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Svara

Svara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as swar) is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or saptaka. More comprehensively, it is the ancient Indian concept about the complete dimension of musical pitch.[1][2] Most of the time a svara is identified as both musical note and tone, but a tone is a precise substitute for sur, related to tunefulness. Traditionally, Indians have just seven svaras/notes with short names, e.g. saa, re/ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni which Indian musicians collectively designate as saptak or saptaka. It is one of the reasons why svara is considered a symbolic expression for the number seven.

Origins and history

Etymology

The word swara or svara (Sanskrit: स्वर) is derived from the root svr which means "to sound".[3] To be precise, the svara is defined in the Sanskrit nirukta system as:

  • svaryate iti svarah (स्वर्यते इति स्वरः, does breathing, shines, makes sound),
  • svayam raajate iti svarah (स्वयं राजते इति स्वरः, appears on its own) and
  • sva ranjayati iti svarah (स्व रञ्जयति इति स्वरः, that which colours itself in terms of appealing sound).

The Kannada word swara and Tamil alphabet or letter suram do not represent a sound, but rather more generally the place of articulation (PoA) (பிறப்பிடம்), where one generates a sound, and the sounds made there can vary in pitch.

In the Vedas

The word is found in the Vedic literature, particularly the Samaveda, where it means accent and tone, or a musical note, depending on the context. The discussion there focusses on three accent pitch or levels: svarita (sounded, circumflex normal), udatta (high, raised) and anudatta (low, not raised). However, scholars question whether the singing of hymns and chants were always limited to three tones during the Vedic era.[3][4]

In the general sense swara means tone, and applies to chanting and singing. The basic swaras of Vedic chanting are udatta, anudatta and svarita. Vedic music has madhyama or ma as principal note so that tonal movement is possible towards lower and higher pitches, thus ma is taken for granted as fixed in any tonal music (madhyama avilopi, मध्यम अविलोपी).

One-swara Vedic singing is called aarchika chanting, e.g. in chanting the following texts on one note:

  • aum aum aum / om om om
  • hari om tatsat
  • shivoham shivoham
  • raam raam raam raam
  • raadhe raadhe
  • siyaa-raam siyaa-raam

or the like. Two-swara Vedic singing is called gaathika chanting, e.g. in chanting the following text on two notes:

om shaan- tih, om shaan- tih, om shaan- tih, ...
M M---- P-M, M M---- P-M, M M---- P-M, ... or
P P---- D-P, P P---- D-P, P P---- D-P, ... or
S S---- R-S, S S---- R-S, S S---- R-S, ...

The musical octave is said to have evolved from the elaborate and elongated chants of the Samaveda, based on these basic swaras.[5] Siksha is the subject that deals with phonetics and pronunciation. Naradiya Siksha elaborates the nature of swaras, both Vedic chants and the octave.

In the Upaniṣads

The word also appears in the Upanishads. For example, it appears in Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana section 111.33, where the cyclic rise and setting of sun and world, is referred to as "the music of spheres", and the sun is stated to be "humming the wheel of the world".[6] According to Ananda Coomaraswamy, the roots "svar", meaning "to shine" (whence "surya" or sun), and "svr", meaning "to sound or resound" (whence "swara", “musical note”) and also in some contexts "to shine", are all related in the ancient Indian imagination.[6][7]

In Śāstra literature

The svara concept is found in Chapter 28 of the ancient Natya Shastra, estimated to have been completed between 200 BCE to 200 CE.[8] It names the unit of tonal measurement or audible unit the śruti,[9] with verse 28.21 introducing the musical scale as follows:[10][11]

तत्र स्वराः –
षड्‍जश्‍च ऋषभश्‍चैव गान्धारो मध्यमस्तथा ।
पञ्‍चमो धैवतश्‍चैव सप्तमोऽथ निषादवान् ॥२१॥
| नत्य शास्त्र | २८.२१ |

tatra svarāḥ –
ṣaḍ‍jaś‍ca ṛṣabhaś‍caiva gāndhāro madhyamastathā ।
pañ‍camo dhaivataś‍caiva saptamo'tha niṣādavān ॥21॥

Natya Shastra – 28.21[12][8]

This text contains the modern names:

[Here are the] swaras -
Shadja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama,
Panchama, Dhaivata, [and seventh] Nishada.

These seven swaras are shared by both major raga systems of Indian classical music, that is the North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic).[13]

Seven svaras and solfège (sargam)

Sapta svara, also called sapta swara or sapta sur, refers to the seven distinct notes of the octave or the seven successive svaras of a saptak. The sapta svara can be collectively referred to as the sargam (which is an acronym of the consonants of the first four svaras). Sargam is the Indian equivalent to solfège, a technique for the teaching of sight-singing. As in Western moveable-Do solfège, the svara Sa is the tonic of a piece or scale.[13] The seven svaras of the saptak are the fundamentals of heptatonic scales or melakarta ragas and thaats in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music.

