Editing Sargam notes

{{Other uses|Sargam (disambiguation){{!}}Sargam}}
'''Sargam''' (from '''SA-R'''E'''-GA-M'''A), a technique for the teaching of [[sight-singing]], is the [[Hindustani music|Hindustani]] or North Indian equivalent to the western [[solfege]]. Sargam is practiced against a [[drone (music)|drone]] and the emphasis is not on the [[scale (music)|scale]] but on the [[interval (music)|interval]]s, thus it may be considered [[just intonation]]. The same notes are also used in [[South India|South Indian]] [[Carnatic music]].

The notes, or [[swara|''swar'']], are Shadj, Rishabh, Gandhara, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat, Nishad. When singing these become Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, and sargam stands for "Sa-Re-Ga-Ma". Only these syllables are sung, and further designations are never vocalized. When writing these become, S, R, G, M, P, D, N. A dot above a letter indicates the octave higher, a dot below the octave lower. A line below a letter indicates it is flat or ''komal'', an acute accent above a letter indicates it is sharp or ''tivar''. In some notation systems, the distinction is made with capital and lowercase letters. Natural is called ''shudda''. Re, Ga, Dha, and Ni may be either shudda or komal; Ma may be either shudda or tivar and is then called tivra Ma. Sa and Pa are immovable (once Sa is selected), forming a just [[perfect fifth]].

In certain forms of Indian classical and [[qawwali]], when a rapid, 16th note sequence of the same note is to be sung, sometimes different syllables are used in a certain sequence to make the whole easier to pronounce. For example instead of "sa sa sa sa sa" said really quickly, it might be "sadadalisadadali" which lends itself more to a quick and light tongue movement.

Also see [[Carnatic music]], [[swara]].

==Further reading==
*[[W. A. Mathieu|Mathieu, W. A.]] (1997). ''Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression''. Inner Traditions Intl Ltd. ISBN 0-89281-560-4. An autodidactic ear-training and sight-singing book that uses singing sargam syllables over a drone in a just intonation system based on perfect fifths and major thirds.

==External links==
*[http://www.raganet.com/RagaNet/Issues/1/nisargam.html North India Sargam Notation System]
*[http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sargam.html Sargam]

[[Category:Musical terminology]]

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