- Life notes / jeeva
- Gandhara (sadharana G2) and Madhyama (shuddha M1) are the principal jeeva / life-line swaras; Ga is sung with a stress (nokku), and Panchama is also treated as a pivotal note.
- Resting notes / nyasa
- Nishada and Shadja are the nyasa (resting) swaras; in alapana a relaxing halt is made on sadharana Ga and Panchama. Kaisiki Nishada (N2) is used but not dwelt upon.
- Signature phrases / prayoga
- Identity patterns S G R G M, S G M, S G G M, S M G R S; the S P S prayoga is brought in at intervals to hold the raga's identity. Regular prayogas built on chatusruti dhaivata (D2): p d p s, s n d p, p d n d n p, g m p d p. Lower-tetrachord shape shared with Reetigowla: s g r G m, g m p m g r s. Anya-swara touches (sparingly): shuddha dhaivata (D1) in p d m p g r; antara gandhara (G3) in ma pa ma ga ga ma; kakali nishada (N3) in sa da ni sa. The mandra s n p of Reetigowla is deliberately avoided.
- Ornament / gamaka
- The long characteristic shake (kampita) on sadharana Ga, kaisiki Ni and shuddha Ma is expressive of the raga's pleading tone; the slight quiver on Ma is touching. Sa is often rendered with a downward grace (jaru) from Ga. In the shared phrase s g r g m p, Anandabhairavi's bhava comes from a stress/nokku on Ga with Ma sung plain, distinguishing it from Bhairavi. Double notes GG and MM are used extensively; an overdose of gamakas is discouraged.