Shruti Shravan — Anatomy of Shruti in Indian classical music!

In Indian classical music, the term Shruti is immensely used by many artists. While it is mentioned in many modern music textbooks, the information itself is very inadequate. It certainly explains the meaning of Shruti and talks about a long list of names for all 22 Shutis, but it doesn’t go very much in depth. Hence I see, not many students could distinguish this term well or understand its nuances.

After giving a good thought to the term for all these years, I humbly offer my understanding about the topic.

Music is a language of sounds. Every note is based on its accuracy in terms of its frequency. It does not have many letters but this language is very effective to communicate.

Swar and Shruti — They both go hand in hand!

These two have a correlation but also a very minute difference in terms of their placement in the octave. Swara and the Shruti are the sounds of music. The sound which is pleasing to the ear is Swar.

Shruti is a sound or a micro tone in the octave that can be produced through voice or an instrument. Shruti sun bhi sake or sunaa bhi sake!!!

Let’s establish Swar first!

As per textbooks, Swaras appear in a continuum in an octave. Swaras are well-defined and adjacent intervals on the continuum of sound frequencies. Swara is one of the 12 arbitrarily chosen Shrutis which are used as main notes during performance of a raga.

We all know that an octave consists of 12 notes, 7 Shuddha swar, 4 Komal and one Tivra swar, M.

The ancient writers say, Swara-graam (scale system) is the practical concept of Indian music comprising 7 + 5 = 12 most useful musical pitches or sounds.

Swar — स्वर, is a Sanskrit word, Shadja (षड्ज), Rishabh (ऋषभ), Gandhara (गान्धार), Madhyama (मध्यम), Panchama (पंचम), Dhaivata (धैवत) and Nishada (निषाद). These seven swaras are shortened to Sa, Re , Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni.

I explain Swar in this manner. The sound which can be established strongly and steadily in the octave and can be recognized and grasped.

The variety of definitions of Swara -

Defined in the Sanskrit Nirukta -

2) Swaryate iti swarah ( स्वर्यते इति स्वर ) breathes, shines, makes sound.

3) Svayam raajate iti swarah ( स्वयं राजते इति स्वर ), appears on its own)

4) Sva ranjayati iti svarah ( स्व रञ्जयति इति स्वर ) that which colours itself in terms of appealing sound.

5) Pandit Sharangdeva, the writer of Sanskrit text called Sangeet Ratnakar, Defines Swara in the verse below -

Shrutyaantar Bhaviya Snighdhoanuranatmka |

Swato Ranjyati Shrotachintam sa Swara Uchyate ||

Meaning — Musical sound which is continuous and uniform and which by itself creates a charming sensation on the ear is called Swara.

Let’s manifest Shruti!

A very common definition of Shruti is, “Sanskrit word meaning “hear/heard”. Shruti is defined as small sounds which can be heard and clearly recognized. All Shrutis are converted into Swar in Raag”.

As per modern textbook, in a continuum of sound over an octave, a Shruti is one of the 22 arbitrarily chosen discrete micro-tones that are musically useful in context of Indian Classical Music.

My own approach to Shruti — I explain Shruti to my students while teaching music is, the smallest sound in the octave which can be heard but can not be recognised. It can not be recognised or grasped because Shruti’s length is short in time. And sometimes, the listener is not ready or their ears are not mature enough.

Actually the term Shruti came from the Vedic era. Shruti is also understood as knowledge. Vedas are also called Shruti. All 4 Vedas were taught orally before they were written. The process of teaching Vedas orally and listening to them carefully, is called Shruti.

The Bhagavad Gita is also a Shruti. As you all know, the Bhagavad Gita is a direct dialogue between Bhagwan Krishna and Arjuna in Mahabharata. Along with Arjuna, Lord Hanumana and Sanjaya also listened to the entire narration. Dhritarashtra also heard Gita from Sanjaya. Arjuna, Sanjaya and Hanuman ji were very dedicated and wise men hence they could directly hear it from the Lord’s mouth. And Arjuna could receive it well from lord Krishna because he was a focused archer as well as a focused listener. He was an actual candidate who was ready to apply this knowledge to practical life. This applies to musical Shrutis too — one has to be a capable and good listener like Arjuna to truly grasp the Shruti.

Shruti within the octave/Saptak -

There are 22 Shruti or microtones in a Saptaka/Octave of Hindustani music but Carnatic music assumes 24 Shruti due to the influence of Arabic music.

North Indian Hindustani music has fixed names for a relative pitch, but South Indian Carnatic music makes interchanges of the names of pitches in case of ri-ga and dha-ni whenever required.

The musical Shruti concept is found in ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts such as the Natya Shastra, the Dattilam, the Brihaddeshi, and the Sangeet Ratnakar. Chandogya Upanishad has mentioned the division of the octave in 22 parts.

Although I mentioned that the Shruti concept is found in ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, the authors don’t agree with the method of division of the Shruti in the octave. But they all accept one thing, that the frequency of each Shruti changes at every step and they still can be pleasing to the ear; all Shrutis are converted into swar in the Raag.

The placement of Swaras in Shruti scale — The ancient and medieval writers fix their Shuddha swaras/ plain notes on the last Shruti, while the modern writers fix their notes on the first Shruti.

According to Bharata’s Natyashastra

चतुश्चतुश्चतुश्चैव षड्जमध्यमपञ्चमा :

द्वे द्वे निषादगान्धारौ त्रिस्त्री ऋषभधैवतौ

Chatush chatush chatush chaiva, Shadaj Madhyam Panchamaha |Dve dve Nishaad Gaandhaarau, Tristree Rishabha Dhaivatau ||

Which means, Shadaj is placed at a distance of a 4th Shrutis after it’s previous note, similarly 3 Shrutis of Rishabha is placed 3 Shrutis after Shadaj, and so on.

