Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or saptanka. More comprehensively, it is the ancient Indian concept of the complete dimension of musical pitch. At its most basic comparison to western music, a swara is, essentially, a "note" of a given scale. However, that is but a loose interpretation of the word, as a swara is identified as both a musical note and tone; a "tone" is a precise substitute for sur, relating to "tunefulness". Traditionally, Indian musicians have just seven swaras/notes with short names: sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, which they collectively refer to as saptank or saptaka. This is one of the reasons why swara is considered a symbolic expression for the number seven. In another loose comparison to western music, saptak (as an octave or scale) may be interpreted as solfège, e.g. the notes of a scale as Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti (and Do).
Origins and history
Etymology The word svara (Sanskrit: स्वर) is derived from the root svar- which means "to sound". To be precise, the svara is defined in the Sanskrit nirukta system as: svaryate iti svaraḥ (स्वर्यते इति स्वरः, does breathing, shines, makes sound), svayam rājate iti svaraḥ (स्वयं राजते इति स्वरः, appears on its own) and sva rañjayati iti svaraḥ (स्व रञ्जयति इति स्वरः, that which colours itself in terms of appealing sound).
The Kannada word svara and Tamil alphabet or letter suram do not represent a sound, but rather more generally the place of articulation (PoA) (பிறப்பிடம்), where one generates a sound, and the sounds made there can vary in pitch.
In the Vedas
The word is found in the Vedic literature, particularly the Samaveda, where it means accent and tone, or a musical note, depending on the context. The discussion there focusses on three accent pitch or levels: svarita (sounded, circumflex normal), udatta (high, raised) and anudatta (low, not raised). However, scholars question whether the singing of hymns and chants were always limited to three tones during the Vedic era.
In the general sense svara means tone, and applies to chanting and singing. The basic svaras of Vedic chanting are udatta, anudatta and svarita. Vedic music has madhyama or ma as principal note so that tonal movement is possible towards lower and higher pitches, thus ma is taken for granted as fixed in any tonal music (madhyama avilopi, मध्यम अविलोपी).
One-svara Vedic singing is called ārcika chanting, e.g. in chanting the following texts on one note: aum aum aum / om om om hari om tatsat shivoham shivoham raam raam raam raam raadhe raadhe siyaa-raam siyaa-raam or the like. Two-svara Vedic singing is called gāthika chanting, e.g. in chanting the following text on two notes:
+ om shaan- tih, om shaan- tih, om shaan- tih, ... M M---- P-M, M M---- P-M, M M---- P-M, ... or P P---- D-P, P P---- D-P, P P---- D-P, ... or S S---- R-S, S S---- R-S, S S---- R-S, ... The musical octave is said to have evolved from the elaborate and elongated chants of the Samaveda, based on these basic svaras.Naradiya Siksha 1.2.1 Siksha is the subject that deals with phonetics and pronunciation. Naradiya Siksha elaborates the nature of svaras, both Vedic chants and the octave.
In the Upaniṣads The word also appears in the Upanishads. For example, it appears in Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana section 111.33, where the cyclic rise and setting of sun and world, is referred to as "the music of spheres", and the sun is stated to be "humming the wheel of the world". According to the philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy, the roots "svar", meaning "to shine" (whence "surya" or sun), and "svr", meaning "to sound or resound" (whence "svara", “musical note”) and also in some contexts "to shine", are all related in the ancient Indian imagination. This connection, however, is not supported by linguistic evidence and mere speculative (cf. William Dwight Whitney: The Roots, Verb-Forms, and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language entry sub svar-, footnote. He states that because of close formal similarity between these two distinct roots it is hard to tell them apart. So it is a case of homophony. More recent linguistic research points out that svar- „sun” is related to the proto-indo-european root *sóh₂wl̥-, whereas svar- „sound“ is related to pie. *swer-.)
In Śāstra literature The concept of a svara is found in Chapter 28 of the text Nāṭya Śāstra, estimated to have been completed between 200 BCE to 200 CE. It names the unit of tonal measurement or audible unit the śruti, with verse 28.21 introducing the musical scale as follows:Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy (1985), Harmonic Implications of Consonance and Dissonance in Ancient Indian Music, Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology 2:28–51. Citation on pp. 28–31.
This text contains the modern names:
These seven svaras are shared by both major raga systems of Indian classical music, that is the North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic).
Seven svaras and solfège (sargam)
Sapta svara, also called sapta swara or sapta sur, refers to the seven distinct notes of the octave or the seven successive svaras of a saptak. The sapta svara can be collectively referred to as the sargam (which is an acronym of the consonants of the first four svaras). Sargam is the Indian equivalent to solfège, a technique for the teaching of sight-singing. As in Western moveable-Do solfège, the svara Sa is the tonic of a piece or scale. The seven svaras of the saptak are the fundamentals of heptatonic scales or melakarta ragas and thaats in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music.
The seven svaras are śaḍja (षड्ज), r̥ṣabha (ऋषभ), gāndhāra (गान्धार), madhyama (मध्यम), pañcama (पञ्चम), dhaivata (धैवत) and niṣāda (निषाद). The svaras of the sargam are often learnt in abbreviated form: sā, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni. Of these, the first svara that is "sa", and the fifth svara that is "pa", are considered anchors (achal svaras) that are unalterable, while the remaining have flavours ( and svaras) that differs between the two major systems.
