales (thaats) of Hindustani music, using komal (flat) Ga and komal Ni with the other five notes shuddha: S R g M P D n. Raag Kafi, the raga of the same name, has its own page: Raag Kafi. In the system set out by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, the nearest thaat is Khamaj thaat, which keeps Ga shuddha; Asavari thaat shares both komal notes and lowers Dha as well.

The ragas grouped under Kafi include Bageshri, Bhimpalasi, Bahar and Miyan Ki Malhar. The same seven notes form Kharaharapriya, melakarta 22 of Carnatic music, and the Western Dorian mode. B. Chaitanya Deva writes that the scale of the Vedic saman chant was roughly, though not strictly, that of Kafi.

Deva also summarises Bhatkhande's rules on the time of ragas. Those that take komal Ga and komal Ni, the two altered notes of this thaat, fall in the third and fourth watches of the day or of the night: noon to 6pm, and midnight to 6am. KalaSudha brings ragas of this thaat to the concert stage and the studio, and its courses, each built by its instructor with KalaSudha, teach them note by note: see our courses.