The seven svara are Shadja (षड्ज), Rishabh (ऋषभ), Gandhar (गान्धार), Madhyam (मध्यम), Pancham (पंचम), Dhaivat (धैवत) and Nishad (निषाद).[14] The svaras of the sargam are often learnt in abbreviated form: sā, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni.[13] Of these, the first svara that is "sa", and the fifth svara that is "pa", are considered anchors (achal svaras) that are unalterable, while the remaining have flavours (komal and tivra svaras) that differs between the two major systems. [13]

Svara in North Indian system of raga ( ) [15][16][17]
Svara
(Long)
Shadja
(षड्ज)
Rishabh
(ऋषभ)
Gandhar
(गान्धार)
Madhyam
(मध्यम)
Pancham
(पंचम)
Dhaivat
(धैवत)
Nishad
(निषाद)
Svara
(Short)
Sa
(सा)
Re
(रे)
Ga
(गा)
Ma
(म)
Pa
(प)
Dha
(ध)
Ni
(नि)
12 Varieties (names) C (shadja) D (komal re)
D (shuddha re)
E (komal gā)
E (shuddha gā)
F (shuddha ma)
F (teevra ma)
G (pancham) A (komal dha)
A (shuddha dha)
B (komal ni)
B (shuddha ni)
Svara in South Indian system of raga ( )[16]
Svara
(Long)
Shadja Rishabha Gandhara Madhyama Panchama Dhaivata Nishada
Svara
(Short)
Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni
16 Varieties (names) C (shadja) D (shuddha ri)
D (chatushruti ri)
D (shatshruti ri)
E  (shuddha gā)
E (sadharana gā)
E (antara gā)
F (shuddha ma)
F (prati ma)
G (pancham) A (shuddha dha)
A (chatushruti dha)
A (shatshruti dha)
B  (shuddha ni)
B (kaishiki ni)
B (kakali ni)

Interpretation

North Indian Hindustani music has fixed name of a relative pitch, but South Indian Carnatic music keeps on making interchanges of the names of pitches in case of ri-ga and dha-ni whenever required. Swaras appear in successive steps in an octave. More comprehensively, swara-graam (scale) is the practical concept of Indian music comprising seven + five= twelve most useful musical pitches.[1][2] Sage Matanga made a very important statement in his Brihaddeshi some 1500 years ago that:

षड्जादयः स्वराः न भवन्ति
आकारादयः एव स्वराः
Shadja aadayah svaraah na bhavanti
aakar aadayah eva svaraah

i.e. Shadja, Rishabh, Gandhar, ... (and their utterance) are not the real svaras but their pronunciation in the form of aa-kar, i-kaar, u-kaar ... are the real form of the svaras.

It is said that Shadja is the basic svara from which all the other 6 svaras are produced. When we break the word Shadja then we get, Shad- And -Ja. Shad is 6 and ja is 'giving birth' in Indian languages. So basically the translation is :

 षड् - 6, ज -जन्म . Therefore, it collectively means giving birth to the other 6 notes of the music. 

The absolute frequencies for all svaras are variable, and are determined relative to the saptak or octave. E.g. given Sa 240 Hz, Re 270 Hz, Ga 288 Hz, Ma 320 Hz, Pa 360 Hz, Dha 405 Hz, and Ni 432 Hz, then the Sa after the Ni of 432 Hz has a frequency of 480 Hz i.e. double that of the lower octave Sa, and similarly all the other 6 svaras. Considering the Sa of the Madhya Saptak then frequencies of the other svaras will be,

 Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Mandra Saptak: 120 Hz, 135 Hz, 144 Hz, 160 Hz, 180 Hz, 202.5 Hz, 216 Hz.} Madhya Saptak: 240 Hz, 270 Hz, 288 Hz, 320 Hz, 360 Hz, 405 Hz, 432 Hz.} Taara Saptak: 480 Hz, 540 Hz, 576 Hz, 640 Hz, 720 Hz, 810 Hz, 864 Hz.} 

All the other svaras except Shadja (Sa) and Pancham (Pa) can be komal or tivra svaras but Sa and Pa are always shuddha svaras. And hence svaras Sa and Pa are called achal svaras, since these svaras don't move from their original position. Svaras Ra, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni are called chal svaras, since these svaras move from their original position.

 Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni - Shuddha Svaras Re, Ga, Dha, Ni - Komal Svaras Ma - Tivra Svaras 

Talking about Shrutis of these Sapta Svaras,

Sa, Ma and Pa have four Shrutis, respectively Re and Dha have three Shrutis, respectively Ga and Ni have two Shrutis, respectively 

And these all Shrutis add up to 22 Shrutis in total.

Relationship to śruti

The svara differs slightly from the śruti concept in Indian music. Both the swara and the śruti are but the sounds of music. According to the music scholars of the distant past, the śruti is generally understood as a microtone besides veda and an ear. In the context of advanced music, a śruti is the smallest gradation of pitch that a human ear can detect and a singer or instrument can produce.[18] There are 22 śruti or microtones in a saptaka of Hindustani music but Carnatic music assumes 24 śruti. A svara is a selected pitch from 22 śrutis, using several of such svaras a musician constructs scales, melodies and ragas. In the presence of a drone-sound of perfectly tuned Tanpuras, an ideal svara sounds sweet and appealing to human ear but particularly some 10 śrutis of the saptaka sound out of pitch (besuraa) when compared to the very drone. A tuneful and pleasing tone of the svara is located at a fixed interval but there is no fixed interval defined for two consecutive śrutis anywhere that can safely and scientifically be used throughout with respect to a perfect drone sound.

