1.2 Sixteen names, twelve positions

Written from the tradition, August 2026. The swara names, the shared positions and the notes of Mayamalavagowla were checked against the references under Go deeper. Swaras are written as words throughout, because a lesson body has no typed record to say letters from; the written forms are on the topic page, where every line carries a spoken version.

What this is and why it exists

Five of the seven swaras have more than one position. Ri, ga, da and ni have three each, and ma has two. With sa and pa, that makes sixteen names.

An octave has only twelve positions in it. So four pairs of names land on the same pitch. That looks like a mistake until you see what the names are for. They say which swara a note is behaving as, not only where it sits.

The vocabulary

Variant — one of the alternative positions of a swara, written with a number after the letter.
Position — a place in the octave. There are twelve of them.
Vivadi — a note used in a raga where a different name would be the ordinary choice.
Melakarta — a parent scale, using all seven swaras up and down.
Janya — a raga derived from a parent scale.

The mental model

Names describe behaviour; positions describe pitch. Two notes at the same pitch can be doing different jobs.

The second ri and the first ga sit on the same pitch. So do the third ri and the second ga. On the upper side, the second da matches the first ni, and the third da matches the second ni.

Which name is right depends on the raga around the note. If the raga treats it as a ri, arriving from sa and leaving toward ga, it is a ri. The pitch alone will not tell you.

The written forms use the capital letter and the number, and you will meet them constantly on paper. They are in the block below. In this lesson the swaras are said in words instead. A page of capital letters read aloud is an alphabet rather than a scale.

S
R1  R2  R3
G1  G2  G3
M1  M2
P
D1  D2  D3
N1  N2  N3

The work

Say the sixteen names aloud in words: sa, ri one, ri two, ri three, and so on.
Draw twelve boxes in a row for the twelve positions of an octave.
Put sa in the first box and pa in the eighth.
Place the three ri and the three ga into the boxes between them.
Notice which boxes end up with two names.
Do the same for the three da and the three ni above pa.
Count your names. There should be sixteen.
Take a raga you have heard of and write which of the sixteen it uses.
Start with Mayamalavagowla, which the next lesson but one covers.

What you should now be able to explain or do

Name all sixteen swaras in words. Explain why sixteen names fit into twelve positions. Name the four pairs that share a pitch. Say what decides which of the two names a note takes.

Check yourself

How many swara names are there, and how many positions?

Sixteen names and twelve positions. Sa and pa have one form each, ma has two, and the other four have three each.

Which pairs of names share a pitch?

The second ri with the first ga, and the third ri with the second ga. Above pa, the second da with the first ni, and the third da with the second ni.

Two ragas use a note at the same pitch. One calls it ri and the other calls it ga. Who is wrong?

Neither. The name follows the behaviour of the note inside its raga, and the two ragas treat it differently.

Why does this course say the swaras in words rather than in letters?

A run of capital letters read aloud is an alphabet. The words are what a musician actually says.

Go deeper

Back to Sixteen names, twelve positions: work through the checklist