Page:The Music of India.djvu/19

Rh Semi-tones Notation The Svara of the used in The Southern Nomenclature. Western this names. scale. book. Shadja Tara C S Shadja Tara. Suddha Ni B N Kakali Ni. Komali Ni BU D Kaisiki Ni. Shatsruti Dha Suddha Dha A D f ChatuhsrutiDha i Suddha Ni. Komal Dha Ab i Suddha Dha. Panchama G P Panchama. Tivra^ Ma Ftf m Prati Ma. Suddha Ma F M Suddha Ma. Suddha Ga E G Antara Ga. Komal Ga Ri) i j Sadharana Ga. ( Shatsruti Ri. Suddha Ri D R f Chatuhsruti Ri. I Suddha Ga. Komal Ri Db r Suddha Ri. Shadja C S Shadja.

My southern friends will notice that the northern system of nomenclature has been adopted. It is true that the southern names of the notes, as well as the northern, go back to ancient musical facts, but they have very little meaning to the ordinary musician to-day and are not clear enough to justify their coming into general use throughout India. The northern system, however, is based on a clear principle and will present no difficulty to the southern student.

The Suddha notes of the northern system are those of the tonal scale, Bilaval, the European Major scale. With the exception of Ma, all the other notes are flats to the Suddha note. This is quite different from the southern system, where the Suddha note is the lowest and the others are all sharps. Clearly confusion would be the only result of an attempt to retain both systems, while from all points

1 'flat' 2 'sharp'.