The ancient Sanskrit text Natya Shastra by Bharata identifies and discusses twenty two shruti and seven shuddha and two vikrita swara.[18] The Natya Shastra mentions that in Shadja graama, the swara pairs saa-ma and saa-pa are samvaadi swaras (consonant pair) and are located at the interval of 9 and 13 shruti respectively. Similarly, swara pairs re-dha and ga-ni are samvaadi swara too. Without giving any example of 'a standard measure' or 'equal interval' between two successive shrutis, Bharata declared that saa, ma or pa shall have an interval of 4 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding swara, re or dha shall have an interval of 3 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding swara and ga or ni shall have an interval of 2 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding swara respectively. The following quote explains it all:

चतुश्चतुश्चतुश्चैव षड्जमध्यमपञ्चमाः
द्वे द्वे निषादगान्धारौ त्रिस्त्री ऋषभधैवतौ
Chatush chatush chatush chaiva shadja madhyama panchamaah.
Dve dve nishaada gaandhaarau tristrii rishabha dhaivatau.

Bharata also makes some unscientific and unacceptable observations ignoring practically proven truths like samvaad (samvaada/ संवाद) or consonance of ma-ni, re-dha, re-pa and ga-ni as each of these swara pairs do not have equal number of shrutis to establish samvaad. In reality, the above-mentioned pairs DO create samvaad or consonances which Bharata did not recognize for unknown reasons. None of the musicologists give in writing the 'practical basis' or technique of ascertaining the ideal tonal gap between the note pairs like saa-re, re-ga, ga-ma, ma-pa, pa-dha, dha-ni, ni-saa* (taar saa) until Sangeet Paarijat of Ahobal (c. 1650). The swara studies in ancient Sanskrit texts include the musical gamut and its tuning, categories of melodic models and the raga compositions.[19]

Perhaps the greats like Bharata, Sage Matanga and Shaarnga-deva did not know the secret of tuneful tones (up to acceptable level of normal human ear, on the basis of taanpuraa drone) for they do not mention use of drone sound for any of the musical purposes. Most of the practicing musicians knew very well that all the tuneful tones of seven notes could be discovered with the help of the theory of samvaad, in which saa-saa* (*means upper octave), saa-ma and saa-pa play the most crucial role.

Notation and practice

As per the widely used Bhatkhande Svara Lipi (Bhakthande's Swar Notation script), a dot above a letter (svara symbol) indicates that the note is sung one saptak (octave) higher, and a dot below indicates one saptak lower. Komal notes are indicated by an underscore, and the tívra Ma has a line on top which can be vertical or horizontal. (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).) In other words, the basic rule is that the number of dots or apostrophes above or below the svara symbol means the number of times dots or apostrophes, respectively, above or below the corresponding svara in madhya saptak (middle octave).

The basic mode of reference is that which is equivalent to the Western Ionian mode or major scale (called Bilaval thaat in Hindustani music, Sankarabharanam in Carnatic). 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 (teevra) 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 (tīvra, 'intense'). 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 - teevra Ma - which uses the letter M. Sa and Pa are always abbreviated as S and P, respectively, since they cannot be altered.

Comparison between Carnatic, Hindustani, and Western Notations
Semitones from Tonic Carnatic name Hindustani name Western note
(when the tonic, Sa, is C)
Full form Abbreviation Full form Abbreviation
0 Ṣaḍjam Sa Ṣaḍj Sa C
1 Śuddha R̥ṣabham Ri₁ Kōmal R̥ṣabh Re D♭
2 Catuśruti R̥ṣabham Ri₂ Śuddh R̥ṣabh Re D
Śuddha Gāndhāram Ga₁ E𝄫
3 Ṣaṭśruti R̥ṣabham Ri₃ Kōmal Gāndhār Ga D♯
Sādhāraṇa Gāndhāram Ga₂ E♭
4 Antara Gāndhāram Ga₃ Śuddh Gāndhār Ga E
5 Śuddha Madhyamam Ma₁ Śuddh Madhyam Ma F
6 Prati Madhyamam Ma₂ Tīvra Madhyam Ḿa F♯
7 Pañcamam Pa Pañcam Pa G
8 Śuddha Dhaivatam Dha₁ Kōmal Dhaivat Dha A♭
9 Catuśruti Dhaivatam Dha₂ Śuddh Dhaivat Dha A
Śuddha Niṣādam Ni₁ B𝄫
10 Ṣaṭśruti Dhaivatam Dha₃ Kōmal Niṣād Ni A♯
Kaiśikī Niṣādam Ni₂ B♭
11 Kākalī Niṣādam Ni₃ Śuddh Niṣād Ni B

Svaras in Carnatic music

The svaras in Carnatic music are slightly different in the twelve-note system. Each svara is either prakr̥ti (invariant) or vikr̥ti (variable). Ṣaḍjam and Pañcamam are prakr̥ti svaras, whilst R̥ṣabham, Gāndhāram, Mādhyamam, Dhaivatam and Niṣādam are vikr̥ti svaras. Ma has two variants, and each of Ri, Ga, Dha and Ni has three variants. The mnemonic syllables for each vikṛti svara use the vowels "a", "i" and "u" successively from lowest to highest. For example, r̥ṣabham has the three ascending variants "ra", "ri" and "ru", being respectively 1, 2 and 3 semitones above the tonic note, ṣaḍjam.

