Harmonium is a keyboard, and so these lessons apply equally to the harmonium as well as

to the electronic synthesizer keyboard. The important difference is that you can - and do play the
electronic keyboard with your LEFT hand also; but for harmonium, your left hand is used in
pumping the bellows to force air under pressure into the inside of the harmonium. In keyboard our
left hand is used for chords. An ordinary keyboard is sufficient to master all the lessons that will
follow. If you already have a keyboard, you do not need to buy anything else as of now. For solo
performances, you can use a synthesizer keyboard or a harmonium, depending upon your taste,
convenience and availability. Harmonium traditionally suits better for accompaniment during
performance of Ghazals, Thumri, Indo Pakistani classical music, and some other types of Indian
music. For accompaniment to movie songs, and all varieties of songs, the synthesizer keyboard
is the preferred choice. Keyboard offer a wide variety of instrument sounds. Types of keyboards
are given below:
Chordophones Aerophones Electrophones

• Clavichord • Accordion • Electronic keyboard

• Electric piano • Harmonium • Electronic piano
• Piano • Pipe organ • Music workstation
• Clavinet • Reed organ • Synthesizer

• Harpsichord • Pipe organ • Sampler

In a keyboard the instrument sound you choose is called a voice. Before you play a song, choose a voice that you like. Practice selecting
different voices, and remember the setting for the ones you prefer. Look your keyboard owner's manual to help you. When you play the
songs you can use any sound you wish. The rhythm controls provide drum beats to play along with. These rhythm beats are also called
styles. The drum rhythms or kits can be changed to suit the kind of song. If you have a keyboard equipped with floppy drive or flash usb
media then you may copy rhythm styles in your keyboard which can be played using user style button. Melody keys are used to play the
tune by right hand. The chord keys are used to play along with the melody with your left hand. Chords make the song sound full and
harmonic. If you do not know how to play chords then you may use auto chord accompaniment.

Learning Keyboard in Desi Style

The article here is to teach you keyboard in Desi Style and in the end you will be able to play Indian and Pakistani raga based film
songs. Harmonium, keyboard and synthesizer keyboard are taken to mean the same thing, and are called simply the "keyboard". The
notations are used to describe the keys on the keyboard: In our lessons for convenience, the reference note, called the tonic or the Sa,
is assumed to be the first black key, indicated by the letter "S". If you want to sing-along music then you may assign any key as "Sa",
according to your voice scale.

In this article the fingering system of keyboard and harmonium is kept same so, that we will be able to play both instruments. Most
people who play harmonium find keyboard difficult due to different finger assignments. Some musicians use first white key as starting or
reference note (Sa) but we will use first black key as our starting reference note for quick learning..

Keyboard And Computer Music

Music can be defined as collection of small pieces of regular sound played at predefined time interval. It is the small water droplets that
make the ocean, likewise music is also an ocean that is made up of small parts, it is called a “note”. An ingenious collection of these
notes played over a period of time results in a melody which could be a Mehdi Hassan or A . Rahman song. Hence both western and
Indian music has a set of basic notes from which they grow, something like alphabets. There is new concept evolving called “computer
music” where a musician explores beyond the basic notes that are defined in music. In cubase it is possible to explore beyond
basics. Today almost all the keyboards are computerized and produce MIDI music. MIDI means musical instruments digital interface.
Midi music is editable in computer or in MIDI keyboards and midi music can be produced with 16 individual tracks of different
instruments.

Let us see more on Notes. “Notes” what are they? Note can be technically explained as a sound frequency. Actually the sound that is
produced when you press a key on musical keyboard is called as “NOTE”. It does not matter if you press the white key or the black
key. Each key plays a predefined frequency. A frequency is number of cycles per second. The note gets its shape by the amount of time
you hold down the key and release it. This is called the note length or duration. Hence to make a “tune” or a “melody” or “song” you
should play a bunch of these notes at proper duration and length.

Western Music Notes Verses Indian

Indian classical music has 7 basic notes (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni), with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike
the 12-note scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and inter-tonal gaps may also vary. Before we can
learn how to play scales chords and various progressions it is vital that we learn the notes on keyboard or harmonium and how
they relate to each other. The best way to describe the notes on the keyboard is by comparing them to the notes of the alphabets.
The first seven notes of the keyboard are ( A - B - C - D -E - F - G ). Each note differ with each other in sound. Notice that the seven
notes of keyboard repeat themselves over and over again. The notes sounds the same but the pitch differs. For example if you play C
and move to the right until you find the next C, you will notice that if you play them simultaneously, both notes sounds the same
but one is higher than the other. It is a well-known fact that Indian music is based on melody and Western Music on Harmony. This does
not mean that Western Music does not include melody. In western music, the harmonizing effect of different instruments and voices
given to a certain melody plays the important role. In a similar manner in Indian music the melody has an upper hand. Usually, it is said
and believed that harmony doesn’t play a role in Indian music. But, to my way of understanding, harmony is equally important in Indian
classical music performance though, not the way it is used in western music. In Indian music the harmony effect is a steady continuous
drone effect created usually by a ‘Taanpura’.

Please read carefully:

Middle C marks the center of the keyboard. As you will notice the C major is the easiest and simplest scale of the twelve. It consists all
the white keys from any starting C to the next octave C.

A standard semi professional music keyboard has 48 keys. You will see 4 sets of 12 keys. This 12 set of notes is technically
called an octave. Why 12, why not 13?, Good question. The aim of this article is to keep it simple; Western is based on
logarithmic division. You can start playing Indian or Pakistani song from any note and starting note will always become our reference
note or Sa. Remaining notes will be arranged according to thaat or scale of the song. It is more easy to start our Hindi scale or thaat
from first black key. In western music also, fifth note from C is as 5th . In Indian music “Sa” note is based on your reference note or the
key you selected for starting point as Sa. We can further go in deep by playing song in raga of that particular thaat.

In the western music system the “C note” itself does not change and “scales” denotes the pitch changes. Western music system has an
“absolute” naming for the keys whereas in Indian the notation is “relative. Desi music have combined both. In the seven tone-scale the
second, third, fourth, sixth, and seventh notes can be sharp or flat, making up the twelve notes in the Western scale. However,
ragas can specify microtonal changes to this scale: a flatter second, a sharper seventh, and so forth. Furthermore, such variations can
occur between styles, performers or simply follow the mood of the performer. In Indian music there is no absolute pitch; instead, each
performance simply picks a ground note, and the other scale degrees follow relative to the ground note.

Note: “Sa” does not “map” always onto “C”. It could start at F and still form a S R G M P D N scale in which case the corresponding
western notes also change. Presently you may relate the “Sa” of Indian to “C” of Western which is fortunately identical to each other . A
scale is a set of 7 notes in a proper order and intervals. Just remember this, a scale is set of 7 notes with predefined intervals. The
distance between each note is called as interval. It is true that scales and ragas are not same. You will learn about ragas in raga section
of our book. Apart from having seven different notes, there are not many similarities. There is a huge difference between a scale and
raga in tonal quality or the sound density.

