| Indian Music | |
|---|---|
| Indian classical music | |
| Carnatic music | |
| Hindustani music | |
| Core Concepts | |
| Shruti · Swara · Alankar · Rāga · Tāla |
The seven notes of the scale (swaras), in Indian music are named shadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad, and are shortened to Sa, Ri (Carnatic) or Re (Hindustani), Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni and written S, R, G, M, P, D, N. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam (the word is an acronym of the consonants of the first four swaras). Sargam is the Indian equivalent to solfege, a technique for the teaching of sight-singing. Sargam is practiced against a drone. The tone Sa is not associated with any particular pitch. As in Western moveable-Do solfège, Sa refers to the tonic of a piece or scale rather than to any particular pitch.
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A dot above a letter indicates that the note is sung one octave higher, and a dot below indicates one octave lower. Or, if a note with the same name-Sa, for example-is an octave higher than the note represented by S, an apostrophe is placed to the right: S'. If it is an octave lower, the apostrophe is placed to the left: 'S. Apostrophes can be added as necessary to indicate the octave: for example, ``g would be the note komal Ga in the octave two octaves below that which begins on the note S (that is, two octaves below g).
The basic mode of reference is that which is equivalent to the Western Ionian mode or major scale (called Bilawal thaat in Hindustani music). All relationships between pitches follow from this. In any seven-tone mode (starting with S), R, G, D, and N can be natural (shuddha, lit. 'pure') or flat (komal, 'soft') but never sharp, and the M can be natural or sharp (tivra) but never flat, making twelve notes as in the Western chromatic scale. If a swara is not natural (shuddha), a line below a letter indicates that it is flat (komal) and an acute accent above indicates that it is sharp (tivra). Sa and Pa are immovable (once Sa is selected), forming a just perfect fifth.
In some notation systems, the distinction is made with capital and lowercase letters. When abbreviating these tones, the form of the note which is relatively lower in pitch always uses a lowercase letter, while the form which is higher in pitch uses an uppercase letter. So komal Re/Ri uses the letter r and shuddha Re/Ri, the letter R, but shuddha Ma uses m because it has a raised form-tivra Ma-which uses the letter M. Sa and Pa are always abbreviated as S and P, respectively, since they cannot be altered.
The chart below assumes Sa to be at C.
| Full form (Carnatic) | Abbreviated form (Carnatic) | Full form (Hindustani) | Abbreviated form (Hindustani) | Western |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadaja | Sa | Shadaja | Sa | C |
| Shuddha Madhyama | Shuddha Ma | Shuddha Madhyama | Ma | F |
| Prati Madhyama | Prati Ma | Tivra Madhyama | M'a | F# |
| Panchama | Pa | Panchama | Pa | G |
The swaras in Carnatic music are slightly different in the twelve-note system. There are three types each of Rishabha, Gandhara, Dhaivatha and Nishadha. There are two types of Madhyama, while Panchama and Shadja are invariant.
| Position | Swara | Short name | Notation | Mnemonic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shadja | Sa | S | sa |
| 2 | Shuddha Rishabha | Ri | R1 | ra |
| 3 | Chathusruthi Rishabha | Ri | R2 | ri |
| 3 | Shuddha Gandhara | Ga | G1 | ga |
| 4 | Shatsruthi Rishabha | Ri | R3 | ru |
| 4 | Sadharana Gandhara | Ga | G2 | gi |
| 5 | Anthara Gandhara | Ga | G3 | gu |
| 6 | Shuddha Madhyama | Ma | M1 | ma |
| 7 | Prati Madhyama | Ma | M2 | mi |
| 8 | Panchama | Pa | P | pa |
| 9 | Shuddha Dhaivatha | Dha | D1 | dha |
| 10 | Chathusruthi Dhaivatha | Dha | D2 | dhi |
| 10 | Shuddha Nishadha | Ni | N1 | na |
| 11 | Shatsruthi Dhaivatha | Dha | D3 | dhu |
| 11 | Kaisiki Nishadha | Ni | N2 | ni |
| 12 | Kakali Nishadha | Ni | N3 | nu |
As you can see above, Chathusruthi Rishabha and Shuddha Gandhara share the same pitch (3rd key/ position). Hence if C is chosen as Shadja, D would be both Chathusruthi Rishabha and Shuddha Gandhara. Hence they will not occur in same raga together. Similarly for two swaras each at notes 4, 10 and 11.
Each shuddha swara (i.e., Sa, Re/Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha/Da, and Ni) is traditionally held to have originated in the sound of a different animal, and some have additional meanings of their own. Also, each swara is associated with one of the seven chakras of the body. Just as the swaras ascend through the saptak, so they are mapped onto the chakras in the body in ascending order. Komal notes are associated with the left side of each chakra; the left channel, Ida Nadi, is the side of emotion and intuition. Shuddha and tivra notes are associated with the right side; the right channel, Pingala Nadi, is the side of logic. Ragas, therefore, have more or less of an effect on a given chakra depending on the notes they contain.
| Swara | Expansion | Meaning | Animal | Chakra | God |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sa | Shadja (षड्जं) | Sagar (ocean) | peacock | mūlādhāra मूलाधार ([base of spine) | Ganapati |
| Re | Rishabha (ऋषभ) | Aparajit | skylark | svādhiṣṭhāna स्वाधिष्ठान (genitals) | Agni |
| Ga | Gandhara (गान्धारं) | Gagan (sky) | goat | maṇipūra मणिपूर (solar plexus and navel) | Rudra (Shiva) |
| Ma | Madhyama (मध्यमं) | middle | dove/heron | anāhata अनाहत (heart) | Vishnu |
| Pa | Panchama (पंचमं) | fifth | cuckoo/nightingale | viśuddha विशुद्ध (throat) | Naarada |
| Dha | Dhaivata (धैवतं) | Dharti (earth) | horse | ājñā आज्ञा (third eye) | Sadasiva |
| Ni | Nishada (निषादं) | outcast/hunter | elephant | sahasrāra सहस्रार (crown of the head) | Surya (Sun) |
In certain forms of Indian classical music and qawwali, when a rapid 16th note sequence of the same note is sung, different syllables may be used in a certain sequence to make the whole easier to pronounce. For example, instead of "sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa" said very quickly, it might be "sa-da-da-li-sa-da-da-li" which lends itself more to a quick and light tongue movement.
In the context of Indian classical music some specific forms of swara-s fulfill the technique of playing a note. Such ornamentic (Sanskrit: Alankar or Alankara) in Indian Classical Music is important for the proper rendition and essential to create the beauty of a raga. Some notes are linked with its preceding and succeeding note; these linked notes are called grace notes or Kan-swars. Kan-swars deal with so called touch notes. "touch" means sparsh in Hindi (Devangari). These grace notes (acciaccatura) are often referred to as sparsh-swars. Kan-swars or sparsh-swars can be executed vocally and on instruments in three ways:
1. using a swift short glide (meend or ghaseet), 2. as a Sparsh (technique of playing a note on a plucked stringed instrument, the movement of notes is ascending) and 3. as a Krintan (the opposite of a Sparsh, movement of notes is descending).
The Andolit swars, another special form of swaras, exist raga specific and shall not be applied to any raga using these notes. Andolit swars are notes, which are being oscillated within the Andolan alankar. The specification of the Andolan alankar is the oscillation (swing) from a fixed note touching the periphery of an adjacent note. By this oscillation the shruti-s (microtones) are touched which exist in between.
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