Position Svara (स्वर) Short name Notation Mnemonic[20] Semitones from Sa
1 Ṣaḍjam (षड्जम्) Sa S sa 0
2 Śuddha R̥ṣabham (शुद्ध ऋषभम्) Ri R₁ ra 1
3 Catuśruti R̥ṣabham (चतुश्रुति ऋषभम्) Ri R₂ ri 2
Śuddha Gāndhāram (शुद्ध गान्धारम्) Ga G₁ ga
4 Ṣaṭśruti R̥ṣabham (षट्श्रुति ऋषभम्) Ri R₃ ru 3
Sādhāraṇa Gāndhāram (साधारण गान्धारम्) Ga G₂ gi
5 Antara Gāndhāram (अन्तर गान्धारम्) Ga G₃ gu 4
6 Śuddha Madhyamam (शुद्ध मध्यमम्) Ma M₁ ma 5
7 Prati Madhyamam (प्रति मध्यमम्) Ma M₂ mi 6
8 Pañcamam (पञ्चमम्) Pa P pa 7
9 Śuddha Dhaivatam (शुद्ध धैवतम्) Dha D₁ dha 8
10 Catuśruti Dhaivatam (चतुश्रुति धैवतम्) Dha D₂ dhi 9
Śuddha Niṣādam (शुद्ध निषादम्) Ni N₁ na
11 Ṣaṭśruti Dhaivatam (षट्श्रुति धैवतम्) Dha D₃ dhu 10
Kaiśikī Niṣādam (कैशिकी निषादम्) Ni N₂ ni
12 Kākalī Niṣādam (काकली निषादम्) Ni N₃ nu 11

As you can see above, Catuśruti Ṛṣabham and Śuddha Gāndhāram share the same pitch (3rd key/position). Hence if C is chosen as Ṣaḍjam, D would be both Catuśruti R̥ṣabham and Śuddha Gāndhāram. Hence they will not occur in same rāgam together. Similarly for the two svaras each at pitch positions 4, 10 and 11.[21]

Cultural, spiritual, and religious symbolism

Through svara, Īśvara [God] is realized.

A proverb among Indian musicians
Translator: Guy Beck[22]

  • Each svara is associated with the sound produced by a particular animal or a bird, like,
    • Sa is said to be sourced from the cry of a peacock,
    • Ri is said to be sourced from the lowing of a bull,
    • Ga is said to be sourced from the bleating of a goat,
    • Ma is said to be sourced from call of the heron,
    • Pa is said to be sourced from call of the cuckoo,
    • Dha is said to be sourced from the neighing of the horse,
    • Ni is said to be sourced from the trumpeting of the elephant.

So each svara is said to be sourced from the sound produced by an animal or a bird.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rowell 2015, p. 13.
  2. ^ a b Vimalakānta Rôya Caudhurī (2000). The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-81-208-1708-1.
  3. ^ a b Guy L. Beck (2012). Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 91–94. ISBN 978-1-61117-108-2.
  4. ^ Rowell, Lewis (1977). "A Siksa for the Twiceborn". Asian Music. University of Texas Press. 9 (1): 72–94. doi:10.2307/833818. JSTOR 833818.
  5. ^ Naradiya Siksha 1.2.1
  6. ^ a b Coomaraswamy, A. (1936). "Vedic Exemplarism". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. Harvard University Press. 1 (1): 44–64. doi:10.2307/2718037. JSTOR 2718037.
  7. ^ Valerie Roebuck (2004). The Upanishads. Penguin Books. p. 534. ISBN 978-0-14-193801-1.
  8. ^ a b Te Nijenhuis 1974, pp. 21–25.
  9. ^ Te Nijenhuis 1974, p. 14.
  10. ^ Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy (1985), Harmonic Implications of Consonance and Dissonance in Ancient Indian Music, Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology 2:28–51. Citation on pp. 28–31.
  11. ^ Lidova 2014.
  12. ^ Sanskrit: Natyasastra Chapter 28, नाट्यशास्त्रम् अध्याय २८, ॥ २१॥
  13. ^ a b c d Randel 2003, pp. 814–815.
  14. ^ "[Answered] What is the full form of SA,RA,GA,MA,PA,DHA,NI,SA - Brainly.in".
  15. ^ Te Nijenhuis 1974, pp. 13–14, 21–25.
  16. ^ a b Randel 2003, p. 815.
  17. ^ "The Notes in an Octave in Indian Classical Music - Raag Hindustani".
  18. ^ a b Ellen Koskoff (2013). The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2. Routledge. p. 936. ISBN 978-1-136-09602-0.
  19. ^ Rowell 2015, pp. 145–159.
  20. ^ Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications
  21. ^ Gaanaamrutha Varna Maalikaa by A.S. Panchaabakesa Iyer
  22. ^ Guy L. Beck (2006). Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music in World Religions. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-88920-421-8.
  23. ^ "The Raga Ragini System of Indian Classical Music". 15 March 2007.

Bibliography

  • Daniélou, Alain (1949). Northern Indian Music, Volume 1. Theory & technique; Volume 2. The main rāgǎs. London: C. Johnson. OCLC 851080.
  • Randel, Don Michael (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music (fourth ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01163-2.
  • Kaufmann, Walter (1968). The Ragas of North India. Oxford & Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253347800. OCLC 11369.
  • Lidova, Natalia (2014). Natyashastra. Oxford Bibliographies Online. doi:10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0071.
  • Martinez, José Luiz (2001). Semiosis in Hindustani Music. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1801-9.
  • Mehta, Tarla (1995). Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1057-0.
  • Rowell, Lewis (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
  • Te Nijenhuis, Emmie (1974). Indian Music: History and Structure. BRILL Academic. ISBN 90-04-03978-3.
  • Titon, Jeff Todd; Cooley; Locke; McAllester; Rasmussen (2008). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. Cengage. ISBN 978-0-534-59539-5.

