Sangeet, naad, shruti and swara – Performing Arts for NCET

Sangeet and naad

In the Indian tradition, sangeet means the combined art of vocal music (geet), instrumental music (vadya) and dance (nritya). The medieval text Sangeet Ratnakar of Sharngadeva describes sangeet in exactly this threefold way.

Naad is a pleasant, regular sound that is useful in music. Noise is irregular; naad has steady vibrations. Texts divide naad into ahat naad (produced by striking or contact, which we hear) and anahat naad (unstruck sound, linked with meditation, not used in practical music).

Three qualities of naad

Pitch (oonchai-neechai): how high or low a sound is. It depends on the frequency of vibration; more vibrations per second give a higher pitch.
Intensity or magnitude (chhota-bada): how loud or soft a sound is. It depends on the amplitude of vibration.
Timbre (jaati or gun): the quality that lets us tell a sitar from a flute at the same pitch and loudness. It depends on the overtones (harmonics) present.

Shruti

A shruti is the smallest interval of pitch that the ear can clearly distinguish and that is musically useful. Indian theory places 22 shrutis in one octave (saptak). The traditional distribution is: Sa 4, Re 3, Ga 2, Ma 4, Pa 4, Dha 3, Ni 2.

Swara

A swara is a shruti that is pleasing in itself and is used as a note. There are seven shuddha (natural) swaras: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni.

Sa and Pa are achal (fixed); they never change.
Komal (flat) forms exist for Re, Ga, Dha and Ni.
Teevra (sharp) form exists only for Ma.

So one octave has 7 shuddha + 4 komal + 1 teevra = 12 swaras. The three registers are mandra (lower), madhya (middle) and taar (upper) saptak.

Key points

Sangeet = geet + vadya + nritya.
Pitch depends on frequency, intensity on amplitude, timbre on overtones.
22 shrutis in an octave; Sa, Ma and Pa have 4 shrutis each.
Sa and Pa are achal; Ma alone can be teevra.
12 swaras in all in one saptak.

Common mistakes

Saying Ma can be komal; in Hindustani usage shuddha Ma is the lower form and teevra Ma the raised one.
Mixing up shruti (micro-interval) and swara (note actually used).
Linking loudness with frequency; loudness depends on amplitude.

Two singers sing the same note equally loudly, yet listeners can tell their voices apart. Which quality of naad makes t…	Easy
Which swaras of the Hindustani octave are called achal because they have no komal or teevra form?	Easy
According to the traditional distribution of 22 shrutis, how many shrutis belong to Ga and Ni taken together?	Medium
A student counts all the distinct notes available within one saptak in Hindustani music. What total should she get?	Medium
Statement I: The pitch of a note rises when its frequency of vibration increases. Statement II: The loudness of a note …	Hard