Raga has many dimensions to it. First, it has an emotional overtone. Just simply going over Sa to Sa can be called as a major scale or
Cmaj. Though the notes and intervals are just the same. A raga can have 4 or more notes with intervals. This kind of reduction of notes
in a scale is called as modes in western classical music. Experts believe proper training is required to play ragas fluently. This comes by
good practice and understanding of note usage. A western trained first-rate musician will be able play a phrase of 1/64 note at a good
speed but will find it difficult to play raga without proper training. It is the reason that western music is fast. Indian music is melodic in
nature while western music is harmonic in nature. Chords produce harmony. Now you will be ready to believe that it is not possible to
play Indian songs with only western training. Desi Style music lessons is the mixture of Western & Indian system.

Selection of first note

On the keyboard, the area S through N is called a saptak or an octave. There are three octaves: the Madh (middle), the Mandar (lower),
and the Taar (higher/upper). The lower octave is situated to the left of the middle and is shown with a sign of apostrophe ( ' ) on the left
side of the note. The upper octave is situated to the right of the middle octave and is shown with a sign of apostrophe ( ' ) on the right
side of the note. Again, this is clearly shown in the diagram. Whereas a note belonging to the middle octave has no sign of apostrophe ( '
) when represented on the paper; for example, the P of the middle octave is represented simply as: P. The note belonging to the lower
octave has an apostrophe to its LEFT. Thus, for example, the P in the lower octave is represented as: 'P. The note belonging to the
higher octave has an apostrophe to its RIGHT. Thus, for example, the P in the higher octave is represented as: P'. The 36 keys
represent the notes in all three octaves e.g.. 12x3=36

*In the following diagram 'S means lower octave note ( left side of middle octave) and S' means higher octave note of harmonium or
keyboard
( right side of middle octave). The rule of achal, komal and tiver will apply to all three diagrams in this page.

First White Key As Our Sa

Diagram 1

Fourth Black Key Selected As Our Sa

Diagram

Lower Octave or Mandar Saptak 'S 'r 'R 'g 'm 'M 'P 'd 'D 'n 'N
 Note Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Middle Octave or Madh Saptak S r R g m M P d D n N
Note Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Higher Octave or Taar Saptak S' r' R' g' m' M' P' d' D' n' N'
Note Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

First Black Key Selected As Our Sa

Diagram 2
There may be five saptak in a keyboard. The saptak to the left of the keyboard is for playing chords and to the extreme right is one more
taar saptak but with very sharp voice. We can also play melody in chords saptak but the sound of melody will show base sound. The
chords saptak and extra taar saptak to the right side is not perfect for playing melody. In a complete saptak there are 12 notes which are
seven white keys and five black keys. So, in a harmonium mostly there are three saptak and 36 keys but in a professional keyboard
there are four to five saptak and 48-60 keys. It should be noted that in both instruments while playing songs you will usually deal with
three saptak. In keyboards you will also use chords saptak which is located to the extreme left of keyboard. In keyboards or harmonium
most of the songs begin from madh or middle saptak.

To summarize:

Achal or Qyme Swar: These notes are notated as S and P (the swar without saathi swar)

Komal or Flat Swar: These notes are notated as r, g,m, d, n & are shown in small letters.

Tiver or Sharp Swar: These notes are noted as R,G,M,D,N and shown in capital letters.

Achal, Komal, Tiver Swar: By combining achal, komal and tiver swar we get 12 notes of a complete saptak. S r R g G m M P d D n N

Achal swar Sa and Pa are also shown in capital letters. All notes belong to madh-saptak by default and have no sign of apostrophe.
Notes of Mandar saptak are preceded by ( ' ) sign of apostrophe, and notes of Taar-saptak are succeeded by ( ' ) sign apostrophe.
Lastly, a comma ( , ) represents a pause between notes. It is important that you learn achal, komal and tiver system of 12 music notes of
any saptak.

Note:
This arrangement is also for keyboard in which you use your both hands but you use right hand in playing harmonium.

As mentioned earlier in Fig 1, we have assumed the first white key to be the Sa (S), for convenience. But from now we will use black key as our first
starting point for Sa (S). You will find that there are sets of 5 black keys on the keyboard. Each set of those 5 black keys is made up of 2 + 3 black
keys. The first white key is that white key which lies immediately to the left of the first black key. Since there are several sets of 5 black keys, there will
also be several "first white" keys. In a saptak there are total 12 keys which consists of 5 black keys and seven white keys as mentioned below:

You are going to use only your right hand to play melody on harmonium/keyboard. The right hand fingers are numbered as follows:

The thumb is numbered 1

The index finger is 2
The middle finger is 3
The ring finger is 4
The little finger is numbered 5.

Fingers:
In western system there are 12 scales while in desi system there are ten thaat. A thaat is the ascending and descending movements from S R G M P
D N S', and back that is, S' N D P M G R S. All the 8 notes are always included, in that order, in a or thaat. In these lessons thaat uses only " first
black" key as starting point, that is, natural. We will always fix our first note from first black key in madh saptak which is easier for sargam practice
and playing songs. Sargam means seven notes in ascending and descending order. For a complete sargam we also include 8th note of the next
saptak which is Sa'.

Know Your Swars

In music there are seven notes in a ‘Sur’ which are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni There are twelve swar in one saptak because five swar also have
their saathi swar. Only two swar are called achal swar (fixed swars) because they do not have any saathi swars. The Achal swars are Sa and Pa.
The following five tiver swar have their saathi swars
1. Re
2. Ga
3. Ma
4. Dha
5. Ni

Sa and Pa are not included in the above mentioned five swar. The reason is this that their saathi swars do not exist. These swar are called achal
swar. These achal swar are not komal nor tiver. To distinguish komal and tiver we will write komal swar with the small letters and tiver swar
with capital lettesr as given below:

List of Komal Saathi Swar of Re, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni

Komal Swars are shown in small letters.
Komal Re --------- r
Komal Ga --------- g
Komal Ma --------- m
Komal Dha --------- d
Komal Dha --------- n

List of Tiver Saathi Swar of Re, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni

Tiver Swars are shown in capital letters.
Tiver Re --------- R
Tiver Ga --------- G
Tiver Ma --------- M
Tiver Dha --------- D
Tiver Ni --------- N

Achal or Qyme Swars

Achal or Qyme Swars are also shown by capital letters.
Achal Swars --------- S and P

We can also write the whole sargam by combining achal komal and tiver as S r R g G m M P d D n N S. (here S and P is called achal or qyme swar
and without komal and tiver saathi swar). When all the swar are tiver in a Sargam then it will become the sargam of Raga Aiman or Kalyan. Raga
aiman or kalyan is same. In the Sargam of Raga Aiman all swar will be tiver along with Sa and Pa which are achal or qyme swar. These tiver and
achal swar are represented here as under:-

Tiver Swars or Sharp Swars: R, G, M, D, N

Achal S, P,
There are total 12 notes in one saptak: 5 Komal + 5 Tiver+ 2 Achal = 12
This rule will apply to all three saptak in a harmonium and in all four or five octaves in a keyboard. In the below given diagram we have shown notes
from all three saptak which are mandar, madh and taar. The below given notes are shown only for understanding different notes arrangements.

