Frequency: Normally, human heart beats regularly at about 72 beats per minute or 72/60=1.2 beats per second. So we say frequency of heart beat is 1.2 cycles per second or Hz (read as Hertz.).

Pitch: When we utter a steady vowel, normally, there is a cyclically repeating to and fro movement of the two vocal folds – approaching each other, making contact and then moving away from each other and again approaching each other, etc. We refer to the number of cycles per second as pitch or (the fundamental frequency) and denote it by F0. Typically, F0 is 100, 200 and 400 Hz for an adult male, an adult female children, respectively.

In singing, a value for pitch (or F0) that is most comfortable to the singer is chosen as the reference pitch for shruti (sruti) or aadhara shadja. It is believed that there is an optimum pitch for each individual.

Fundamental Frequency Vs Spectrum: In a music concert, the singer selects the shruti and all accompanying instruments such as veena, violin, flute are tuned to the same shruti. If all instruments are playing at the same frequency, how can we distinguish amongst the different instruments? Only the FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY (F0) of singer’s voice and those of the instruments are the same. In a periodic sound in addition to F0 there are other frequency components called harmonics (multiples of F0, such as 2F0, 3F0, 4F0 etc). Each component has its own energy. The energy associated with F0, 2F0, 3F0 etc. is called the spectrum. The spectrum of voice is different from that of the spectra (plural of spectrum) of the instruments. That is how we distinguish the voice from other instruments. The auditory quality determined by a spectrum is called ‘timbre’ (German wod pronounced as ‘timb-ray’).

Names of the Sapta Swaras: Swaras are seven in number and are specified in the order of increasing pitch or the fundamental frequency. Their names and notation are:

1. Shadja denoted by ‘Sa’. Also called Adhara Shadja
2. Rishabha denoted by ‘Ri’
3. Gandhara denoted by ‘Ga’
4. Madhyama denoted by ‘Ma’
5. Panchama denoted by ‘Pa’
6. Dhaivata denoted by ‘Da’
7. Nishada denoted by ‘Ni’

The eighth swara is called as Tara Shadja denoted by ‘SA’. (Usually written as ‘Sa’ with a dot on top. But for computer usage both letters are shown in upper case.)
The frequency of Tara Shadja 'SA' is exactly twice (octave) that of Aadhara sadja.

Prakruti swaras and their relative frequencies: Adhara shadja (shruti) may be chosen by an individual based on the comfort and musicality.

Swara sthana (pitch or the fundamental frequency) of all other swaras are determined relative to aadhara shadja.

The fundamental frequency of Panchama is exactly (3/2) 1.5 times the fundamental frequency of aadhara shadja.

Tara Shadja is exactly twice in frequency of the aadhara Shadja. The range from adhara shadja to tara shadja is called an octave (meaning a ratio of 2).

The three swaras ,viz. Adhara Shadja, Panchama and Tara Shadja, do not have any varieties. They are called “prakruti swaras”.

Vikruti Swaras:
Rishabha or Ri is of 3 types: Shudda Rishabha: Ri1, Chatusshruti Rishabha: Ri2, Shatshruti Rishabha: Ri3.

Gandhara or Ga is of 3 types: Shuddha Gandhara: Ga1, Sadharana Gandhara: Ga2, Anthara Gandhara: Ga3. Note: The swara sthana (frequency) of Ri2 is the same as Ga1 and both do not occur in the same raga.

Madhyama or Ma is of 2 types: Shuddha-Madhyama: Ma1, Prati-Madhyama: Ma2. Shuddha-Madhyama is 4/3 of shadja. In fact the ragas are broadly divided into 2 classes based on which Ma occurs in a raga.

Dhaivata or Da is of 3 types: Shudda Dhaivata: Da1, Chatusshruti Dhaivata : Da2, Shatshruti Dhaivata : Da3.

Nishada or Ni is of 3 types: Shuddha Nishada : Ni1, Kaishiki Nishada : Ni2, Kakali Nishada : Ni3.

Note: The swara sthana (frequency) of Da2 is the same as Ni1 and both do not occur in the same raga.

The relative value of the pitch of a swara (ratio) is defined with respect to Adhara shadja or shruti using a logarithmic scale, to base ‘2’. One octave is defined as 1200 cents. There are 12 swara positions within an octave. Shadja has a value of 0 cents. Tara Shadja (ratio of 2) has a value of 1200 cents. Mandra shtayi swars have negative values in cents. A ratio of R corresponds to 1200log2[R] cents.

In Equi-temperamental scale the pitch of the swaras are 100 cents apart except for Ma1 (4/3) and Pa (3/2). In Just Intonation scale the pitch of the swaras are defined as integer ratios. See Table below:

Swara	Equi-temp.	Just Intonation
	cent	ratio	cent
Sa	0	1	0
Ri1	100	16/15	112
Ri2/Ga1	200	9/8	204
Ri3/Ga2	300	6/5	316
Ga3	400	5/4	386
Ma1	498	4/3	498
Ma2	600	7/5	582
Pa	702	3/2	702
Da1	800	8/5	814
Da2/Ni1	900	27/16 or 5/3	908 or 884
Da3/Ni2	1000	9/5	1018
Ni3	1100	15/8	1088
SA	1200	2	1200

There is no raga without Shadja.

A raga has two parts: Arohana (Ascending scale) and Avarohana (Descending scale).

