Saptak means "gamut" or "the series of seven

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

s". It denotes the set of

swara Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or ''saptanka''. More comprehensively ...

s i.e.

Shadja Shadja ( ) is the first of the seven svaras in Hindustani and Carnatic music. Shadaj is the long form of the syllable सा (Sā). Details The following is the information about Shadaj and its importance in Indian classical music: * Shadaj is ...

(Sa),

Rishabha Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...

(Ri), Gāndhāra (Ga), Madhyama (Ma),

Panchama Pancham ( ) is the fifth svara from the seven svaras of Hindustani and Carnatic music. Pancham is the long form of the syllable प (Pa). Details Regarding panchama and its importance in Indian classical music: * Pancham is the fifth svara in ...

(Pa), Dhaivat (Dha), Nishada (Ni),

(Sa) which comprise a

musical scale In music theory, a scale is "any consecutive series of notes that form a progression between one note and its octave", typically by order of pitch or fundamental frequency. The word "scale" originates from the Latin ''scala'', which literal ...

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

. In

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, saptak literally means "containing seven" and is derived from the Sanskrit word ''Sapta'' which means "seven". The Saptak comprises the Sapta Svaras, i.e. the seven svaras or the seven notes of classical music. The basic saptak is called the Madhya Saptak (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...

: मध्य सप्तक). For notes with lower frequencies, the artist may use the Mandra Saptak (

: मंद्र सप्तक)', which is an octave lower than the Madhya Saptak. For notes with higher frequencies, the Taar Saptak (

: तार सप्तक), which is an octave above the Madhya Saptak, is used. The usual scale of Indian music spans from Sa in the Madhya Saptak to Sa in the higher, Taar Saptak. This inclusion of the first note of the higher saptak makes eight notes instead of the seven in each Saptak.Saptak – The Indian Scale
/ref> Generally, a

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

involves notes from three saptaks. The notes in the lower saptak are denoted by an apostrophe before the note representation (or a dot below the note representation) and the notes in the upper saptak are denoted by an apostrophe after the note representation (or a dot above the note representation). For example: *Mandra Saptak : Ṣ or Ş or 'S *Madhya Saptak : S *Taar Saptak : Ṡ or Ŝ or S' Talking about frequencies of the svaras, the frequencies change for all svaras i.e. Sa 240 Hz, Re 270 Hz, Komal Ga 288 Hz, Ma 320 Hz, Pa 360 Hz, Dha 405 Hz, and Komal Ni 432 Hz. Consequently, the Sa after the Ni of 432 Hz has a frequency of 480 Hz i.e. double the Lower saptak Sa, as do all 6 other svaras. Considering the Sa of the Madhya Saptak, the frequencies of the other

svara Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or ''saptanka''. More comprehensively ...

s would be, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Mandra Saptak: 120 Hz, 135 Hz, 144 Hz, 160 Hz, 180 Hz, 202.5 Hz, 216 Hz.} Madhya Saptak: 240 Hz, 270 Hz, 288 Hz, 320 Hz, 360 Hz, 405 Hz, 432 Hz.} Taar Saptak: 480 Hz, 540 Hz, 576 Hz, 640 Hz, 720 Hz, 810 Hz, 864 Hz.}

References

Music of India Musical scales Hindustani music terminology 2.

Svara Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or ''saptanka''. More comprehensively ...

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