Swara

The notes, or swaras, of Indian music are Shadjamam, Rishabham, Gandharam, Madhyamam, Panchamam, Dhaivatam and Nishadam. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam, the Indian solfege. In singing, these become Sa, Ri(Carnatic) or Re(Hindustani), Ga, Ma, Pa, Da(Carnatic) or Dha(Hindustani), and Ni. ("Sargam" stands for "Sa-R(i,e)-Ga-M(a)"). Only these syllables are sung, and further designations are never vocalized. When writing these become, S, R, G, M, P, D, N. A dot above a letter indicates that the note is sung one octave higher, a dot below indicates a note one octave lower.

In certain forms of Indian classical music and quwalli, when a rapid, 16th note sequence of the same note is to be sung, sometimes different sylables are used in a certain sequence to make the whole easier to pronounce. For example instead of "sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa" said very quickly, it might be "sa-da-da-li-sa-da-da-li" which lends itself more to a quick and light tongue movement.

Classification of swaras

Although the sargam contains only seven kinds of notes, each member of the sargam (Sa, Ri or Re, Ga etc.) may have up to three different forms. The exceptions are Sa and Pa, which are fixed, and Ma, which has only two forms.

What they mean

Swara	Expansion	Meaning	Animal/bird
Sa	Shadjam (षड्जं)	--	Peacock
Ri	Rishabham (रिषभं)	Bull	Bull
Ga	Gandharam (गान्धारं)	--	Goat
Ma	Madhyamam (मध्यमं)	Middle	Dove
Pa	Panchamam (पंचमं)	Fifth	Cuckoo
Da	Dhaivatam (धैवतं)	--	Horse
Ni	Nishadam (निषादं)	Outcast/Hunter	Elephant