Editing Heptatonic scale (section)

==Melakarta==
{{main|Melakarta}}

Melakarta is a South Indian classical method of organizing Raagas based on their unique heptatonic scales. The postulated number of melakarta derives from arithmetical calculation and not from Carnatic practice, which uses far fewer scale forms. Seven-pitch melakarta are considered subsets of a twelve-pitch scale roughly analogous to the Western chromatic scale. The first and fifth melakarta tones, corresponding to the first and eighth chromatic tones, are invariable in inflection, and the fourth melakarta tone, corresponding to the sixth or seventh chromatic tone, is allowed one of two inflections only, a natural ({{Transliteration|hi|shuddah}}) position and a raised ({{Transliteration|hi|tivra}}) position. The second and third melakarta tones can be picked from the 4 chromatic tones (second through fifth), and similarly for the sixth and seventh.  Thus the number of possible forms is equal to twice the square of the number of ways a two-membered subset can be extracted from a four-membered set:

: <math>2\cdot\left(\frac{4!}{2!\cdot2!}\right)^2 = 2\cdot6^2 =72</math>