Sound fundamentals

Shruti, the seven notes, the twelve positions, octaves and notation.

Lessons

1. Shruti and the tonic — Why there is no fixed Sa, what shruti means, and how the drone holds the pitch.
2. The seven swaras — The names of the seven notes, their variants, and a first scale.
3. The twelve swarasthanas — Sixteen note names on twelve positions, and why some names share a pitch.
4. Octaves and notation — The three octave ranges and how Carnatic notation marks notes, variants and octaves.

The twelve swarasthanas

Key terms

Achala swara

A 'fixed' note: Sa and Pa never change their pitch from raga to raga. All the other notes have variants.

Adhara Shadja

The base Sa of a performance: the pitch the performer picks for Sa, to which the drone is tuned.

Alankaram

A set of note patterns, each fitted to a different tala, used as a training exercise after the first lessons.

Antara Gandhara (G3)

The highest Ga, four semitones above Sa. It has no shared name.

Anya swara

A 'foreign' note: one that is not in the parent scale of a raga but is used in it for colour.

Chatushruti Dhaivata (D2)

The middle Dha, nine semitones above Sa. It shares its pitch with Shuddha Nishada (N1).

Chatushruti Rishabha (R2)

The middle Ri, two semitones above Sa. It sounds at the same pitch as Shuddha Gandhara (G1).

Dhaivata (Dha)

The sixth note, written Dha or D. It comes in three variants: D1, D2 and D3.

Drone

A steady background sound on the tonic (and usually the fifth) that plays throughout a piece, so the ear always has a reference note.

Gandhara (Ga)

The third note, written Ga or G. It comes in three variants: G1, G2 and G3.

Janta varisai

Exercises in which each note is sung twice in a row (Sa Sa, Ri Ri, ...). They follow the sarali varisai in the traditional order of lessons.

Kaishiki Nishada (N2)

The middle Ni, ten semitones above Sa. It shares its pitch with D3.

Kakali Nishada (N3)

The highest Ni, eleven semitones above Sa, a semitone below the upper Sa.

Madhya sthayi

The middle octave, where most music begins and where a beginner's notes are written without any dot.

Madhyama (Ma)

The fourth note, written Ma or M. It has two variants: M1 (the lower, shuddha) and M2 (the higher, prati).

Mandra sthayi

The lower octave, below the middle one. In notation it is marked with a dot below the note.

Microtone

A pitch step smaller than a semitone. Ancient theory describes 22 such steps in an octave; today's practice is usually explained with twelve positions.

Nishada (Ni)

The seventh note, written Ni or N. It comes in three variants: N1, N2 and N3.

Notation

Writing music down. Carnatic notation uses the note initials (S R G M P D N) with numbers for variants, dots for octaves, and tala marks for timing.

Panchama (Pa)

The fifth note, written Pa or P. It has only one form and is, with Sa, one of the two fixed notes.

Prati Madhyama (M2)

The higher Ma, six semitones above Sa. The melakarta scheme puts all ragas with this Ma in its second half (numbers 37 to 72).

Rishabha (Ri)

The second note, written Ri or R. It comes in three variants: R1, R2 and R3.

Sadharana Gandhara (G2)

The middle Ga, three semitones above Sa. It shares its pitch with R3.

Saptaswara

The seven basic notes: Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. 'Sapta' means seven.

Sarali varisai

The first graded exercises a student learns: simple note patterns that go up and down a scale, traditionally taught in Mayamalavagowla.

Sargam

Singing with the note names Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma and so on instead of words. The Carnatic equivalent of solfege.

Semitone

The smallest step between neighbouring notes on a keyboard (one key to the next). The twelve swarasthanas are twelve semitone steps up from Sa.

Shadja (Sa)

The first note, written Sa. It is the home note of the scale and the reference every other note is measured from.

Shatshruti Dhaivata (D3)

The highest Dha, ten semitones above Sa. It shares its pitch with Kaishiki Nishada (N2).

Shatshruti Rishabha (R3)

The highest Ri, three semitones above Sa. It sounds at the same pitch as Sadharana Gandhara (G2).

Shruti

The pitch of the tonic (Sa) a performer chooses; every other note is measured from it.

Shruti box

A small box or phone app that sounds the tonic and fifth continuously. It stands in for the tambura.

Shuddha Dhaivata (D1)

The lowest Dha, eight semitones above Sa.

Shuddha Gandhara (G1)

The lowest Ga, two semitones above Sa. It shares its pitch with R2.

Shuddha Madhyama (M1)

The lower Ma, five semitones above Sa.

Shuddha Nishada (N1)

The lowest Ni, nine semitones above Sa. It shares its pitch with D2.

Shuddha Rishabha (R1)

The lowest Ri, one semitone above Sa.

Sthayi

An octave register: the lower (mandra), middle (madhya) or upper (tara) range of the voice or instrument.

Swara

A musical note with a fixed place in the scale. Carnatic music names seven: Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni.

Swarasthana

A note position. There are twelve positions in an octave; the sixteen note names (S, R1 to R3, G1 to G3, and so on) are spread over them, with some names sharing a position.

Tara sthayi

The upper octave, above the middle one. In notation it is marked with a dot above the note.

Tonic

The home note of a piece, the note everything else is heard against. In Carnatic music this is Sa, at whatever pitch the performer chooses.