Music of India 4 Tones

Swaras or Tones

There are seven basic Swaras or tones used in Indian Music. These are:

Sa=Shadja 

Ri (or Re) =Rishabha 

Ga=Gandhara 

Ma=Madhyama 

Pa=Panchama 

Dha=Dhaivata 

Ni=Nishadha 

Added to this are five more 4 flattened tones and one sharpened tone giving us the basic series of the following tones. 

Sari - a flattened Ri, Riga - a flattened Ga, GaMa - a sharpened Ma, Padha -  a flattened Dha, Dhani - a flattened Ni

The sharpened Ma is usually written uppercase and the 'natural' Ma lower case. This gives us the shorthand S,r,R,g,G,m,M,P,d,D,n,N. We could take this scale and superimpose it on the traditional Western system, but doing this we have to keep in mind that the Indian system is based on pure tones and not an equal tempered system.We also need to note that Indian Music is based around a three octave system the lower octave denoted with ' to the left of a tone and the upper octave with ' to the right.

Relating these tones to the western system is a good way to get an initial idea of the system thus:

Do - Sa, Re - Ri, Mi- Ga, Fa- Ma, So - Pa, La - Dha, Ti - N,i Do - Sa'

Here however the similarity abruptly ends for the Carnatic system. The Carnatic system divides the octave up into sixteen tones not twelve. Also the Carnatic system generally uses a numbering method thus:

SR 1R 2 , G 1R 3, G 2G 3M 1M 2PD 1D 2, N 1D 3, N 2N 3

On first glance this appears to be a twelve tone system with tones such as R2 and G1 being enharmonic equivalents, tonally they do sound the same but their function is distinctly different. Also we can see here that tones such as Dha now have three variations. This can perhaps be likend to the western system thus: D1 = Ab, D2 =A, D3=A#, this would then make N1 = A, N2 = A# and N3 = B. This shows that the two systems do not fit together perfectly but it is possible to create a link between them, to aid in understanding the Indian tonal system.

However what this does not take into consideration is the micro-tones used in Indian Music, For example R1 may for some Raga or scales sit closer to S, yet in another Raga sit closer to G1.
An excellent collection of examples about this are available on http://www.likhati.com A Blog written by a woman called Uttara. The Page titled Introducing Yourself to Indian Classical Music 11-Demonstrating the Srutis (Microtones) in Indian Classical Music containing an excellent set of YouTube clips covering these micro-tonal variations.







Reference:
Courtney David, 'Overview of Indian Classical Music' chandrakantha 2012 (article) [online] available at:<http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/> (accessed 11 October 2013)
Uttara 'Introduction to Indian Classical Music' Likhati 2010 (blog) [online]Available at:<http://www.likhati.com/introduction-to-indian-classical-music/> (accessed 11 October 2013)
Uttara 'Introducing Yourself to Indian Classical Music 11-Demonstrating the Srutis (Microtones) in Indian Classical Music' Likhati 2010 (blog) [online]Available at:<http://www.likhati.com/2010/04/18/introducing-yourself-to-indian-classical-music-11-demonstrating-the-srutis-microtones-in-indian-classical-music/> (accessed 11 October 2013)
 Krsna Dhenu, 'KKSongs Music Center' Krsna Kirtana Songs 2012 (website)[online] Avalilable at:<http://kksongs.org/music.html>(accessed 11 October 2013)
Szabi Tóth, 'Indian Classical Music' india.tilos.hu 2011(website)[online]Available at:<http://india.tilos.hu/english_raga.html>(accessed 11October 2013)