Indian music: Difference between revisions

Both Indian traditions use a solfege system based on a heptatonic (7-tone) framework: Sa, Re (Ri in the south), Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha (Da in the south), and Ni.

 

Scales themselves are taken from a twelve-tone framework in both traditions, but the naming practices are a bit different. In North India, notes can be natural (shuddh), sharp (tivra), or flat (komal). The natural notes form a major scale (0 2 4 5 7 9 11). Sa and Pa are never sharp or flat; Ma can be sharp or natural; Re, Ga, Dha and Ni can be flat or natural.

 

In South India, things are a bit more complex, and it's best illustrated with a table. Sa and Pa have only one variation, Ma has two, and Re, Ga, Dha, and Ni have three each. On the surface, it would appear to make a 16-tone framework, but some names refer to the same pitch category, much like enharmonics in Western music. The names are also more fanciful in Carnatic music.

 

 

However, in Hindustani music, notes can be 'very flat' (ati komal), indicating a microtonal inflection.

See [[#clarke2024rags|''Rāgs Around the Clock'']] for a fuller discussion of notation in Hindustani music. In Carnatic music things are a bit different; speed and pitch profile of of ornaments, vibratos, and slides generally matter more than exact pitch in a raga (see below).