Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
Chapter 06: Sargam: The Indian
Solfege
According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Brahma, by
the order of Lord Krsna, created the material planet. He also created the first
sound wave. The sound wave is the mantra “om.”
These notes are indeed defined by nature. Sa
describes the sound of the peacock, r describes the sound of a bull. The goats
sound is described by ga, and the dove is shown by ma. Pa has the sound of a
cuckoo. Dha has the sound of the horse and ni has the sound of the elephant.
Music has always used these seven swars. These seven
swars are called the saptak or seven
notes. It is also called a sargam.
The sargam or saptak has been used by voice, but also in string instruments,
and wind instruments. Recall from the previous chapter how we dealt with
fundamental unit that repeats throughout the harmonium. That fundamental unit
consists of seven keys that are white. These seven white keys represent the
sargam in order. Keep in mind that the harmonium was designed to keep the
natural notes on white keys. This is the reason why the white keys are called
“natural keys.” Look at figure 6.1. This shows the natural keys in order.
Figure 6.1
Play these keys to the upward direction. Remember that
after ni, a new saptak starts with sa. Then play in the downward direction to
sa. Listen carefully between both notes.
Did you notice that between some notes, there are
some hidden tones. Technically, between every two consecutive notes, there are
infinite numbers of semitones. However, within the sargam, there are five
semitones between the natural notes that are very distinct. These notes are
between sa and re, re and ga, ma and pa, pa and dha, and dha and ni. The note
between sa and re is called komal re.
The note between re and ga is known as komal
ga. The note between pa and dha is called komal dha, and the the note between dha and ni is called komal ni. The note between ma and pa,
however, is called tivra ma. Komal
means “flat” and tivra means “sharp.” The reason why ma is allowed to be
sharpened is a very complicated reason which can be found in a details
classical musical book.
These five altered notes are known as vikrta swars. These five vikrta swars
are represented by the black keys. The seven white natural notes are known as suddha swars. The notes are in the
following order:
Sa, komal re, re, komal ga, ga, ma, tivra ma, pa,
komal dha, dha, komal ni, ni.
A faster way to write these notes is very simple.
All suddha notes except ma are capitalized.
For example, suddha ga is written with a capital G. In the case of suddha ma,
that is written as an undercase m. Tivra ma is written with a capital M. Sa and
pa are always capitalized.
The entire sargam is written as the following:
S r R g G m M P d D n N Play this in ascending and
descending order. Look at Figure 6.2 to help you out.
Figure 6.2
This is assumed to be in the madhya-saptak. If we
were to expand to the tar-saptak, we use an apostrophe after the note.
Similarly, the mandra-saptak notes have an apostrophe before the note.
Here is a keyboarded diagram of all we have learned
so far in this guide. This is containing the suddha swars, vikrta swars, the
repeating keyboard sequence, the three ranges of saptaks and how to write the
swars.
Figure 6.3
Let’s look at an example sargam.
Raga Sri:
Ascending: S r M P N S’ r’ S’
Descending: r’ N d P M P d M P r G r S ‘N S
This raga will be taught later on. However, do play
this on the harmonium. Look at the keys on Figure 6.3 to help you. A very
useful hint to play these notes is not to play the keys with the index fingers
alone. Use the index, thumb, and middle fingers to help you play. Do get
familiar on how to play the natural notes without looking. Try these exercises.
S
S R S
S R G R S
S R G m G R S
S R G m P m G R S
S R G m P D P m G R S
‘N S R G m P D P m G R ‘N S
‘N ‘D ‘ P ‘D ‘P ‘M ‘P
‘P ‘N S G R G
S
Practice these exercises very frequently to get used
to know the locations of the sargam. Remember to use the diagram of Figure 6.3!
Even though we learned notes, the notes without a
proper link or order are without meaning. The next two chapters will deal with
very important concepts of developing melodies.
Before moving onto the next chapter, I suggest you
cut copy the keyboard on Figure 6.3 and cut the swars out. Take these little
squares and place them on the appropriate keys on your harmonium’s keyboards.
Think of these as training wheels. Once you practice enough and get the hang of
it, you can take these off, as you will already know where notes are located.