Further reading

  • Mathieu, W. A. (1997). Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression. Inner Traditions Intl Ltd. ISBN 0-89281-560-4. An auto didactic ear-training and sight-singing book that uses singing sargam syllables over a drone in a just intonation system based on perfect fifths and major thirds.

External links

  • North India Sargam Notation System
  • www.soundofindia.com Article on vivadi svaras, by Haresh Bakshi
  • The twelve notes in an octave in Indian classical music

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This article is about a concept in Indian classical music For other uses see Swara disambiguation Svara Devanagari स वर generally pronounced as swar is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath a vowel the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name and the successive steps of the octave or saptaka More comprehensively it is the ancient Indian concept about the complete dimension of musical pitch 1 2 Most of the time a svara is identified as both musical note and tone but a tone is a precise substitute for sur related to tunefulness Traditionally Indians have just seven svaras notes with short names e g saa re ri ga ma pa dha ni which Indian musicians collectively designate as saptak or saptaka It is one of the reasons why svara is considered a symbolic expression for the number seven Contents 1 Origins and history 1 1 Etymology 1 2 In the Vedas 1 3 In the Upaniṣads 1 4 In Sastra literature 2 Seven svaras and solfege sargam 2 1 Interpretation 3 Relationship to sruti 4 Notation and practice 4 1 Svaras in Carnatic music 5 Cultural spiritual and religious symbolism 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 Further reading 10 External linksOrigins and history EditEtymology Edit The word swara or svara Sanskrit स वर is derived from the root svr which means to sound 3 To be precise the svara is defined in the Sanskrit nirukta system as svaryate iti svarah स वर यत इत स वर does breathing shines makes sound svayam raajate iti svarah स वय र जत इत स वर appears on its own and sva ranjayati iti svarah स व रञ जयत इत स वर that which colours itself in terms of appealing sound The Kannada word swara and Tamil alphabet or letter suram do not represent a sound but rather more generally the place of articulation PoA ப றப ப டம where one generates a sound and the sounds made there can vary in pitch In the Vedas Edit See also Vedic accent and Shiksha The word is found in the Vedic literature particularly the Samaveda where it means accent and tone or a musical note depending on the context The discussion there focusses on three accent pitch or levels svarita sounded circumflex normal udatta high raised and anudatta low not raised However scholars question whether the singing of hymns and chants were always limited to three tones during the Vedic era 3 4 In the general sense swara means tone and applies to chanting and singing The basic swaras of Vedic chanting are udatta anudatta and svarita Vedic music has madhyama or ma as principal note so that tonal movement is possible towards lower and higher pitches thus ma is taken for granted as fixed in any tonal music madhyama avilopi मध यम अव ल प One swara Vedic singing is called aarchika chanting e g in chanting the following texts on one note aum aum aum om om om hari om tatsat shivoham shivoham raam raam raam raam raadhe raadhe siyaa raam siyaa raamor the like Two swara Vedic singing is called gaathika chanting e g in chanting the following text on two notes om shaan tih om shaan tih om shaan tih M M P M M M P M M M P M orP P D P P P D P P P D P orS S R S S S R S S S R S The musical octave is said to have evolved from the elaborate and elongated chants of the Samaveda based on these basic swaras 5 Siksha is the subject that deals with phonetics and pronunciation Naradiya Siksha elaborates the nature of swaras both Vedic chants and the octave In the Upaniṣads Edit The word also appears in the Upanishads For example it appears in Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana section 111 33 where the cyclic rise and setting of sun and world is referred to as the music of spheres and the sun is stated to be humming the wheel of the world 6 According to Ananda Coomaraswamy the roots svar meaning to shine whence surya or sun and svr meaning to sound or resound whence swara musical note and also in some contexts to shine are all related in the ancient Indian imagination 6 7 In Sastra literature Edit The svara concept is found in Chapter 28 of the ancient Natya Shastra estimated to have been completed between 200 BCE to 200 CE 8 It names the unit of tonal measurement or audible unit the sruti 9 with verse 28 21 introducing the musical scale as follows 10 11 तत र स वर षड जश च ऋषभश च व ग न ध र मध यमस तथ पञ चम ध वतश च व सप तम ऽथ न ष दव न २१ नत य श स त र २८ २१ tatra svaraḥ ṣaḍ jas ca ṛṣabhas caiva gandharo madhyamastatha pan camo dhaivatas caiva saptamo tha niṣadavan 21 Natya Shastra 28 21 12 8 This text contains the modern names Here are the swaras Shadja Rishabha Gandhara Madhyama Panchama Dhaivata and seventh Nishada These seven swaras are shared by both major raga systems of Indian classical music that is the North Indian Hindustani and South Indian Carnatic 13 Seven svaras and solfege sargam EditFurther