Sa Re Ga Ma: sargam explained for beginners

What are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni?

Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni are the seven basic note syllables of Indian music. A swara is a musical note. These syllables are the short names of the seven swaras, used in singing instead of their full names.

Sargam means singing or writing a melody with these note syllables. The word comes from the first four names, Sa Re Ga Ma. When you sing the syllables instead of lyrics, you are singing sargam.

• Sa: Shadja
• Re: Rishabha
• Ga: Gandhara
• Ma: Madhyama
• Pa: Panchama
• Dha: Dhaivata
• Ni: Nishada

Read Sa Re Ga as three note names to sing, not as words from a lyric. The full names identify the swaras; the shorter syllables are what you use to sing the melody. Sargam practice helps your ear learn where each note sits.

The twelve notes and their forms

Re can be natural or lowered. The natural form is called shuddha, and the lowered form is called komal. Ma can be natural or raised. Its raised form is called tivra. These forms expand the seven basic notes into twelve positions within the octave.

• Sa and Pa each have only one form.
• Re, Ga, Dha and Ni each have a shuddha form and a komal form.
• Ma has a shuddha form and a tivra form, but no komal form.

BeatRootRaga writes komal notes in lowercase: re, ga, dha and ni. We write tivra Ma as Ma', with an apostrophe. Read the line below from left to right to see all twelve positions in order. Watch the lowercase letters: ga and Ga name different forms.

Sa re Re ga Ga Ma Ma' Pa dha Dha ni Ni

Why Sa is not a fixed pitch

Two singers can sing the same line of sargam, singing melody through note names, while starting at different pitches. Each treats their chosen Sa as home. The syllables still describe the notes in relation to that home, even though the starting pitch has changed.

Once a singer settles on Sa, they tune the tanpura to it. Its drone, a sustained reference sound, gives them something to sing against. Every other note is measured from that Sa, rather than treated as an independent, fixed pitch.

Moving that reference does not create a new form of Sa. It changes the pitch from which the whole line is understood. Pa still has one form too, but its pitch is measured from the chosen Sa, just like the other notes.

This is the idea behind movable do, a system of naming notes relative to a home note. Sa names that home, not a particular frequency. Read the syllables as relationships first.

How to read octaves in sargam

Sing from your home Sa to the next Sa above it. That span is an octave, called a saptak. In sargam, melody sung or written with note syllables, octave marks tell you which register to use. The syllable names the note; the mark places it lower or higher.

• Mandra is the low octave. A dot below a note marks this register.
• Madhya is the middle octave, where your home Sa sits.
• Taar is the high octave. A dot above a note marks this register.

On the web, an apostrophe after a note often stands in for the upper dot. So Sa' means Sa one octave above your home Sa. It changes the register, not the note's name.

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa'

How sargam compares with do re mi

Sing Sa Re Ga, then imagine choosing a different home pitch and singing the same phrase from there. The syllables stay Sa Re Ga. Sargam, singing or writing melody with note syllables, names notes in relation to that home pitch, not as absolute frequencies.

This is the useful connection with movable do, a form of Western solfege, or note naming with sung syllables. Do marks the home note, just as Sa does. If the home pitch changes, the syllables still describe each note's position relative to it.

So Sa does not mean middle C. A singer chooses a Sa that suits their voice, and every other note is measured from it. Calling Sa fixed means it has only one form. It does not mean every singer must choose the same starting pitch.

Carnatic note names and tuning by ear

In Carnatic music, the seven note syllables are usually written Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni. You will see Ri where the earlier spelling used Re, and Da where it used Dha. These are still the same seven basic note names.

You may also see labels such as Ri1 and Ri2, or Ga2 and Ga3. The numbers distinguish forms of a note within Carnatic music's more detailed naming system. This system names twelve positions in the octave, and some positions can carry two names.

Hindustani theory also speaks of shrutis, tiny intervals within the octave. Their traditional count is 22. Treat that as a traditional count, rather than a settled measurement of how every singer places every note. In practice, singers tune by ear against the drone, a sustained reference sound, rather than a fixed grid.

What sargam singing means

Sing “Sa Re Ga” rather than a line of lyrics, and you are singing sargam: melody sung with note names instead of words. The name comes from the first four syllables, Sa Re Ga Ma. Those syllables become the sounds you sing, not just labels you read.

In both Hindustani and Carnatic music, sargam is a training tool. Singing the names teaches your ear where each note sits relative to Sa, the home note. Sa can move to suit your voice, so the exercise is about hearing those relationships, not memorising a set of fixed pitches.

Sargam also belongs in performance, not only in practice. Singers improvise fast runs using these same note names. The syllables you sing slowly while learning can therefore become the material for an improvised passage. Listen for the melody carried by the names themselves, rather than by the words of a song.

A first sargam practice routine

Now extend that short pattern across the octave. Choose a Sa that suits your voice and sing over a drone, a sustained reference sound. Listen to each note against it. Here, Sa' means the Sa one octave above your starting note.

• Sing upwards: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa'. Hold each note for four counts, keeping the pace slow.
• Come back down: Sa' Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa. Again, give every note four counts.
• Then sing these three-note groups: Sa Re Ga, Re Ga Ma, Ga Ma Pa, Ma Pa Dha, Pa Dha Ni, Dha Ni Sa'.

Once this is steady, try Kirwani. Lower Ga and Dha while keeping the other note names unchanged. These lowered forms are called komal, and we write them in lowercase as ga and dha.

Sa Re ga Ma Pa dha Ni Sa'