While understanding Shrutis, one may ask about Shadaj and Pancham Swar, since they are constant notes, can they have Shrutis too? The answer is yes!

In Carnatic music also, Sa and Pa are called Prakriti swaras. In Hindustani music, we call it Avikari or Achal swar which literally means they don’t move or that they are constant.

But again, Sa and Pa also have micro tones around them. We think Sa and Pa have established themselves in the octave. They are constant notes and they don’t turn into sharp or half tones which means we don’t have komal or tivra Sa OR komal or tivra Pa in the octave. However, they do have micro tones/ Shruti around them. As I mentioned earlier, Shruti is defined as a small sound which can be heard.

Another explanation Sa and Pa are constant swaras because they ( S P ) are the pillars of the octave…. ! Musicians must have thought about it in a specific way and put them as a steady or constant note. Undoubtedly, there is logic behind having some well-grounded, well-balanced and supportable notes in the octave so that we will have some checkpoints to check our pitch.

We use these micro tones/ Shruti when a singer or instrument fleetingly moves from one note to another in the ascent process, for example, M to P or in the descent process D to P. Basically micro tones can be used fluidly during movement from one note to another. The same is applicable for root note Sa when the singer or instrument takes off from Sa or lands at Sa. Hence we say, Sa and Pa also have micro tones.

Why are these microtones in the octave ? -

I think, when musicians created scales (a Gram system) they must have thought of a lot of aspects and maybe they wanted to put a margin in this division or give a scope to the scale for future use. If needed, we should be able to make some interchanges!

The purpose of Shruti — Indian classical music is based on a variety of emotions and the entire Raag system is very bhav purna and creates different moods or Navarasas. These 9 rasas cannot be evoked without ornamentation in singing or playing an instrument. Ornamentation consists of sukshma alankaar or micro phrases. While learning music, the Guru first introduces 7 shuddha swaras and eventually, 5 vikrut swaras. But, the Guru doesn’t teach or talk about Shrutis. As Students do more riyaaz/practices and spend more time with rigorous music, they begin to hear these Shrutis while receiving lessons from the Guru. As you progress in riyaaz, you will add these Shrutis to your singing and give a rich texture to the performance. The various ornaments like, Mind/glide, Kan Swar/grace note, Khatka, Murki, Andolan/oscillation, Gamak/Vibration, and Zamzama play a very important role in giving a special texture and character to the voice or to an instrument. This development drastically changes the quality of a singer’s voice. And this is not possible without Shruti or micro tones.

If I say in different words…Shruti should be in the octave’s biology, it won’t be an overstatement. Shrutis play an important role in the octave, just like how cells in the body are the basic building blocks of all living things. They provide structure for the body. Similarly, Shruti also gives a structure to the octave and carries out specialized functions.

Let’s understand the use of Swar and Shruti in different eras of classical music — ( I found a very interesting information in ancient Sanskrit texts )

Sage Matanga made a very important statement in his Brihaddeshi some 1500 years ago that

षड्जादयः स्वराः न भवन्तिआकारादयः एव स्वराः !

Shadja aadayah svaraah na bhavantiaakar aadayah eva swaraah !

Which means Sa, Re , Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni and their utterances are not the real swaras but its pronunciation in the form of Akaar, Ikaar, Ukaar are the real form of the swaras. Which means music was practiced without the syllables instead, they were using natural sound of the human voices which is Akaar, Ikaar and Ukaar,

Basically, swara means tone, and applies to chanting and singing. The basic swaras of Vedic chanting are Udatta, Anudatta and Svarita. 1) One note/swara vedic singing is called Aarchika chanting, e.g utterance of syllables on just the one note like, Om om om, Raam raam raam raam….in Mewati Gharana, BadeGuruji Pt. Jasraj ji offers his short prayer on root note Sa. Om Shri Anant Hari Narayan!

2) Two notes/swara vedic singing is called Gaathika chanting, Om shaantih shaantih shaantihi. ( M M — — P-M M M — — P-M M M — — P-M ) Another example of Ved chanting.

A while back, we were discussing a topic online about notes, and someone who is also a disciple of my Guru and a classical singer herself asked, what if we sing more than 12 notes in the future? What a beautiful question it was ! This is a very important point actually. But the interesting thing is, there are already 22 to 24 Shrutis in the octave; it is possible that someone can recognize ( in near future ) a micro tone as a main note and can name it after a syllable/Akshar to create another sound like Sa Re Ga Ma…, Although we don’t need any new notes/Swars (for now) but it can be created.

Apart from 12 swars, we are already aware of some significant Shrutis like Ati Komal Gandhar in Darbaari and Ati Komal Rishabh in Todi, rishabh in Bhairav, the nishad in Bhimpalasi and Miya Malhar, and the gandhar in Todi and Shadaj in Marwa. So similarly, there could be new swaras in the octave and we may teach them as a new sound with a new name to the new generation.

Also, since humanity is always in search of new things, like scientists at NASA or geniuses are trying to find life on different planets. What if we hear new sounds from these planets and they are pleasing to the ear? We may add an entirely new sound in the octave or beyond. Nothing’s impossible!

As per Swarmel kala nidhi — “there are 22 naadis in the heart, all their sounds can be heard clearly, so they are called Shruti”. Tasya dwavinshatirbhed shravanaat Shrutayo mataha, Hrudayabhyantar sanlagna naadyo dwavinshatirmataaha ||

Last but not the least…. प्रथम सुर साधे || Pratham Sur Saadhe! Once you master the root note Sa, the Shadaj will accordingly give birth to all Shrutis and notes in the octave!

• Kartikee