Playing arrangement (1) from first white key

Here ACH = Achal Swars, TIV = Tiver Swars, KOM = Komal Swars

Here starting from first white key as our Sa the arrangement of notes will be as given below:-

Note : The first note or key just attached after Sa is always Komal Ray, then Tiver Ray, then Komal Ga Then Tiver Ga, then Komal Ma then Tiver
Ma, Achal Pa Then Komal Dha, Tiver Dha, Komal Ni Tiver Ni, Then Achal Sa.
 Or we can write whole sargam as S r R g G m M P d D n N S

In the Diagram.2 we are starting from left side and from first white key. The immediate key just attached to Sa is r with key number 2. With r the next
immediate key just attached is R with key number 3 and with R the next key just attached is g with key number 4 and so on . . . . .The keys attached
with each other are show by numbering 1,2,3,4,5……36.

We can also explain in another way: After Achal Sa there will be Komal note then Tiver, and so on…………. Pa is also Achal and after Pa then there
will be Komal Dha, Tiver Dha and so on If you will recognize komal and tiver Swars then you will be able to understand thaat, scale, ragas and song
notation which will help you play a song. Many old and new song are composed in a particular Raga.

Saptk: A saptak is the complete set of five komal and five tiver swars along with two achal swar which are Sa and Pa. So there are total twelve
swars in a complete sargam.

Actual playing arrangement (2) from first black key in desi

style

Our actual playing arrangement for further lessons

Here starting from first black key as our Sa the arrangement of notes will be same as mentioned in playing arrangement (1) above.

Note: The first note or key attached just after Sa is always Komal Ray Then Tiver Ray, Komal Ga Then Tiver Ga, Komal Ma then Tiver Ma,
Achal Pa Then Komal Dha, Tiver Dha, Komal Ni Tiver Ni, Then Achal Sa.

Or we can write whole sargam as S r R g G m M P d D n N S

In the Diagram arrangement (1) above we are starting from left side and from first white key. The immediate key just attached to Sa is komal r with
key number 2. With komal r the next immediate key just attached is tiver R with key number 3 and with again with tiver R the next key just attached is
komal g with key number 4 and so on . . . . .The keys attached with each other are shown by numbering 1,2,3,4,5……35 for your understanding only.

Thaat or Scales
The set of Seven Notes which can produce a Raga is called a Thaat in Urdu or Hindi and ragas produce melodious songs. The system of
classification for the raga in different groups is called a thaat. There are again several systems of classification of the raga. If you want to learn
keyboard or harmonium the practice of thaat is important. If you want to sing-along music notes then sargam and raga practice is important. If you
learn thaat then you can learn raga and can play many songs. Beauty in playing a song appears when you use ragas. One can play song in a thaat
but there are very few songs for a particular thaat. Ragas can produce many songs. Thaat have fix seven notes where in ragas notes can vary. There
are certain rules for these thaat. Thaat is a desi scale of seven notes. For harmonium beginners tent thaat practice is essential. First try to learn ten
thaat and try to play only thaat based songs. Without practice of thaat based songs never try to play raga based songs.

1. A Thaat must have seven notes out of the twelve notes placed in an ascending or descending order. Both the forms of the notes can be used.

2. Thaat has only an Arohi.

3. Thaats are not to be sung and are for only playing music songs but the ragas produced from the thaat are sung. We can play music of song with a
thaat but beauty will only come if we play music with ragas.

4. Thaats are named after the popular raga of that thaat. For example bhairavi is a popular raga and the thaat of the raga bhairavi is named after the
raga.

5. Out of ten thaat about 80 ragas are developed and performed these days. But for a beginner 30 ragas are sufficient for perfection and practice.

Transposing Or Scale Changing

Note:
Transposing option in keyboards or Scale Changing option in harmonium is
same.
Transposition: Changing Keys
Transposition, or changing the key of a piece of music, can be useful and is sometimes
necessary to make music more sing able or playable. Music is transposed by raising or lowering
every note by the same interval. Changing the key of a piece of music is called transposing the
music. There are many reasons why you might want a piece to be in a different key. There are
also some ways to avoid having to do the transposition yourself, but learning to transpose can be
very useful for performers/singers, composers, and arrangers

Why Transpose?
The most common reason for changing the key of a piece of music is to put it in the right key for
your vocalists. If your singer or singers are struggling with notes that are too high or low to sing,
changing the key to put the music in their range will result in a much better performance.
Instrumentalists may also find that a piece is easier to play if it is in a different key. Players of
both bowed and plucked strings generally find fingerings and tuning to be easier in sharp keys,
while woodwind and brass players often find flat keys more comfortable and in tune.
Instrumentalists with transposing instruments will usually need any part they play to be properly
transposed before they can play it.
A good electronic keyboard or scale changer harmonium will transpose for you. If your music is
already stored as a computer file, there are several transpose programs that will transpose it for
you and display, play and print it in the new key for your singing or listening.

Choosing Your New Key Or Scale

Before you can begin transposing, you must decide what your new key will be. This will depend
on why you are transposing, and what kind of vocalists and instrumentalists you are working with.

1. Transposing scale beginning from first white key

Usually we start thaat bilawal with first black key which is 'S'. Normally for thaat practice or playing songs as a beginner we start with first black key.
When we become perfect keyboard or harmonium player we can use any key for playing thaat bilawal but the arrangement of achal, tiver and komal
swar will remain according to system mentioned earlier. If we want to sing a song in bilawal but our voice do not synchronize with the first black note
then we may try other notes according to our voice pitch. We can play thaat bilawal songs with any key with transpose option and still song will not
effect. In the following diagram we have transposed thaat bilawal from first black note to first white note and still thaat bilawal will remain bilawal thaat.