+ Svara in North Indian system of raga () Svara(Long) Shadja(षड्ज) Rishabh(ऋषभ) Gandhar(गान्धार) Madhyam(मध्यम) Pancham(पंचम) Dhaivat(धैवत) Nishad(निषाद) Svara(Short) Sa(सा) Re(रे) Ga(गा) Ma(म) Pa(प) Dha(ध) Ni(नि) 12 Varieties (names) C (Shadja) D (komal re)D (shuddha re) E (komal gā)E (shuddha gā) F (shuddha ma)F (teevra ma) G (pancham) A (komal dha)A (shuddha dha) B (komal ni)B (shuddha ni)
+ Svara in South Indian system of raga () Svara(Long) Shadjam Rishabham Gandharam Madhyamam Panchamam Dhaivatam Nishadam Svara(Short) Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni 16 Varieties (names) C (Shadjam) D (shuddha ri)D (chatushruti ri)D (shatshruti ri) E (shuddha gā)E (sadharana gā)E (antara gā) F (shuddha ma)F (prati ma) G (panchamam) A (shuddha dha)A (chatushruti dha)A (shatshruti dha) B (shuddha ni)B (kaishiki ni)B (kakali ni)
Interpretation North Indian Hindustani music has fixed names of a relative pitches, but South Indian Carnatic music keeps on making interchanges of the names of pitches in case of ri-ga and dha-ni whenever required. Swaras appear in successive steps in an octave. More comprehensively, svara-graam (scale) is the practical concept of Indian music comprising seven + five= twelve most useful musical pitches. Sage Matanga made a very important statement in his Brihaddeshi some 1500 years ago that: i.e. Shadaj, Rishabh, Gandhar, ... (and their utterance) are not the real svaras but their pronunciation in the form of aa-kar, i-kaar, u-kaar ... are the real form of the svaras.
It is said that Shadaj is the basic svara from which all the other 6 svaras are produced. When we break the word Shadaj then we get, Shad- And -Ja. Shad is 6 and ja is 'giving birth' in Indian languages. So basically the translation is : षड् - 6, ज -जन्म . Therefore, it collectively means giving birth to the other 6 notes of the music.
The absolute frequencies for all svaras are variable, and are determined relative to the saptak or octave. E.g. given Sa 240 Hz, Re 270 Hz, Ga 288 Hz, Ma 320 Hz, Pa 360 Hz, Dha 405 Hz, and Ni 432 Hz, then the Sa after the Ni of 432 Hz has a frequency of 480 Hz i.e. double that of the lower octave Sa, and similarly all the other 6 svaras. Considering the Sa of the Madhya Saptak then frequencies of the other svaras will be, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Mandra Saptak: 120 Hz, 135 Hz, 144 Hz, 160 Hz, 180 Hz, 202.5 Hz, 216 Hz.} Madhya Saptak: 240 Hz, 270 Hz, 288 Hz, 320 Hz, 360 Hz, 405 Hz, 432 Hz.} Taara Saptak: 480 Hz, 540 Hz, 576 Hz, 640 Hz, 720 Hz, 810 Hz, 864 Hz.}
All the other svaras except Shadaj (Sa) and Pancham (Pa) can be or svaras but Sa and Pa are always shuddha svaras. And hence svaras Sa and Pa are called achal svaras, since these svaras don't move from their original position. Svaras Ra, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni are called chal svaras, since these svaras move from their original position. Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni - Shuddha Svaras Re, Ga, Dha, Ni - Komal Svaras Ma - Svaras
Talking about Shrutis of these Sapta Svaras, Sa, Ma and Pa have four Shrutis, respectively Re and Dha have three Shrutis, respectively Ga and Ni have two Shrutis, respectively And these all Shrutis add up to 22 Shrutis in total.
Relationship to śruti
The svara differs slightly from the śruti concept in Indian music. Both the svara and the śruti are but the sounds of music. According to the music scholars of the distant past, the śruti is generally understood as a microtone besides veda and an ear. In the context of advanced music, a śruti is the smallest gradation of pitch that a human ear can detect and a singer or instrument can produce. There are 22 śruti or microtones in a saptaka of Hindustani music but Carnatic music assumes 24 śruti. A svara is a selected pitch from 22 śrutis, using several of such svaras a musician constructs scales, melodies and ragas. In the presence of a drone-sound of perfectly tuned Tanpuras, an ideal svara sounds sweet and appealing to human ear but particularly some 10 śrutis of the saptaka sound out of pitch (besuraa) when compared to the very drone. A tuneful and pleasing tone of the svara is located at a fixed interval but there is no fixed interval defined for two consecutive śrutis anywhere that can safely and scientifically be used throughout with respect to a perfect drone sound.
The ancient Sanskrit text Natya Shastra by Bharata identifies and discusses twenty two shruti and seven shuddha and two vikrita svara. The Natya Shastra mentions that in Shadaj graama, the svara pairs saa-ma and saa-pa are samvaadi svaras (consonant pair) and are located at the interval of 9 and 13 shruti respectively. Similarly, svara pairs re-dha and ga-ni are samvaadi svara too. Without giving any example of 'a standard measure' or 'equal interval' between two successive shrutis, Bharata declared that saa, ma or pa shall have an interval of 4 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding svara, re or dha shall have an interval of 3 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding svara and ga or ni shall have an interval of 2 shrutis measured from the pitch of the preceding svara respectively. The following quote explains it all: