Swar Notation
Hindustani music names its notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni - the sapta (seven) swars. Sa and Pa are fixed; Re, Ga, Dha, and Ni each have a lowered komal form, and Ma has a raised teevra form - twelve positions in all, just like the twelve keys in an octave.
The twelve swars
Sa is placed on C here. Tap any swar to hear it - komal swars are tinted amber, teevra Ma purple.
Writing them down
The standard system, devised by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, keeps the writing minimal:
- • Shuddha (natural) swars are written plain: S R G m P D N
- • Komal (flat) Re, Ga, Dha, Ni get a horizontal line underneath
- • Teevra (sharp) Ma gets a small vertical line above: M̄
- • A dot above a swar puts it in the higher octave (taar saptak): Ṡ
- • A dot below puts it in the lower octave (mandra saptak)
The three saptaks
A singer's range spans three octaves, or saptaks: mandra (low - sung with the chest relaxed), madhya (middle - where most of a performance lives), and taar (high - the octave of climax and release). Ragas are described by how they move through the saptaks: Yaman, for instance, traditionally enters from Ni in mandra saptak before rising.