Diagram.1 Building Thaat Bilawal Sargam From First White Key

Note: - We can select any key as our Sa and from that position of Sa our key combination will
change in each below given diagrams. Some person cannot sing in loud scale so; the musician
will select suitable scale for them. Selecting scale means transposing or selecting first note. In
madh saptak of diagram 3, notes with cross sign (X) will be ignored and when we will play
remaining notes in madh saptak and it will become sargam of thaat bilawal. Note that while
playing sargam ascending and descending we also include next saptak note S'.
S r R g G m M P d D n N S'
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
S X R X G m X P X D X N S'
S R G m P D N S'
1 3 5 6 8 10 12 13
 Or we can write whole sargam as S R G
m P D N S’
1 3
5 6 8 10 12 13
Thaat Bilawal sargam in ascending and descending order
Arohi : S R G m P D N S’
Amrohi: S’ N D P m G R S

2. Transposing scale beginning from first black key

(default key)

Diagram.2 Building Thaat Bilawal Sargam From First Black Key

We can select any key as our Sa and from that position of Sa our key combination will change.
We have selected first black key as a default key to play harmonium. From now we will always
select first black key as our starting point. Now our key combination will become as given below:

S r R g G m M P d D n N S'
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
S x R x G m x P x D x N S'
S R G m P D N S'
Note: Sa is always achal or qyme swar. The first swar or key attached just after Sa is always
komal ray shown with cross (X) and with note no. 2, then tiver ray with capital R, komal Ga,
then tiver Ga, komal Ma then tiver Ma, achal Pa, then komal Dha, tiver Dha, komal Ni, tiver Ni,
then achal Sa as S’.
Or we can write whole sargam again as S R G m P D N S’
Again Thaat Bilawal sargam in ascending and descending order
Arohi : S R G m P D N S’
Amrohi: S’ N D P m G R S

3. Transposing scale beginning from second white

key

Diagram.3
 Now we have selected our first key from 2nd white key for playing a song or harmonium We can
select any key as our Sa and from that position of Sa our key combination will change in each
diagram.

S r R g G m M P d D n N S'
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
S x R x G m x P x D x N S'
S R G m P D N S'

Note : Sa is always achal or qyme sur. The first Sur or key attached just after Sa is always
Komal Ray shown with cross and with note no. 2 Then Tewar Ray with Capital R, Komal Ga
Then Tewar Ga, Komal Ma then Tewar Ma, Achal Pa Then Komal Dha, Tewar Dha, Komal Ni
Tewar Ni, Then Achal Sa as S’. If we do not play notes with cross sign in diagram 5 then it will
also become another Thaat.
Or we can write whole sargam again as S R G m P D
N S’
Again Thaat Bilawal sargam in ascending and descending order will be
same.
Arohi : S R G m P D N S’
Amrohi: S’ N D P m G R S
It is proved from above three examples that whatever note is selected as initial note to play
sargam, the corresponding notes will change according to a fixed system of achal, komal and
tiver properties.

Transpose option of keyboard and harmonium:

For keyboard learners the option of transpose in keyboards have made it easy to change scale
according to voice pitch of singer or song. Note that by default we have selected our Sa as
first black key throughout this website.
In scale changer harmonium use scale changing option. Now there is no need to learn playing
from every white or black key. Only learn to play music from first black key and change your
required scale by transpose option. You are required only to learn 10 thaat which begin with first
black key therefore transpose option have made scale changing easy for singing.

Raga And Its Concept:

A music, which follows the characteristics of this tradition, is called classical - in
opposition to Western classical music, where classical means belonging to a period of
time (approximately from 16th to 17th century). All classical music follows this rule even
if some completely different styles exist side by side. To develop precisely a raga, the
musician needs the presence of a drone, whatever the music. Singers are always
accompanied with the tanpura or the harmonium, which produce the singer's tonic and
dominant (SA and PA). Classical music is mainly divided into two branches, North and
South.

History of classical music

Of The Sub-continent
North Indian Classical music (some people know as Hindustani) in reference of the Hindi
speaking region going to North-West Frontier and to Poorab, the East. Many styles and genres
have been developed and encouraged by a family system now called Gharana. These numerous
Gharanas all over North India have developed very different styles of classical music, genres and
instruments. In the development music, the things went like this (from a verse): First songs, then
notes, then Sharutis and then the Jaties (ragas). Birds have songs, so do the other mammals.
When we say that the songs must have developed after humans were civilized, we are forgetting
something. Look around you. There are songs everywhere.
It is certain that as humans got civilized, their songs got complicated. With the development of
language, the songs became more meaningful. The primal screams evolved into poems of love,
separation, nature, beauty and other things that affected us emotionally. When something said
through conversation does not capture the essence of our feelings, a song erupts in us. That is a
primal instinct. It is not something that is impossible to do without the knowledge of Sharuties. A
villager in India or a Gypsy in Europe cannot stop singing just because they do not know the
difference between just intonation and chromatic intonation. These are afterthoughts.
When the enlightened artists of the ancient world sang the songs, the beauty of changing pitch
compelled them to find more about it. What is it that changing the pitch up and down in certain
ways sounds musical. The first known theory of music in Indian Vedas (Samveda) contains four
notes. Nowadays notes are always mentioned in ascending (such as C D E or Sa Re Ga) order.
The combination of several notes woven into a composition in a way, which is pleasing to the ear,
is called a Raga. The raga is an Indian scale which utilizes varying ascending and descending
patterns - certain notes on the way up and certain notes on the way down - but always in the set
sequence. The raga never has less than five notes - the minimum required for a tune. Each raga
creates an atmosphere, which is associated with feelings and sentiments. Any stray combination
of notes cannot be called a Raga. At a more academic level, it is a musical composition that
functions within a structure and follows certain rules with relation to the kind of notes used in it.
Raga is the dictator of melody and the "Taal" is the dictator of Rhythm. In addition, melody is the
product of sound and the rhythm is product of time. Therefore, ‘the music is the art of
manipulating the ’sound’ through ‘time’. The time affects music in two different ways. First through
rhythm is obvious. However, the time is also at work producing the musical sounds that are useful
in melody. The universe is full of sound, but every sound is not musical.
According to the scriptures, sage Narada practiced great austerities for several years and was
honoured by Lord Shiva who taught him the great art of music. It is said that from the sleeping
position (Shayanmudra) of his wife, Goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva created the Rudravina (an
instrument with a form similar to the sitar). From his five mouths, five ragas emerged while a sixth
was created by the goddess Parvati. These ragas were named according to Lord Shiva's
movements to east, west, north, south and towards the sky and were called Bhairav, Hindol,
Megh, Deepak and Shri. Raga Kaushik was created by the Goddess Parvati herself.
Music flourished in India under Muslim rule and was subject to a number of new influences,
including those of the mystic Sufi sect. As a consequence new elements, forms and instruments
came to be introduced into Indian Music. Among the vocal forms, were the Qual which gave rise
to the Qawali and the Tanpura, both of which are heard today. The sitar and the tabla also
belong to this period. The Persian poet Amir Khusrau is believed to have made a major
contribution in the development of the Qawali as well as the Sitar.

