Madhyam is the fourth

svara Svara or swara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as ''swar'') is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or '' ...

from the seven svaras of

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

and

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

. This article is written from the Hindustani perspective. Madhyam is the long form of the syllable म. For simplicity in pronouncing while singing the syllable, Madhyam is pronounced as Ma (notation - M). It is also called as मध्यम in the

Devanagri Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

script.

Details

The following is the information about Madhyam and its importance in

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

: * Madhyam is the fourth svara in an octave or

Saptak Saptak means "gamut" or "the series of eight notes". It denotes the set of swaras i.e. Ṣaḍja (Sa), Ṛiṣabha (Re), Gāndhāra (Ga), Madhyama (Ma), Panchama (Pa), Dhaivat (Dha), Niṣāda (Ni), Sadja (Sa) which comprise a musical scale ...

. * Ma is the immediate next svara of Gandhar (Ga). * The

of Madhyam is and . In fact Madhyam is the only

in the

. * It is said that Shadja is the basic svara from which all the other six svaras are produced. Breaking the word Shadja yields Shad And Ja. It means that Shad is six and ja is 'giving birth' in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. So basically the translation is : षड् - 6, ज -जन्म . Therefore, it collectively means giving birth to the other six notes of the music. So the svara Ma is formed from

Shadja Shadja is the first svara out of the seven svaras of Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Shadja is the long form of the syllable सा. For simplicity in pronouncing while singing the syllable, Shadja is pronounced as Sa (notation - S). It is a ...

. * There are 4 Shruti's of Madhyam. Previously the main Shruti not only for Ma but for all the other svaras was on the last Shruti but now it is considered to be on the 1st Shurti. For example if these are the 4 Shruti's of Ma then, Previously this was the position of the main Shruti of Ma. ^ 1 2 3 4 ^ But now this position has become the main Shruti of Ma. * All the other svaras except Shadja (Sa) and Pancham (Pa) can be or svaras but Sa and Pa are always Shuddha svaras. And hence svaras Sa and Pa are called Achal Svaras, since these svaras don't move from their original position. Svaras Ra, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni are called Chal Svaras, since these svaras move from their original position. Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni - Shuddha Svaras Re, Ga, Dha, Ni - Svaras Ma - Svaras Ma is a Shuddha Svara as well as a Tivra Svara. But Ma is the only Tivra Svara out of the seven svaras. This is denoted as ''म॓'' . * Ragas from

Kalyan Thaat Kalyan () is one of the ten basic thaats of Hindustani music from the Indian subcontinent. It is also the name of a raga (more popularly known as Yaman) within this thaat. Description Kalyan thaat consists of an important group of evening ragas ...

Poorvi Thaat Pooja or pooja () is Pū of the eleven basic thaats of Hindustani music from the Indian subcontinent. It is also the name of a raga within this thaat. Description Poorvi thaat adds a Komal Dhaivat to Marva thaat. These thaat ragas usually fea ...

, Marwa Thaat, Todi Thaat have Tivra Madhyam, rest of the

thaat A Thaat () is a "Parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term ''Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic Music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scale because t ...

s have Shuddha Madhyam. * Ragas where Ma is the Vadi svara - Raga Kedar, etc. Ragas where Ma is the Samvadi svara - Raga

Malkauns Malkauns, known also as rag Malkosh, is a raga in Indian classical music. It is one of the oldest ragas of Indian classical music. The equivalent raga in Carnatic music is called Hindolam, not to be confused with the Hindustani Hindol. Accordi ...

. * Hypothetically speaking, Ma is said to be the Mahipal - Lord Indra, Mahipal as in, the three main gods,

Bhrama Bhrama (Sanskrit: भ्रम), in the context of Hindu thought, means – error, mistake, illusion, confusion, perplexity. But, it literally means – that which is not steady; and refers to error etc., caused by defects in the perceptive syste ...

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

and

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

were first created i.e. Sakar Bhrama (Sa) and then these three gods created Rishimuni i.e. Re and then

Gandharvas A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...

were created for singing and then lord Indra or Raja Indra i.e. Mahipal was created. Ma is made the acronym of

Mahipal Mahipal (1919 -2005) was an Indian actor who worked in bollywood mostly in stunt films like ''Parasmani, Zabak, Cobra Girl, Jantar Mantar, Arabian nights themed movies such as Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag, Roop Lekha, Sune ...

for showing the importance of the syllable Ma. * Madhyam is said to be sourced from call of the

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

. * Madhyam is associated with the planet

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. * Madhyam is associated with

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

colour.

References

{{Reflist Hindustani music Carnatic music