Swara or Music Note
There are seven swaras in an octave (Saptak) their names are: - Shadaja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivata and Nishad. Practically we use these musical notes in short form like Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa Dha and Nee and in written form , same notes are used as S, R, G, M, P, D and N. Mainly the swaras are of two types: - ...... see below...
- Shudha Swaras: - Shudha swaras are known as natural swaras also and are seven in number. These are named as Shadaja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivata and Nishad.
- Vikrit Swaras: - Vikrit swaras are five in number and these are Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyam, Dhaivata and Nishad. Vikrit swaras are further divided into two types:-
- Komal Vikrit swaras: - Komal Vikrit swaras are four in number and these are Rishabha, Gandhara, Dhaivata and Nishad.
- Tivra Vikrit swaras: - Tivra Vikrit swara is one and that is Madhyam.
Shudha is a perfect place of a particular swara. Komal is the lower or flat swara and Tivra is upper or Sharp swara.
Another system the swaras are again of two types and named as Chal and Achal Swaras.
- Chal Swaras: - The swaras which move up or down (or change their place) from their natural places are known as Chal Swaras. These are of two types- Komal Swaras (flat) shift their position downwards and Tivra Swaras (Sharp) move upwards.
- Achal Swaras: - Achal (fixed) Swaras always stay on their accurate shruti. These notes are Shadaja and Pancham.
First and fifth swara is fixed in pitch [only shudha (natural)]. The second, third, sixth, and seventh note can be natural (Shudha) or flat (Komal, 'soft') but never sharp, and the fourth note can be natural or sharp (tivra) but never flat.
According to a myth, the swaras are driven from the sounds of different animals. Sa (Shadaja) from peacock, Re (Rishabha) from skylark, Ga (Gandhara) from goat, Ma (Madhyam) from dove, Pa (Pancham) from cuckoo, Dha (Dhaivata) from horse and Ni (Nishad) from elephant.