Musical patronage reached its zenith under the Mughal emperors Akbar (1555-1605), Jahangir
(1605-1627) and Shahjahan (1628-1658) The legendary composer Tansen (1492-1589) is
believed to have been a member of the court of Akbar. His enchanting music is believed to have
had the power to bring rains and light lamps. Music was also becoming more popular and was no
longer the preserve of the upper classes. Most compositions had initially been in Sanskrit but by
the sixteenth century they were being composed in various dialects of Hindi - Braj Bhasa and
Bhojpuri among them - as well as Persian and Urdu. It was during this phase that two separate
systems emerged as a result of the Islamic influence on the existing system in Northern and
central India while the south remained free from this domination. This led to emergence of two
forms of Indian Music. Hindustani (North Indian) and Carnatic (South Indian).
The arrival of British rule saw the violin entering the repertoire of South Indian music in the mid-
eighteenth century. In the time of Bahadur Shah Zafar the last King of Mughal empire, music
development was limited and poetry developed. A significant development was the use of music
to promote nationalism during the Indian freedom struggle. The twentieth century also saw the
arrival of Indian cinema, which further popularized music among common man. The post
independence period saw classical Indian music gaining global recognition. Ravi Shankar, one of
the greatest players of the Sitar, worked with the Beatles while Ali Akbar Khan popularized the
Sarod in the west. The twentieth century also saw collaborations between Indian and western
musicians. such as Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin. This merging of two streams of music is
often referred to as fusion Music.
New generation of artists like Bhimsen Joshi, Amjad Ali Khan and Bismillah Khan brought finest
traditions of Indian music. Film music is however, the most popular music in India and Pakistan
today and popular Indian films are seldom without songs. Urdu Ghazal also got popularity and
populars Ghazal singers like Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Jagjeet and many others emerged with
a new style. Bhajans and Qawali also retain their popularity.

INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC NOTATIONS

Indian music is traditionally practice-oriented and until the 20th century did not employ notations
as the primary media of instruction, understanding, or transmission. The rules of Indian music and
compositions themselves are taught from a guru to a shishya, in person. However, the notation is
regarded as a matter of taste and is not standardized. Thus there is no universal system of
notation for the rest of the world to study Indian music. The complexity of Indian classical music
could not be expressed in writing.

NOTES IN A SAPTAK
The Indian musical scale is said to have evolved from 3 notes to a scale of 7 primary notes, on
the basis of 22 intervals. A scale is divided into 22 shrutis or intervals, and these are the basis of
the musical notes. The 7 notes of the scale are known to musicians as Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da
and Ni. The eighth note is a repetition of the first and is therefore an octave higher. The group of
seven notes is called a saptak. In western music these seven notes are identified as C D E F G A
B. These 7 notes of the scale do not have equal intervals between them. A Saptak is a group of 7
notes, divided by the shrutis or intervals -- A raga is based on the principle of a combination of
notes selected out the 22 note intervals of the octave. Total notes in a single saptak are 12 but
when we practice arohi and amrohi then we also choose next saptak Sa. See below given
diagram.

By deleting other notes 12 notes saptak becomes bilawal thaat

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Indian classical music has 7 basic notes (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni), with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike the 12-note
scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and inter-tonal gaps may also vary. The 22 Srutis are the only notes which can
The first and fifth notes (Sa and Pa) do not alter their positions on this
be useful for music in an “octave”.
interval and are fixed. Detailed lessons about saptak and notes are provided in Harmonium Lessons The
other 5 notes can change their positions in the interval due to komal and tiver, leading to different
raga.

Raga
The raga forms the backbone of Indian music, and the laws laid down for the ragas have to be
carefully observed to preserve and safeguard their integrity. The following points are required in
the construction of a Raga --
1. Thaat or sequence of notes,
2. Jaatis or classification
3. King and Queen relation of the notes, i.e. Vadi and Samvadi
4. The Ascent and Descent of the raga, i.e. Arohi and Amrohi
5. Important group of notes
6. Pitch
7. Speed.
According to Indo Pak ancient theory, the musician's task in exploring mood is made easier if the
performance takes place at the time and in the atmosphere appropriate to the raga. So if a raga which
embodies the atmosphere of spring is played in spring it will be more effective than if it were played in
winter. The right atmosphere responds to the raga as it were, just as the sympathetic strings of a sitar
vibrate to enrich the melody being played on the main strings. This is why particular times and seasons are
deemed suitable for particular ragas.

Play some classical sounding music and try to see if any particular Raga thrills you. Anything that
turns you off completely ? Play instrumental or light classical music at first before getting on a
heavy-duty vocal piece. Is there a piece that moves you ? Puts you in a sublime or inspiring mood
?
Another aspect of the raga is the appropriate distribution in time during the 24 hours of the day for
its performance, i.e. the time of the day denotes the raga sung a particular time. Raga are also
allotted a particular time space in the cycle of the day. These are divided into four types --
1. Twilight raga when the notes re and da are used -- such as Raga Marwa, Poorvi.
2. Midday and Midnight ragas which include the notes ga and ni (komal).
3. Ragas for the first quarter of the morning and night which include the notes re, ga, da and
ni (komal).
4. For the last quarter of the day and night, the raga include the notes sa, ma and pa.
All the raga are divided into two groups -- Poorvi Ragas and Uttar Ragas. The Poorvi Raga are
sung between 12 noon and 12 midnight. The Uttar Raga are sung between 12 midnight and 12
noon. The variations on the dominant or ``King" note helps a person to find out why certain raga
are being sung at certain times. This raga classification is about 500 years old.

The beauty of the raga will not be marred by the time of the day it is sung. It is the psychological
association with the time that goes with the mood of the raga. The object of a raga is to express a
certain emotional mood and sentiment without any reference to time and season. For a student of
classical music, this classification may give an idea as to how to base his reasons for the
traditional usage of raga.

Another division of ragas is the classification of ragas under five principal:

1. Hindol,
2. Deepak,
3. Megh,
4.Shree
5.Maulkauns

From these five ragas, other raga are derived. The first derivatives of the ragas are called
raganis, and each of the five ragas have five raganis under them. There are 25 raganis for the
above five ragas. Each raga contains 5 raganis. Further derivatives from these raga and raginis
resulted in attaching to each principal raga 16 secondary derivatives known as upa-raga and upa-
raganis.
All the ragas are supposed to have been derived from their thaat. Every raga has a fixed number
of komal (soft) or tewar (sharp) notes, from which the thaat can be recognized. In other words, a
certain arrangement of the 7 notes with the change of shuddh, komal and tewar is called a thaat.
There are several opinions in this matter.

