Notation Systems and Writing Swaralipi
What this domain tests
You must write and read swaralipi accurately: correct swara symbols, octave marks, bar lines and tala symbols, with each bol aligned to its matra.
Bhatkhande conventions
- Shuddha: S R G M P D N. Komal: lowercase r g d n in Roman notation, or underlined in Bengali and Devanagari script. Tivra Ma: M with a line above.
- Mandra saptak: dot below. Tar saptak: dot above.
- Vertical bar lines separate vibhags. x marks sam, 0 marks khali, and 2, 3, 4 mark talis.
- A dash extends a note across matras; a curved line or arrow shows meend.
Writing a composition
- Head the piece with raga, tala, laya and composer if known.
- Write sthayi first, then antara. Align one bol to one matra unless a dash indicates a held note.
- Write the theka separately, labelled, so the examiner can see the tala cycle.
Worked example
Notate the four-matra sargam phrase S R G M beginning on sam in Teental. Reasoning: S falls on matra 1 and takes the x mark; R on 2; G on 3; M on 4; a bar line follows matra 4. If S is held for two matras, write "S -" and place R on matra 3. The sam mark must sit above the first matra, not above the first bar line.
Traps
- Using capitals for komal swaras.
- Omitting sam and khali marks.
- Mixing Bengali and Devanagari symbol sets in one answer.
- Writing the theka and the composition on the same line without labels.
- Placing a bar line after every matra instead of every vibhag.