Swara, Raga, Tala and Notation: The Grammar the Paper Tests
This domain is the grammar section of Hindustani music: what a swara is, what makes a raga, what a tala measures, and how all three are written down. BSEB asks you to use the terms, not just define them - decode a notation line, count notes to fix a jati, or name a vadi.
Swara
- Seven shuddha swaras (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni); five vikrit swaras give the twelve-semitone octave - komal Re, Ga, Dha, Ni and tivra Ma. Sa and Pa are achal (immovable).
- Three saptaks: mandra (dot below), madhya, taar (dot above).
- 22 srutis are the classical micro-tone measure from Bharata's tradition; they are theoretical, not the twelve keys of a harmonium.
- Four functions: vadi (king), samvadi (minister), anuvadi (attendant), vivadi (foreign).
Raga
A raga is a tonal set plus a melodic personality: aroha, avaroha, pakad, vadi–samvadi, jati, samay and rasa. Matanga's Brihaddeshi is an early source for the term. Bhatkhande grouped ragas into ten thaats in Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati. Jati follows the note count: audava 5, shadava 6, sampurna 7, and the two directions may differ.
Tala
Matra, vibhag, tali, khali, sam, avartan, theka, laya.
Notation
Bhatkhande's system is standard in Bihar scripts: capitals S R G M P D N are shuddha; small letters r g d n are komal; M* is tivra Madhyam; an apostrophe marks taar, a dot below marks mandra; a dash lengthens a note; | divides vibhags, × marks sam, 0 marks khali.
Worked example
Khamaj aroha: S G m P D N S'. Count before the upper Sa - S, G, m, P, D, N = six, so shadava. Avaroha S' n D P m G R S has all seven, so sampurna. Jati is shadava–sampurna; thaat Khamaj; vadi Ga; samvadi Ni; second prahar of night.
Traps
Writing tivra Ma where shuddha Ma belongs; treating a thaat name as a raga; counting the upper Sa as an extra swara; assuming aroha and avaroha have equal note counts; mixing Paluskar signs into a Bhatkhande answer.