About Thaat or Scales

The set of Seven Notes or Scale which can produce a Raga is called a Thaat in urdu or Hindi and
raga produces a song. The system of classification for the ragas in different groups is called a
thaat. There are again several systems of classification of the raga. Presently in Indian or
Pakistani Classical Music the 10 Thaat (Scales) classification of raga is prevalent. If you want to
learn how to play keyboard or harmonium the practice of thaat is important. If you want to bring
beauty in music then raga practice is important. If you learn one thaat or scale then you can play
many songs in that particular thaat or scale. Beauty in playing harmonium or keyboard appears
when you use raga.

There are certain rules for these thaat

1. The set of Seven Notes or Scale which can produce a Raga is called a Thaat in urdu or Hindi.
A Thaat must have seven notes in ascending order.
2. Thaat has only one Arohi.
3. Thaat are not be sung only play but the raga produced from Thaat are sung. As a beginner you
can play music of film songs with thaat.
4. Thaat are named after the popular raaga of that Thaat. For example Bhairavi is a popular raga
and the thaat of the raga Bharavi is named after the raga.

What is a Raga?
The combination of several notes woven into a composition in a way, which is pleasing to the ear,
is called a Raga or Raag. The raga is an Indian scale which utilizes varying ascending and
descending patterns – certain notes on the way up and certain notes on the way down – but
always in the set sequence. The raga never has less than five notes - the minimum required for a
tune. Each raga creates an atmosphere, which is associated with feelings and sentiments. Any
stray combination of notes cannot be called a Raga. At a more academic level, it is a musical
composition that functions within a structure and follows certain rules with relation to the kind of
notes used in it.
We can ascribe to a raga certain meta-characteristics that define a raga:
• Every raga is said to be born of a Thaat which is its parent. Every raga is composed of
notes.
• A simple combination of notes is not a raga unless it sounds good. As mentioned earlier
though, it is difficult to accurately define what sounds good. In another article we will
attempt to describe what this means in terms of harmonies and melodies.
• A minimum of five notes are necessary in a raga. Therefore a raga can have five, six or
seven notes.
• There cannot be two notes that are adjacent on the octave in the same raga. But this is
not strictly true as we shall see in case of certain ragas like Lalit where there are two
madhyms together.
• Every raga has a Arohi and a Amrohi. The base note Sa cannot be absent from a raga.
 • The notes Ma and Pa cannot be absent from a raga at the same time.
• A raag is also identified by a Vadi ( main note ) and a Samvadi ( second main note). The
Vadi is a note that is stressed the most in the raga. The Samvadi is stressed after that.
Two ragas can have the same set of notes but differing vadis and samvadis which then
make them different ragas. For instance both the ragas Bhupali and Deshkar have the
same set of notes and the same arohi and amrohi but they have differing pakads and
also different vadis and samvadis which make them different ragas.Bhupali has a vadi ga
and samvadi da but deshkar has a vadi da and samvadi ga.
• It has been said earlier that a raga can have five, six or seven notes in the arohi and the
amrohi. Based upon this a raag can be classified in to categories. A raga sequence
( arohi or amrohi ) with five notes is said to be Odho ( five ). A Raga sequence with six
notes is called Shadav or Khado (six) and a raga sequence with seven notes is called
Sampoorn since seven notes is the maximum number that the raga sequence can have.
Now to another point of confusion. There are twelve notes in the chromatic scale. The
seven notes that make up the thaat are picked from these twelve notes.
• Raga is the basis of classical music. A raga is based on the principle of a combination of
notes selected out the 22 note intervals of the octave. A performer with sufficient training
and knowledge alone can create the desired emotions, through the combination of
notes. Every raga is derived from some Thaat or scale. Or raga' belong to certain
classes or categories called thaats. A thaat is defined as that set of seven notes from
which a raga can be made.
Ragas are placed in three categories:
• Odho or pentatonic, a composition of five notes Or Khado is hexatonic, a composition of
six notes
• Sampooran is heptatonic, a composition of seven notes.
1. In every raga, there is an important cluster of notes by which the raga is identified.
2. The ascent and descent of the notes in every raga is very important. Some raga in the
same scale differ in ascent and descent. The principal note, ``KING" is the note on which
the raga is built. It is emphasized in various ways, such as stopping for some time on the
note, or stressing it. The second important note or the "queen" corresponds to the ``King"
as the fourth or fifth note in relation to it.
3. There are certain ragas which move in a certain pitch and if the pitch is changed, the
raga fails to produce the mood and sentiment peculiar to it.

Raga Melody:
Melody is based on our ability to hear and perceive changes in frequencies. Although it is more
than just the pitch going up and down, but as the frequency goes higher, the note is sharper. In
any octave, the highest note always vibrates at the double rate from the lowest note. So an
octave is the interval between one musical note and another with half or double its frequency.
After the unison, (two things vibrating at the same rate), the octave is the simplest interval in
music. The human ear tends to hear both notes (upper and lower) as being essentially ‘the
same’. For this reason, notes an octave apart are given the same name in Indian music. The
same is true for Western Music. And just like in western notation system, Northern Indian music
recognizes 12 places in one octave as notes. Most musicians use the same notes as we see
them on a guitar’s fret or on a piano. But it hasn’t been always like this. In ancient times, Indian
music was based on the ‘Sharuti’ system. The intervals were measured with sharuties.

Melody of Northern Indian Music is based on the ‘Thaat’ (parent Scale) and ‘Raga’ theory. Ragas have their minimum requirements of five notes in an
octave. Based on that principle, 484 Ragas can be created mathematically from ‘Thaat’. Every raga has its own personality. There are many special
things about every raga, which makes it possible to separate one raga from another.

Secret Of Phrasing In Ragas

Even though many popular musician do not study ragas and most of the popular music is not even in any certain ragas, there are many ‘phrasing’
secrets hidden in the ragas, however. Ascending and descending do not make music. Whole art of music is hidden in phrasing. You must have
 listened to hundreds of songs composed in ‘C’ or ‘E’ major. They still sound different from one another. That is because music we hear affect us in
phrases, not scales.

This theory (music in phrases) was the origin of ragas. Ragas start with thaat in mind and grow from there. To learn a raga you have to learn its
ascending or descending etc., but you also must know its flow and important phrases. There are thousands of available lists of hundreds of ragas
everywhere, but they have no practical value as one will never know how to proceed from there. A raga description without its phrases and flow is
useless. Nisar Bazmi as a working music composer giving you the only information that is essential to ‘know and play’ Indian music in the real world.
You will find yourself improvising in a certain raga in no time by mixing and shuffling its phrases and flow.

