In Western music you may be used to the note names C, D, E, F, G, A, B. In Indian classical music, the basic notes are called swars: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. These seven are the musical alphabet from which every raag is built.
Sa roughly corresponds to “Do” in solfège (“Do Re Mi”), and the rest follow:
- Sa – like “Do”
- Re – like “Re”
- Ga – like “Mi”
- Ma – like “Fa”
- Pa – like “So”
- Dha – like “La”
- Ni – like “Ti”
Achal and Vikrut swars
Not all swars behave the same way. Some are “fixed” and some can be altered.
- Achal Swar (fixed notes): Sa and Pa. They are like the pillars of the scale and are almost never shifted.
- Vikrut Swar (movable notes): Re, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni. These can appear in their natural form or can be slightly lowered or raised.
Shuddha, Komal, and Teevra
The natural (unmodified) form of a note is called Shuddha (pure). When a note is lowered, we call it Komal (flat); when raised, Teevra (sharp).
- Komal swars: Re, Ga, Dha, Ni can each become komal (similar to D♭ instead of D, E♭ instead of E, etc.).
- Teevra swar: Only Ma has a teevra form (like F♯ instead of F).
On a piano, komal swars are like the black keys to the left (flats), and teevra Ma is like the black key to the right of Ma (sharp). But unlike the piano, Indian intonation is very flexible – singers and instrumentalists can shade notes slightly higher or lower to bring out subtle moods.
When you see a raag written down, you may see symbols such as:
- Underlined swars – often used to show komal notes.
- Ma with a plus sign (Ma+) – used for teevra Ma.
- Dots above or below – to show higher or lower octaves (see the Saptak article).
Once you feel comfortable hearing Sa–Re–Ga–Ma–Pa–Dha–Ni–Sa, you’ve basically unlocked the “A B C D E F G” of Indian classical music.
Want a deeper explanation of swaras, tuning systems, natural frequency ratios,
and comparison charts?
Read the full Swar article