At long last I managed to start up a Youtube channel (it’s got only one video in it so far) but I thought I’d begin with the Raga which started my sarod journey – Raga Durga. Along with Yaman, it remains a favourite of Ud Amjad Ali Khan to start off new students with. I must acknowledge that it was Shri Abhik Sarkar (a senior disciple of Ustadji) who taught me this Raga. A very nice composition, in Madhyalay Teentaal.
The notations for the Madhaylaya are here: (lowercase – komal, italics – lower octave, bold higher octave)

–  –  –  – / – –  S S/R P -P/ D M P D/ D- M -/ R – (SS – repeat)

The manjha is a bit complicated, but goes like this

MM MM R S D P M -/ PDSRMPD PM/ (SS RP-P

The antara starts from the 9th and goes like this:

M P D S SSS -/ S D S R S D D PM/ MM RR S R S D P M/ (SS RP-P)

The Drut Gat in Durga is a favourite- as it really needs fast left hand work.  Whenver you feel confident about your fingering skills, try and play this gat at a fast pace. That’s when you’ll appreciate the technical mastery of Ud Amjad Ali Khan.

The gat goes as follows:

Sthyai

S D-DP MPDP MR S D S  x R MPD

M PP DD SS DDP DP MP DP MR SR MP DP MR SR DS  SD-DP

Antara

D M PP DD SS SS D RR S x S D S R M- M RR S R S D/ DD PM PD-P

PDSRMPDPMR SS (SD-DP

Quite a workout – believe me.

I’m going to post some other compositions next.