2. Playing Songs With Thaat Asavari

Diagram.1

Thaat Asavari Sargam:

Ascending: Arohi: S R g m P d n S’
Descending: Amrohi: S’ n d P m g R S

Thaat Asavari is C Minor Scale in Western Starting from first white key.
C D Eb F G Ab Bb

Showing C minor scale in all five octaves

Songs Of Thaat Asavari With Asthaee, Antra and Taal

You can also play Asavari songs in C minor Scale Of Western
Play songs according to diagram 1 of Thaat Asavari
Mandr, left octave as ('S)-Madh or middle as (S)-Taar or right octave (S')
1
Tu pyar ka sagar hai Taal Kehrva

Asthayee RgRS RS 'nS Antra S'S' nP

2
Tumhara Chahne wala khuda ki dunya mein Taal Dadra

Asthayee gR 'nSS gRS Antra Pmg mPdn

3 Be reham asmaa meri manzil bata Taal Kehrva

Asthayee 'n 'd 'n SS 'n SR Antra PmPS' ndndp

4
Yoon kho gaye tere pyar mein hum Taal Kehrva

Asthayee S PPP d n d PP Antra S' R' S' nnS'R' S'S'S'

5 Chale jana nahin naina milake Taal Kehrva

Asthayee P m P S' S' Antra P P d n S' S'
6 Meri yaad mein tum na Taal Kehrva
Asthayee SS RR m m PPP Antra PP nnn S'S'S'

7 Tere pyar ki tamna ghame zindgi ke saee Taaal Kehrva

Asthayee S g P mg mg RS Antra PP dR S'g' R' S'

8 Tum zid to ker rehe ho Taal Dadra

Asthayee R g R S n'd'n' RS Antra SS 'n gs n' d'

9 Jadoon holi jae lenda mera naa Taal Kehrva

Asthayee mmPPPdndndP Antra R' S' S' S' S'S' S'S'
1 Sawan aya tum nehi aie Taal Kehrva
0
Asthayee g R S g RS 'n'd 'd'nRS Antra PS'

1 Oh dunya ke rakhwale Taal Kehrva

1
Asthayee 'n 'd 'n SSSRS 'n SRg Antra PdP mgmPndP

1 Jab bhi chahen ik nai soorat Taal Kehrva

2
Asthayee SRgRS 'nSgRR Antra PPP d P mm
1 Apno ne gham die to mujhe yaad Taal Dadra
3 Asthayee S g P PP dn dPm Antra Pn S' S' dPd S'S'S'
1 Tu jo nehi hai to kuch bhi nehi hai Taal Kehrva
4
Asthayee S 'n SR SRRR Antra S 'n 'P 'n RSS
1 Aitabar nahi karna Taal Kehrva
5 Asthayee PPd Pmg ndP Antra Listen full midi music
1 Ham chale to hamare sang sang nizare chale Taal Kehrva
6 Asthayee SRgP dndP Antra mPdn Pm Rn' R
1 Anokha ladla khelene ko maange chaand Teen Taal
7 Antra R S 'nS RSRgg Antra gRgg
1 We lageeyn di laj rakh ley kadhi bhul na jaween Taal Kehrva
8 Asthayee PPd PdPm Antra -
1 Yeh ejaaz hai husan e awargi ka Taal Dadra
9 Asthayee 'nSSS 'nRS 'nd Antra mmPP

2 Sun le oh Jane wafa Tu hai dunya meri - Ahmed Rushdi Taal Kehrva
0 Asthayee S' n S' ndP mg Pm Antra ddd dd Pdnn dP

Raga Asavari in brief:

Raga Asavari belongs to Asavari Thaat. It is a late morning Raga, and uses all seven
notes, five in the ascent and seven in the descent. Gandhar, Dhaivat and Nishad are komal
(flat) and the other notes are shuddh (full). The derivative ragas out of this structure are
grouped under the broad head of Asavari Thaat. Add Komal Dhaivat to Kafi thaat and
you get Asavari Thaat. Raga Asavari is full of tyag, the mood of renunciation and
sacrifice as well as pathos. It is best suited for late morning. However important
evening/night raga like Darbari and Adana also use notes of asavari thaat with different
styles, stress points and ornamentations.

Following ragas are derived from Thaat Asavari:

 Jaunpuri
Desi
Asavari
Adana
Darbari Kanhada

3. Playing songs with thaat kafi

Thaat Kafi Sargam:

Ascending: Arohi: S – R – g – m – P – D – n - S’
Descending: Amrohi: S’ – n – D – P – m – g – R – S

Thaat Kafi is C Dorian Scale in Western starting from first white key.
C D Eb F G A Bb

Showing C Dorian scale in all five octaves of keyboard

Film Songs Of Thaat Kafi With Asthaee, Antra and Taal

Play songs according to diagram 12 of Kafi Thaat
You can also play thaat Kafi songs in C Dorian Scale Of Western
Interlude or middle music of songs is also based on thaat kafi
Mandr, left octave as ('S)-Madh or middle as (S)-Taar or right octave (S')
Ghame dil ko in aankhon se chalak jaana bhi Taal Kehrva
1
Asthayee 'n'P SSS SS 'n SR Antra mP 'S'S'S 'n SS
Dil men ho tum ankhon me tum , Bappi Taal Kehrva
2
Asthayee SRRgRS Antra gmPmgPmm

3
Daag e dil ham ko yaad ayne lage log apne dye Taal Dadra
Asthayee 'P'n S SR S 'n Antra gmPmg Pmm

Tumhara pyar chahaee mujhe Taal Kehrva

4
Asthayee PP m g mP S' Pm Antra n'n'n'n'n'n'n'n'
 Pyar bhere do sharmeele nain, Taal Kehrva
5
Asthayee SR Pmg Antra PPPm Pmg
Rim jhim rim jhim pere phawar tera mera nit ka pyar Taal Kehrva
6
Asthayee S, PPm PDnD Antra S'S' nDD
Jalte hain arman mera dil roota hai Taal Kehrva
7
Asthayee 'nRRRgm gRS Antra P S'S'S' R'S' nnn
Sun wanjli di mithri taan way, Film Heer Ranjha Taaal Kehrva
8
Asthayee Sn' S PPP mg mgR Antra S' nD nS'
Lat uljhi suljha ja re baalam Taal Kehrva
9
Asthayee SSg RS 'n'D madh saptak Antra mDDnD mDDnD
1
Hamari sansoo me aaj tak woh hina kis kshboo Taal Kehrva
0
Asthayee 'P'P SSS RS 'n mSRS
1
Yeh raat yea chandni Taal Kehrva
1
Asthayee PmgmP mgmP Antra S' nP S'S'
1
Tere bheege badan ki kshboo se Taal Kehrva
2
Asthayee SSgSS 'n'n RSS Antra g mPPP nDP
1
Ae dunya kia tujh se kehoon - Mehdi Hassan Taal Kehrva
3
Asthayee Pmgg Antra S'S'S' R'nDP
1
Sab kuch luta ke hosh me Taal Dadra
4
Asthayee SRS 'n'n SRP gR Antra gmmPPP
1
Ik situm aur meri jaan abhi jaan baqi hai Taal Kehrva
5
Asthayee SSgmPP mgR Antra g R S 'n'n SS
1 Sawan aye sawan jaye Taal, Kehrva
6
Asthayee gRSR mg madh-mandr Antra PPPm Pmg
1 Dil ke jhoroke mein tum ko bitha ke Taal Dadra
7
Asthayee SS SSSS SS SS RgP SS Antra 'S'S'S'S'S'S' 'R'R'R'

