Glossary · glossary · 1 min read

Shuddha

शुद्ध; natural

Shuddha means “pure” and describes a note’s natural, unaltered form in Indian music. For example, Raga Bhoop uses only shuddha notes: Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha.

By SJN, Founder, BeatRootRaga · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 27 Sept 2026

What does shuddha mean?

Shuddha means “pure”. In Indian music, it describes a note’s natural, unaltered form. Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni are the seven basic notes. Each has a shuddha form, but the other forms available depend on the note.

Re, Ga, Dha and Ni each have two forms: shuddha and komal. Komal means lowered.
Ma has a shuddha form and a tivra form. Tivra means raised.
Sa and Pa have only their shuddha form.

This is a short definition. For the full explanation, read the BeatRootRaga learning page, which covers the note names and their natural, lowered and raised forms.

An example of shuddha and where to read more

Raga Bhoop gives us an example: it uses only shuddha notes, meaning notes in their natural, unaltered form. Its notes are Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha.

Sa Re Ga Pa Dha

Notice that Ma and Ni are absent. Using only shuddha notes does not mean using all seven notes.

Re, Ga and Dha also have komal, or lowered, forms, but Bhoop uses their shuddha forms. Sa and Pa have only a shuddha form.

For more, follow this example into Sa Re Ga Ma: sargam explained for beginners, where shuddha is explained fully. Sargam means singing or writing melodies with these note syllables.

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.