Glossary · glossary · 1 min read
Shadava
षाडव; a six-note raga
Shadava means using six of the seven swaras, or notes. It describes a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music, or the notes it uses going up or coming down.
By John, Music lover from Bangalore · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 29 Sept 2026
Shadava means six notes
Shadava means using six of the seven swaras, or notes. It describes a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music, or just its upward or downward direction.
A raga can use six notes going up and six coming down. It can also use six in one direction and seven in the other. So shadava need not describe both directions.
These counts belong to the jati system, which classifies ragas by how many notes they use ascending (going up) and descending (coming down). Shadava sits between audava, meaning five notes, and sampoorna, meaning seven.
Examples of shadava in ragas
Marwa is a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. It leaves out Pa, one of the seven swaras, or notes. That makes Marwa shadava, meaning it uses six notes.
Bhairav gives you a contrast: it uses all seven notes, so it is sampoorna. Audava means five notes. These terms belong to the jati system, which classifies ragas by their note counts going up and coming down.
The two counts need not match. A raga can use six notes going up and seven coming down, making it shadava in the upward direction and sampoorna in the downward direction. It can also be shadava both ways.
Keep going
- What is a raga? A plain-language guide for listeners · A raga is a melodic framework in Indian classical music for creating pieces and inventing melody during performance. Listen for four things: which notes appear, how the melody moves, where the musician lingers, and which short phrases return.