THE BASIC THEORY OF INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Introduction

There are different kinds of music like hip hop , indie pop, folk music classical music etc. If we focus specifically on Indian classical music it is broadly classified as Hindi Music and Carnatic music.

SWARA

Music from all over the world be it Indian, Western, Chinese, African has two main aspects to it. The first one is Tunes or Melody and the second one is Beats or Rhythm.

The melodic aspect of a song is entirely based on what is called Musical notes and in Indian Music, the musical notes are called as Swaras.

ORIGIN

The word Swara (Sanskrit : swar) is derived from the root SVR which means sound. The word found its use in the Vedic Literature particularly the Samveda.

DEFINITION OF A SWAR

Swar also ‘Sur’ is a note taken from a collection of notes of Indian Musical Scales. In total there are 12 ‘Surs’ out of which the main ones are a group of 7 ‘Shudh’ Swars which every music-enthusiast already knows.

And a group of Swars that are played in continuity and a certain rhythm define what we call a ‘Sargam’.

In the most basic Sargam ever defined all the main 7 ‘Surs’ are sung in rhythm in which the first note is Sa that is repeated once more as (Sa.) in the end to act as a closure to the whole ‘Sargam’.

The whole Sargam goes like this

Sargam

KINDS OF SWAR

There are two kinds of swaras out of these seven swaras .

1. Chal Swaras Or Vikrut Swaras ( Re, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni )
2. Achal Swaras (Sa, Pa)

Chal Swaras are those swaras which can change their frequencies depending on the type of scale that we want to play the ‘Sargam’ in.

Achal swaras i.e. Sa and Pa both the swaras are fixed that means they cannot be sung at low or high frequencies.

BILAVAL THAAT DESCRIBED:

Now to make the music world interesting, musicians came up with singing this basic Sargam described above in a particular manner.

Bilawal Thaat

This is the ‘Aaroh’ sequence

SA RE GA MA PA DHA NI SA

This is the ‘Avroh’ sequence

SA NI DHA PA MA GA RE SA

This Aaroh and Avroh sequence sung one after another is known as Bilawal Thaat in Hindustani shastriya sangeet .

SWARS FURTHER DEFINED

Let’s discuss the different frequencies that these swaras can be played or sung in.

To further distinguish the Swaras there are three basis of doing so.

1. Komal Swar (Played at Low frequency)
2. Shudh Swar (Played at Natural or Pure frequency )
3. Teevra Swar (Played at High frequency)

Now as we know that Achal Swar can’t be played at other frequencies, these are of course Shudh Swaras. No variant among these two exist.

In case of Chal Swar, they have variants.

• Re, Ga, Dha, Ni can be any of Shudh or Komal Swars
• But only Ma can be Teevra.

CLOSURE

The term swara explained above, is from the point of view of Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet or North Indian Classical Music . The same concept applies to Carnatic Music or South Indian Music with subtle differences in the theoretical aspect specifically the naming conventions.

At last I think you will see through the basic way of Swars as described in Hindustani-Shastriya-Sangeet. I will be breaking down Taal and Laya in the next blog, see you there.