A raga which has all the seven swaras of the same variety in ascending and descending scales is called a ‘Melakarta’ raga or parent raga - Janaka raga. There are exactly 72 melakarta ragas. Melakarta ragas are divided into 2 groups based on which variety of Madhyama swara occurs. The first 32 melakaratas are called ‘Shuddha Madhyama ragas’ and the next 32 melakaratas are called ‘Prati Madhyama ragas’.

Ragas derived from a janaka raga are called daughter ragas - Janya ragas. It is not necessary that all the seven swaras be present in a Janya raga. Some janya ragas may not have the same number of swaras in arohana and avarohana.

Usually, three main parts (angas) of a tala are used in BASIC practice. These are called: Anudhruta, Druta and Laghu. The conventional notation is shown in brackets.

Anudhruta (U) is ALWAYS one akshara kala* in duration. A beat of the palm is used for anudhruta.


Druta (0) is ALWAYS two akshara kala* in duration. A beat and a wave of the palm is used for Druta.

Laghu (1) may be of 3 or 4 or 5 or 7 or 9 akshara kala* in duration depending on the Jaati of the tala. A beat followed by finger count is used for Laghu. An example of Laghu with four akshara kala:

There are five Jaatis of tala:

1. Thishra Jaati (3 aksharas)
2. Chaturashra Jaati (4 aksharas)
3. Khanda Jaati (5 aksharas)
4. Misra Jaati (7 aksharas) and
5. Sankeerna Jaati (9 aksharas)

*Askhara Kala: Each akshara kala is made up of four matras.
The concept of 'matra kala' is used in Vedic chanting as well. A matra kala is a unit of duration.
Based on vedic chanting, matra kala is approximately of 300 milli-sec in duration.

Sapta Talas: The name of the tala is given based on the sequence of the three parts, the angas. The seven talas – Sapta talas are:

1. Druva: 1 0 1 1
2. MaTya: 1 0 1
3. Rupaka: 0 1
4. Jhampe: 1 U 0
5. TripuTa: 1 0 0
6. ATTa: 1 1 0 0
7. Eka: 1

Chaturashra jaati tripuTa tala is more commonly known as Adi tala and is widely used in the carnatic music.

Some examples of computer notation of talas:
Thisra Jaati TripuTa: 1(3) 0 0
Adi: 1(4) 0 0.
Chatturashra Jaati Rupaka: 0 1(4).
Chaturashrajati-MaTya: 1(4) 0 1(4)
Mishrajati-Jhampe: 1(7) U 0

Speed: There are three speeds: first speed - Vilamba, second speed -Madhya and third speed - Dhruta.

The number of swaras in one askhara kala depends on the speed. If for first speed there is one swara per beat, then for second speed there are two swaras per askhara kala and and for the third speed there are four swaras per askhara kala. A long swara is counted as two askhara kalas.

As a rule, the number of aksharas in second speed is double the number of aksharas in the first speed. The number of aksharas in third speed is double the number of aksharas in the second speed.

When one wants to call a person far away one increases the level of the voice. A singer can alter his/her voice to make it sound soft or loud but maintaining the same pitch. Thus the level of speaking and pitch are two different aspects of voice. When one is learning music, while trying to increase the pitch one may increase the level instead or as one goes up the scale one may involuntarily sing louder. In addition to pitch and level, one can also control the voice quality (spectrum or timbre).

Energy and Intensity: When a large flat surface is pressed on a palm the sensation is not very painful. But if a needle is pressed with the same energy it is very painful. The energy is ‘intensified’ over a small area.

Energy per unit area is called intensity. When one cups the palm in front of the mouth, the sound is louder. Cupping the palm prevents the sound energy from spreading and makes it more focused.

When the energy of a sound increases ten times, the perceived loudness level appears to increase only twice. For this reason intensity is expressed in logarithmic scale. Recall that log of 10=1, log of 100=2. Intensity in log scale is called Bell. To avoid using fractions, ten times the log intensity is used. This is called deci-Bell denoted as ‘dB’. Perceived loudness also depends on frequency. For the sane energy, a high frequency sound is perceived as louder compared to a low frequency sound though the intensity of the two sounds are the same.

Usually, the larynx is referred to as ‘voice box’. But, human activity is controlled by consciousness, mind, brain, nervous system and finally at the peripheral level by mechanical movement of the muscles of larynx and articulators. In case of voice, at the peripheral level, voice is controlled by respiratory system, laryngeal system and articulatory system.

When a balloon is blown and the mouth is slightly opened, air gushes out pushing the wall of the mouth open. But the elasticity of the balloon tries to close the mouth (as in a released rubber band). There are two forces, one, air pressure, pushing the walls out and the other, elasticity, bringing the walls together. Vocal folds vibrate on the same principle. The interrupted air flow causes the sound (not the vocal folds colliding with each other, i.e., not as in clapping).

Air is filled into the lungs by inspiration and then released slowly by the singer. At the same time, vocal folds are tensed and brought together to close the glottis (mouth or opening of the trachea). Two opposing forces vibrate the vocal folds. The interrupted air flows through the mouth (and/or nose) and from the lips to the atmosphere produces the sound.

The movement from an initial contact to move away and again come back and make contact forms one cycle. The time taken for one cycle is called pitch period. The number of cycles per second is called pitch. Within one cycle, the time taken to move away, the time taken to approximate and time for which the folds are in contact may not all be equal. Also, the extent to which the vocal folds move away from each other and the force with which they make contact may differ. Voice quality depends on such factors.