Raga Kafi in brief:

Raga Kafi belongs to Kafi Thaat. Usually it is rendered in the late evening and uses all
the seven notes in the ascending and descending order. Gandhar and Nishad are komal
(flat) and all other notes are shuddh (full). The derivative ragas out of this structure are
grouped under the broad head of Kafi Thaat

Kafi thaat makes use of the Komal Gandhar and Komal Nishad. So basically it adds
Komal Gandhar to the Khamaj Thaat. raga Kafi is one of the oldest raga and its intervals
are described as basic scale of the Natyashastra. Thus in ancient and medieval times, Kafi
was considered as natural scale. Kafi is a late evening raga and said to convey the mood
of spring time.

Following ragas are derived from Thaat Kafi:

Malhar
Bhimpalasi
Patdeep
Chandrakauns
Kafi
Piloo
Bahar
Bageshri
Megh

Major & Minor Chords Of Harmonium

Indian music is melodic and western music is harmonic so chords and chord progressions
accompany the melodic lines, therefore the music sounds fuller. It is important that we
learn the fundamentals of chords as used in Indian film music.
Harmonium major chords, or any chord for that matter, are formed by combining
two or more notes. Now, when you from S major chord, it is recommended you
form them using the 2nd,1st and 5th fingers of your right hand. Your thumb is the
first finger index finger is the 2nd and pinky is the 5th finger. A chord is a
combination of three (or more) notes played at the same time. All major chords
are formed by playing simultaneously three notes, according to definite rules.

In keyboards chords are played mostly with left hand. Since we are learning
harmonium so, your left hand will be busy in pumping bellows. In this situation we
will play chord and melody with the right hand only.

As we have already defined in our previous lessons that any key can become a
Sa or our starting note; but in our lessons we have assumed the first black key to
be the Sa (S), for convenience and simplicity. Please see diagram above. There
are a number of chords in western music but In harmonium lessons we will only
use only major and minor chords. A major chord is formed when we
simultaneously play three notes S-G-P or you will play numbers numbers 1-5-8.
we will name this chord as SV. Harmonium chords are also called desi chords.

Harmonium komal and tiver notes with their numbers are given below as shown
in the above diagram.

Sa S as key number 1. S key number: 1

Komal r as key number 2. r key number: 1
Tiver R as key number 3. R key number: 1
Komal g as key number 4. g key number: 1
Tiver G as key number 5. G key number: 1
Komal m as key number 6. m key number: 1
Tiver M as key number 7. M key number: 1
----- P as key number 8. P key number: 1
Komal d as key number 9. d key number: 1
Komal D as key number 10. D key number: 1
Komal n' as key number 11. n key number: 1
Komal N' as key number 12. N key number: 1
----- S' as key number 13. S' key number: 1
Komal r' as key number 14. r' key number: 1
Tiver R' as key number 15. R' key number: 1
Komal g' as key number 16. g' key number: 1
Tiver G' as key number 17. G' key number: 1
Komal m' as key number 18. m' key number: 1
Tiver M' as key number 19. M' key number: 1
----- P' as key number 20. P' key number: 1
Now to play the major chord S-G-P e.g.. we will play key numbers 1-5-8. This
major chord is called S major. We will use the symbol 'V' for a major chord. Now
the S major chord will be written as SV and as on.

Similarly, the major chord "rV" will be formed as: r-m-d and can be shown by
numbers 2-6-9.

Below given is the complete list of major harmonium chords:

key
S major chord, symbol SV, nos. 1- notes S-G-P
5-8,
key
r major chord, symbol rV, nos.2- notes r-m-d
6-9,
key
R major chord, symbol RV, nos. 3- notes R-M-D
7-10,
key
g major chord, symbol gV, nos. 4- notes g-P-n
8-11,
key
G major chord, symbol GV, nos.5- notes G-d-N
9-12,
key
m major chord, symbol mV, nos. 6- notes m-D-S'
10-13
key
M major chord, symbol MV, nos. 7- notes M-n-r'
11-14,
key
P major chord, symbol PV, nos. 8- notes P-N-R'
12-15,
key
d major chord, symbol dV, nos. 9- notes d-S'-g'
13-16,
key
nos.
D major chord, symbol DV, notes D-r'-G'
10-14-
17,
key
nos.
n major chord, symbol nV, notes n-R'-m'
11-15-
18,
 key
nos.
N major chord, symbol NV, notes N-g'-M'
12-16-
19,
We have shown madh saptak chords and similar sets of notes will apply in
mandar and taar saptak.

Harmonium minor chords are shown by symbol L. A minor chord is formed

when we play three notes at the same time together example S-g-P with
numbers 1-4-8. Below given is the complete list of minor harmonium chords:

Whatever is our beginning note to start playing e.g. if we select first black key as
our Sa, the minor keys will maintain their names similar to, for example, r minor
chord will maintain their symbols rL, will maintain their key numbers as, for
example, 2-5-9, will maintain their notes combination as, for example, r-G-d. Or
we can write simply as:

r minor chord, symbol rL, key nos. 2-5-9, notes r-G-d

S minor chord, symbol SL, key notes S-g-P

nos. 1-
4-8,
key
r minor chord, symbol rL, nos. 2- notes r-G-d
5-9,
key
R minor chord, symbol RL, nos. 3- notes R-m-D
6-10,
key
g minor chord, symbol gL, nos. 4- notes g-M-n
7-11,
key
G minor chord, symbol GL, nos. 5- notes G-P-N
8-12,
key
m minor chord, symbol mL, nos. 6- notes m-d-S'
9-13,
key
M minor chord, symbol ML, nos. 7- notes M-D-r'
10-14,
P minor chord, symbol PL, key notes P-n-R'
 nos. 8-
11-15,
key
d minor chord, symbol dL, nos. 9- notes d-N-g'
12-16,
key
nos.
D minor chord, symbol DL, notes D-S'-G'
10-13-
17,
key
nos.
n minor chord, symbol nL, notes n-r'-m'
11-14-
18,
key
nos.
N minor chord, symbol NL, notes N-R'-M'
12-15-
19,

How to play Indian songs with harmonium major and minor chords

First of all break down the song into several very small phrases and try to play
the various major and minor chords given above with each small segment of the
song line. Then you should check which chord sounds better with the word. You
can partly mechanize this process by first playing the small segment of the song
on the harmonium. Slowly you will be able to use or able to fill melody with
harmony of chords.