Introduction to Indian Classical Music 

 
● Origin of Indian Classical Music 
There are two styles of classical music prevalent in India for more than 1000 
years. They are: 
1) Hindustani​ or North Indian Music 
2) Carnatic​ or South Indian Music  
 
Hindustani music is the style followed mainly in the North (Kashmir to 
Maharashtra and Saurashtra to Kolkata). 
Carnatic music is followed in South India (Karnataka to Kanyakumari and 
Mysore to Tamil Nadu)  
 
Both, Hindustani and Carnatic music have ​seven Shuddha Swars​ and ​5 
Vikrit Swars​. 
 
● Swar 
In Indian music we refer to a note as swar. There are seven Shuddha swars. 
These are: 
Shadaj - Sa 
Rishabh - Re 
Gandhaar - Ga 
Madhyam - Ma 
Pancham - Pa 
Dhaivat - Dha 
Nishaad - Ni 
 
Four​ of these notes have a counterpart to them, called ​Komal Swars​. Komal 
Swars are ​½ note below, lower and flatter​ than the Shuddha swars. There 
are 4 Komal Swars. They are​ Re, Ga, Dha and Ni 
 
These 4 notes are identified with a horizontal line below the note 
Re​, ​Ga​, ​Dha​, ​Ni 
 
There is ​only one​ note which goes ½ note ​above, higher and sharper​. That 
is Ma. This note is called a ​Teevra Swar​ and is identified with a vertical line 
above the note 
Ma’ 
 
Sa and Pa are known as ​Achal Swars​ as they are immobile and constant. 
They remain in their original position and do not have a Komal or Teevra 
Swar 
 
 7 Shudh Swars + 4 Komal Swars + 1 Teevra Swar makes it a total of 12 swars​. 
 
 
● Saptaks in Indian Classical Music  
Saptaks means ‘that which contains seven’. The compilation of all the 
seven musical notes (swars) one after the other creates a Saptak. 
 
There are 3 Saptaks in Indian Classical Music. There are: 
- Mandra Saptak ​: This is the lower octave and is identified with dots below 
the note.  
- Madhya Saptak ​: This is the middle octave  
- Taar Saptak ​: This is the higher octave and is identified with dots above the 
notes.  
 

 
 
 
● Thaat & Raag 
A Thaat is a musical (parent) scale consisting of seven swars and it gives 
birth to many Raags. There are a total of ten such Thaats (parents). Every 
Raag originates from a Thaat.  
 
- Bilawal : Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni  
- Kalyan : Sa Re Ga Ma’ Pa Dha Ni 
- Khamaj : Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha ​Ni 
- Kaafi : Sa Re ​Ga​ Ma Pa Dha ​Ni 
- Marwa : Sa ​Re​ Ga Ma’ Pa Dha Ni 
- Poorvi : Sa ​Re​ Ga Ma’ Pa ​Dha​ Ni 
- Aasavari : Sa Re ​Ga​ Ma Pa ​Dha​ N ​ i 
- Todi : Sa ​Re​ ​Ga​ Ma’ Pa ​Dha​ Ni 
- Bhairav : Sa ​Re​ Ga Ma Pa ​Dha​ Ni 
 - Bhairavi : Sa ​Re​ ​Ga​ Ma Pa ​Dha​ ​Ni  

 
Comparison between Thaat and Raag   

Thaat  ​Raag 

Thaats is a musical scale  Raags originate from the thaats 

consisting of seven notes 

A Thaat is not a musical  A Raag is a combination of 

composition  notes used to create a melody, 

often expressing an emotion 

There must be seven notes in a  A raag must have minimum five 

Thaat  notes 

In the Thaat, the seven notes  In a raag, notes can be in any 

have to be in order  order 

Thaat has only Aaroha  The raag must have Aaroha 

(Ascending notes)  (ascending notes) as well as the 

Avroha (descending notes) 

Thaats do not have a Vaadi or  A Raag has to have a Vaadi and 

Samvaadi  a Samvaadi swar  

 
 
● Vaadi & Samvaadi Swar 
In every Raag, there is one swar which is considered the most important 
note. The whole Raag revolves around this note, which is called Vaadi. It is 
 the most used swar in the Raag while the Samvaadi swar is the second 
most important note in the Raag.  
 
 
● Varjit Swar 
Not all the seven swars are used in every Raag. The swars that are not used 
and banned from a Raag are known as the Varjit swars 
 
 
● Pakad 
The meaning of the word ‘Pakad’ means ‘hold’ or ‘grip’. A Pakad gives you a 
grip on a Raag. With the help of the Pakad you can recognize a Raag very 
easily.  
 
 
● Jaati  
The num​ber of notes in a raag is sig​ni​fi​cant, for not every one uses all 
seven notes. Normally, a raag will consist of either five, six, or a full seven 
notes. A five-note ​raag​ is said to be an audav jaati; a six note ​raag​ is said 
to be shaadav jaati; and one of seven notes is said to be sampurna jaati. 
Fur​ther​more, ​rags​ may be mixed jatis. That is to say that there may be 
dif​fer​ent jatis for the ​ascending​ and the ​descending​ struc​tures. For 
insta​nce, a ​rag​ which has only five notes in the ascending, but all seven 
notes in the descending would be called audav-sampurna. 
 
 
● Taal 
For rhythm (lay) we need a certain pattern and this pattern is known as a 
Taal in Indian music. In other words, a complete rhythmic cycle (pattern) is 
a Taal and every Taal consists of beats, known as Maatras. Every Taal is 
divided into a number of parts or sections containing different sets of 
beats. These parts are known as Vibhaags.