1.1 The seven swaras, and what a swara is
Name the seven swaras in order, say them out loud in time, and explain what sa and pa are fixed against.
Sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, da, ni. Seven syllables, and the first thing anybody in this music learns. Two of them — sa and pa — never move; the other five have alternative positions, which is what the next topic is about. A swara here is not quite a note in the Western sense: it is a position with a way of being approached and left, and the syllable names the position.
Work through these
Say the seven swaras in order, and then backwards, until neither needs thinking about.
The names have to be as automatic as counting before they can be sung in time. Saying them backwards is the test, because the descending order is half of every exercise you will meet.
Svara · ReferenceSing or play sa and pa against a drone and hear how completely they agree with it.
Sa and pa are the two notes the drone itself sounds, which is why they are the fixed points of the system. Everything else is heard in relation to them.
Write down the full Sanskrit name behind each syllable.
Shadja, rishabha, gandhara, madhyama, panchama, dhaivata and nishada are where the seven syllables are abbreviated from. You will meet the long names in theory and the short ones in practice.
Svara · ReferenceSay the seven swaras once per beat while keeping a steady count with your hand.
Naming notes and keeping time are separate skills that have to be joined early, because every exercise from here on demands both at once. Slow and even beats fast and ragged.
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