musical notes

How to read Indian notations

The SARGAM (Indian notations) posted in this website are arranged in the following manner.  Readers can take a clue from it and decipher the notations.  The following is how generally the Indian notations are written, but it is not the thumbrule.  You may find notations written in other style at other places.  But, for this website, we will be adhering to the following rules:

HOW TO READ THE NOTATIONS

  • CAPITAL LETTERS = Shuddh Swars (Natural Notes)
  • small letters = Komal Swars (Flat Notes)
  • M with # [hash] or ^ [exponent] = Tivra Madhyam (M# / M^)
  • Letter/Alphabet ONLY = Medium Pitch/Normal blow on flute
  • Letter/Alphabet PRECEDED BY a ” . ” [full stop] or  a ” , ” [comma] = Low Octave Note/Softer blow on flute
  • Letter/Alphabet FOLLOWED BY a ‘ [single quote] = High Octave Note/harder blow on flute
  • Notes in { } = “murki” have to be played very fast without any pause
  • A Note in ( ) = “kann swar” has to be just touched before moving on to the next note
  • A “~” between two Notes  = “meend”. That is, you have to glide from one note to another slowly to produce that wavy effect.
  • Few “….” (dots) after a note = Play and hold that note
How to read SARGAM
  • CAPITAL LETTERS Shuddh Swars (Natural Notes)
  • small letters Komal Swars (Flat Notes)
  • with # [hash] or ^ [exponent] = Tivra Madhyam (M# / M^)
  • Letter/Alphabet ONLY = Medium Pitch/Normal blow on flute
  • Letter/Alphabet PRECEDED BY a ” . ” [full stop] or  a ” , ” [comma] = Low Octave Note/Softer blow on flute
  • Letter/Alphabet FOLLOWED BY a ‘ [single quote] = High Octave Note/harder blow on flute
  • Notes in { } “murki” have to be played very fast without any pause
  • A Note in ( ) “kann swar” has to be just touched before moving on to the next note
  • A “~” between two Notes  = “meend”. That is, you have to glide from one note to another slowly to produce that wavy effect.
  • Few “….” (dots) after a note = Play and hold that note
Find more from
Notations Library

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19 Responses

  1. Thanks Sir for restoring the website. Recently I got interest in playing flute. This website is of immense help. I alao come to know there are many sizes of bansuri. May u please suggest me which size is appropriate to start with?

    1. As a beginner, you must go for a flute which is easy to hold, neither too small nor too big. Ideally a medium size Bansuri (12 – 15 inches long) in Scale C or G would be fine for you. Good Luck!

    1. if your key note on the violin is C then C will be your sa then leave a whole note and get D which will be re. then leave another whole note and getE for ga then leave a half note and get F for ma( since E# does not exist) again leave a whole note and get G for pa another whole note left gives A the dha another whole note left gives B the ni then leave a half note and shift to the higher octave to get a C which gives you the taar Sa.
      precisely use the formula of
      whole_whole_half_whole_whole_whole_half on higher octave to get the western and eastern conversions. happy bowing

  2. Do you sale Books of Notes. I am willing to get one Book of old Hindi Bollywood songs.

  3. how does website distinguish between higher, medium and lower octave in terms of notation

    1. Here is your answer:

      http://notesandsargam.com/how-to-read-notations/

      CAPITAL LETTERS = Shuddh Swars (Pure Notes)
      small letters = Komal Swars (Flat Notes)
      A Note with # [hash] = Tivra Swar (High Note)
      Letter/Alphabet ONLY = Medium Pitch/Normal blow on flute
      Letter/Alphabet PRECEDED BY a ” . ” [full stop] or a ” , ” [comma] = Low Pitch/Softer blow on flute
      Letter/Alphabet FOLLOWED BY a ‘ [single quote] = High Pitch/harder blow on flute
      Notes in { } = “murki” have to be played very fast without any pause
      A Note in ( ) = “kaan swar” has to be just touched before moving on to the next note
      A “~” between two Notes = “meend”. That is, you have to glide from one note to another slowly to produce that wavy effect.

  4. Hello Sir/Madam,

    What is the significance if a note is followed by sign “#” ? Pls answer.

    1. Particularly for the notations available in this website, the hash # sign is used to indicate Tivr Madhyam and in some cases, to indicate ‘Higher Octave’ of that note.

  5. Question – A letter and just below there is line What should I understand from this ?
    Question –

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