information Saptak Sargam music and Glossary of Carnatic music Swarams Sapta svara also called sapta swara or sapta sur refers to the seven distinct notes of the octave or the seven successive svaras of a saptak The sapta svara can be collectively referred to as the sargam which is an acronym of the consonants of the first four svaras Sargam is the Indian equivalent to solfege a technique for the teaching of sight singing As in Western moveable Do solfege the svara Sa is the tonic of a piece or scale 13 The seven svaras of the saptak are the fundamentals of heptatonic scales or melakarta ragas and thaats in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music The seven svara are Shadja षड ज Rishabh ऋषभ Gandhar ग न ध र Madhyam मध यम Pancham प चम Dhaivat ध वत and Nishad न ष द 14 The svaras of the sargam are often learnt in abbreviated form sa ri Carnatic or re Hindustani ga ma pa dha ni 13 Of these the first svara that is sa and the fifth svara that is pa are considered anchors achal svaras that are unalterable while the remaining have flavours komal and tivra svaras that differs between the two major systems 13 Svara in North Indian system of raga 15 16 17 Svara Long Shadja षड ज Rishabh ऋषभ Gandhar ग न ध र Madhyam मध यम Pancham प चम Dhaivat ध वत Nishad न ष द Svara Short Sa स Re र Ga ग Ma म Pa प Dha ध Ni न 12 Varieties names C shadja D komal re D shuddha re E komal ga E shuddha ga F shuddha ma F teevra ma G pancham A komal dha A shuddha dha B komal ni B shuddha ni Svara in South Indian system of raga 16 Svara Long Shadja Rishabha Gandhara Madhyama Panchama Dhaivata NishadaSvara Short Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni16 Varieties names C shadja D shuddha ri D chatushruti ri D shatshruti ri E shuddha ga E sadharana ga E antara ga F shuddha ma F prati ma G pancham A shuddha dha A chatushruti dha A shatshruti dha B shuddha ni B kaishiki ni B kakali ni Interpretation EditNorth Indian Hindustani music has fixed name of a relative pitch but South Indian Carnatic music keeps on making interchanges of the names of pitches in case of ri ga and dha ni whenever required Swaras appear in successive steps in an octave More comprehensively swara graam scale is the practical concept of Indian music comprising seven five twelve most useful musical pitches 1 2 Sage Matanga made a very important statement in his Brihaddeshi some 1500 years ago that षड ज दय स वर न भवन त आक र दय एव स वर Shadja aadayah svaraah na bhavanti aakar aadayah eva svaraah i e Shadja Rishabh Gandhar and their utterance are not the real svaras but their pronunciation in the form of aa kar i kaar u kaar are the real form of the svaras It is said that Shadja is the basic svara from which all the other 6 svaras are produced When we break the word Shadja then we get Shad And Ja Shad is 6 and ja is giving birth in Indian languages So basically the translation is षड 6 ज जन म Therefore it collectively means giving birth to the other 6 notes of the music The absolute frequencies for all svaras are variable and are determined relative to the saptak or octave E g given Sa 240 Hz Re 270 Hz Ga 288 Hz Ma 320 Hz Pa 360 Hz Dha 405 Hz and Ni 432 Hz then the Sa after the Ni of 432 Hz has a frequency of 480 Hz i e double that of the lower octave Sa and similarly all the other 6 svaras Considering the Sa of the Madhya Saptak then frequencies of the other svaras will be Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Mandra Saptak 120 Hz 135 Hz 144 Hz 160 Hz 180 Hz 202 5 Hz 216 Hz Madhya Saptak 240 Hz 270 Hz 288 Hz 320 Hz 360 Hz 405 Hz 432 Hz Taara Saptak 480 Hz 540 Hz 576 Hz 640 Hz 720 Hz 810 Hz 864 Hz All the other svaras except Shadja Sa and Pancham Pa can be komal or tivra svaras but Sa and Pa are always shuddha svaras And hence svaras Sa and Pa are called achal svaras since these svaras don t move from their original position Svaras Ra Ga Ma Dha Ni are called chal svaras since these svaras move from their original position Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Shuddha Svaras Re Ga Dha Ni Komal Svaras Ma Tivra Svaras Talking about Shrutis of these Sapta Svaras Sa Ma and Pa have four Shrutis respectively Re and Dha have three Shrutis respectively Ga and Ni have two Shrutis respectively And these all Shrutis add up to 22 Shrutis in total Relationship to sruti EditMain article Shruti The svara differs slightly from the sruti concept in Indian music Both the swara and the sruti are but the sounds of music According to the music scholars of the distant past the sruti is generally understood as a microtone besides veda and an ear In the context of advanced music a sruti is the smallest gradation of pitch that a human ear can detect and a singer or instrument can produce 18 There are 22 sruti or microtones in a saptaka of Hindustani music but Carnatic music assumes 24 sruti A svara is a selected pitch from 22 srutis using several of such svaras a musician constructs scales melodies and ragas In the presence of a drone sound of perfectly tuned Tanpuras an ideal svara sounds sweet and appealing to human ear but particularly some 10 srutis of the saptaka sound out of pitch besuraa when compared to the very drone A tuneful and pleasing tone of the svara is located at a fixed interval but there is no fixed interval defined for two consecutive