Glossary · glossary · 1 min read
Sa
Shadja; the home note
Sa is the first swara, or note, in Indian music and the home note from which every other note is measured. It has only one form, but a singer can set it to any pitch that suits their voice.
By SJN, Founder, BeatRootRaga · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 27 Sept 2026
What does Sa mean in Indian music?
Sa is the first swara, or note, in Indian music. It is also the home note: every other note is measured from it.
A singer chooses a Sa that suits their voice. They then tune the drone, a continuous pitch reference, to that note. Sa can be set to any pitch, so its role as home matters more than a fixed pitch name.
Sa has only one form. Choosing a different pitch for Sa changes where home sits, not which form of Sa the singer is using.
This is a short definition. For the full explanation, visit BeatRootRaga’s Sa Re Ga Ma learning page.
An example of Sa and where to read more
If a singer chooses D as Sa, their home note, then Pa, the fifth, is A. Every other note is measured from that Sa, so D is the reference for this example.
Sa has only one form, but it can be set to any pitch. The singer chooses a Sa that suits their voice, then tunes the drone, a continuous pitch reference, to it.
The next step is sargam, singing or writing melodies with the Indian note syllables. The linked Sa Re Ga Ma page gives the full explanation and shows how to follow note names and octave marks from your chosen Sa.
Keep going
- Sa Re Ga Ma: sargam explained for beginners · Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni are Indian music’s seven basic notes; sargam means singing or writing melodies with these syllables. To read and sing sargam, choose your home Sa, follow the note names and octave marks, and recognise the natural, lowered and raised forms.
- Tuning to shruti: using a tanpura drone in a mix · Set the project’s pitch from the singer’s shruti, their chosen Sa or home note, after checking the song’s lowest and highest phrases. Tune the tanpura, a plucked instrument providing a drone or continuous pitch reference, to that Sa and keep it beneath the voice throughout.