srutis anywhere that can safely and scientifically be used throughout with respect to a perfect drone sound The ancient Sanskrit text Natya Shastra by Bharata identifies and discusses twenty two shruti and seven shuddha and two vikrita swara 18 The Natya Shastra mentions that in Shadja graama the swara pairs saa ma and saa pa are samvaadi swaras consonant pair and are located at the interval of 9 and 13 shruti respectively Similarly swara pairs re dha and ga ni are samvaadi swara too Without giving any example of a standard measure or equal interval between two successive shrutis Bharata declared that saa ma or pa shall have an interval of 4 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding swara re or dha shall have an interval of 3 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding swara and ga or ni shall have an interval of 2 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding swara respectively The following quote explains it all चत श चत श चत श च व षड जमध यमपञ चम द व द व न ष दग न ध र त र स त र ऋषभध वत Chatush chatush chatush chaiva shadja madhyama panchamaah Dve dve nishaada gaandhaarau tristrii rishabha dhaivatau Bharata also makes some unscientific and unacceptable observations ignoring practically proven truths like samvaad samvaada स व द or consonance of ma ni re dha re pa and ga ni as each of these swara pairs do not have equal number of shrutis to establish samvaad In reality the above mentioned pairs DO create samvaad or consonances which Bharata did not recognize for unknown reasons None of the musicologists give in writing the practical basis or technique of ascertaining the ideal tonal gap between the note pairs like saa re re ga ga ma ma pa pa dha dha ni ni saa taar saa until Sangeet Paarijat of Ahobal c 1650 The swara studies in ancient Sanskrit texts include the musical gamut and its tuning categories of melodic models and the raga compositions 19 Perhaps the greats like Bharata Sage Matanga and Shaarnga deva did not know the secret of tuneful tones up to acceptable level of normal human ear on the basis of taanpuraa drone for they do not mention use of drone sound for any of the musical purposes Most of the practicing musicians knew very well that all the tuneful tones of seven notes could be discovered with the help of the theory of samvaad in which saa saa means upper octave saa ma and saa pa play the most crucial role Notation and practice EditAs per the widely used Bhatkhande Svara Lipi Bhakthande s Swar Notation script a dot above a letter svara symbol indicates that the note is sung one saptak octave higher and a dot below indicates one saptak lower Komal notes are indicated by an underscore and the tivra Ma has a line on top which can be vertical or horizontal 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 In other words the basic rule is that the number of dots or apostrophes above or below the svara symbol means the number of times dots or apostrophes respectively above or below the corresponding svara in madhya saptak middle octave The basic mode of reference is that which is equivalent to the Western Ionian mode or major scale called Bilaval thaat in Hindustani music Sankarabharanam in Carnatic 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 teevra 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 intense 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 teevra Ma which uses the letter M Sa and Pa are always abbreviated as S and P respectively since they cannot be altered Comparison between Carnatic Hindustani and Western Notations Semitones from Tonic Carnatic name Hindustani name Western note when the tonic Sa is C Full form Abbreviation Full form Abbreviation0 Ṣaḍjam Sa Ṣaḍj Sa C1 Suddha R ṣabham Ri Kōmal R ṣabh Re D 2 Catusruti R ṣabham Ri Suddh R ṣabh Re DSuddha Gandharam Ga E 3 Ṣaṭsruti R ṣabham Ri Kōmal Gandhar Ga D Sadharaṇa Gandharam Ga E 4 Antara Gandharam Ga Suddh Gandhar Ga E5 Suddha Madhyamam Ma Suddh Madhyam Ma F6 Prati Madhyamam Ma Tivra Madhyam Ḿa F 7 Pancamam Pa Pancam Pa G8 Suddha Dhaivatam Dha Kōmal Dhaivat Dha A 9 Catusruti Dhaivatam Dha Suddh Dhaivat Dha ASuddha Niṣadam Ni B 10 Ṣaṭsruti Dhaivatam Dha Kōmal Niṣad Ni A Kaisiki Niṣadam Ni B 11 Kakali Niṣadam Ni Suddh Niṣad Ni BSvaras in Carnatic music Edit The svaras in Carnatic music are slightly different in the twelve note system Each svara is either prakr ti invariant or vikr ti variable Ṣaḍjam and Pancamam are prakr ti svaras whilst R ṣabham Gandharam Madhyamam Dhaivatam and Niṣadam are vikr ti svaras Ma has two variants and each of Ri Ga Dha and Ni has three variants The mnemonic syllables for each vikṛti svara use the vowels a i and u successively from lowest to highest For example r ṣabham has the three ascending variants ra ri and ru being respectively 1 2 and 3 semitones above the tonic note ṣaḍjam Position Svara स वर Short name Notation Mnemonic 20 Semitones from Sa1 Ṣaḍjam षड जम Sa S sa 02 Suddha R ṣabham श द ध ऋषभम Ri R ra 13 Catusruti R ṣabham चत श र त ऋषभम Ri R ri 2Suddha Gandharam श द ध ग न ध रम Ga G ga4 Ṣaṭsruti R ṣabham षट श र त ऋषभम Ri R ru 3Sadharaṇa Gandharam स ध रण ग न ध रम Ga G gi5 Antara Gandharam अन तर ग न ध रम Ga G gu 46 Suddha Madhyamam श द ध मध यमम Ma M ma 57 Prati Madhyamam प रत मध यमम Ma M mi 68 Pancamam पञ चमम Pa P pa 79 Suddha Dhaivatam श द ध ध वतम Dha D dha 810 Catusruti Dhaivatam चत श र त ध वतम Dha D dhi 9Suddha Niṣadam श द ध न ष दम Ni N na11 Ṣaṭsruti Dhaivatam षट श र त ध वतम Dha D dhu 10Kaisiki Niṣadam क श क न ष दम Ni N ni12 Kakali Niṣadam क कल न ष दम Ni N nu 11As you can see above Catusruti Ṛṣabham and Suddha Gandharam share the same pitch 3rd key position Hence if C is chosen as Ṣaḍjam D would be both Catusruti R ṣabham and Suddha Gandharam Hence they will not occur in same ragam together Similarly for the two svaras each at pitch positions 4 10 and 11 21 Cultural spiritual and religious symbolism EditSee also Raga Ragas and their symbolism Through svara isvara God is realized A proverb among Indian musiciansTranslator Guy Beck 22 Each svara is associated with the sound produced by a particular animal or a bird like Sa is said to be sourced from the cry of a peacock Ri is said to be sourced from the lowing of a bull Ga is said to be sourced from the bleating of a goat Ma is said to be sourced from call of the heron Pa is said to be sourced from call of the cuckoo Dha is said to be sourced from the neighing of the horse Ni is said to be sourced from the trumpeting of the elephant So each svara is said to be sourced from the sound produced by an animal or a bird 23 Each svara is also associated with a classical planet Sa Mercury Re Mars Ga Sun Ma Moon Pa Saturn Dha Jupiter Ni Venus Each svara is also associated with a colour Sa Green Re Red Ga Golden Ma White Pa Blue or Black Dha Yellow Ni Multi coloured Each svara is also associated with the 7 Chakras in the body Sa Muladhara Re Svadisthana Ga Manipura Ma Anahata Pa Vishuddhi Dha Ajna Ni SahasraraSee also Edit India portal Music portalHindustani classical music Indian classical dance Carnatic music Ancient Tamil music Gamak RagaReferences Edit a b Rowell 2015 p 13 a b Vimalakanta Roya Caudhuri 2000 The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music Motilal Banarsidass pp 122 123 ISBN 978 81 208 1708 1 a b Guy L Beck 2012 Sonic Liturgy Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition University of South Carolina Press pp 91 94 ISBN 978 1 61117 108 2 Rowell Lewis 1977 A Siksa for the Twiceborn Asian Music University of Texas Press 9 1 72 94 doi 10 2307 833818 JSTOR 833818 Naradiya Siksha 1 2 1 a b Coomaraswamy A 1936 Vedic Exemplarism Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Harvard University Press 1 1 44 64 doi 10 2307 2718037 JSTOR 2718037 Valerie Roebuck 2004 The Upanishads Penguin Books p 534 ISBN 978 0 14 193801 1 a b Te Nijenhuis 1974 pp 21 25 Te Nijenhuis 1974 p 14 Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy 1985 Harmonic Implications of Consonance and Dissonance in Ancient Indian Music Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology 2 28 51 Citation on pp 28 31 Lidova 2014 Sanskrit Natyasastra Chapter 28 न ट यश स त रम अध य य २८ २१ a b c d Randel 2003 pp 814 815 Answered What is the full form of SA RA GA MA PA DHA NI SA Brainly in Te Nijenhuis 1974 pp 13 14 21 25 a b Randel 2003 p 815 The Notes in an Octave in Indian Classical Music Raag Hindustani a b Ellen Koskoff 2013 The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Volume 2 Routledge p 936 ISBN 978 1 136 09602 0 Rowell 2015 pp 145 159 Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr S Bhagyalekshmy Pub 1990 CBH Publications Gaanaamrutha Varna Maalikaa by A S Panchaabakesa Iyer Guy L Beck 2006 Sacred Sound Experiencing Music in World Religions Wilfrid Laurier University Press p 126 ISBN 978 0 88920 421 8 The Raga Ragini System of Indian Classical Music 15 March 2007 Bibliography EditDanielou Alain 1949 Northern Indian Music Volume 1 Theory amp technique Volume 2 The main ragǎs London C Johnson OCLC 851080 Randel Don Michael 2003 The Harvard Dictionary of Music fourth ed Cambridge MA Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 01163 2 Kaufmann Walter 1968 The Ragas of North India Oxford amp Indiana University Press ISBN 978 0253347800 OCLC 11369 Lidova Natalia 2014 Natyashastra Oxford Bibliographies Online doi 10 1093 obo 9780195399318 0071 Martinez Jose Luiz 2001 Semiosis in Hindustani Music Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1801 9 Mehta Tarla 1995 Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1057 0 Rowell Lewis 2015 Music and Musical Thought in Early India University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 226 73034 9 Te Nijenhuis Emmie 1974 Indian Music History and Structure BRILL Academic ISBN 90 04 03978 3 Titon Jeff Todd Cooley Locke McAllester Rasmussen 2008 Worlds of Music An Introduction to the Music of the World s Peoples Cengage ISBN 978 0 534 59539 5 Further reading EditMathieu W A 1997 Harmonic Experience Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression Inner Traditions Intl Ltd ISBN 0 89281 560 4 An auto didactic ear training and sight singing book that uses singing sargam syllables over a drone in a just intonation system based on perfect fifths and major thirds External links EditNorth India Sargam Notation System www soundofindia com Article on vivadi svaras by Haresh Bakshi The twelve notes in an octave in Indian classical music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Svara amp oldid 1138695779, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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