Bhairavi sargam

About this composition

This fixed sargam uses komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni, with shuddha Ma and Pa. Do not add chromatic notes from Mishra Bhairavi.

Complete sung text and notation

Learn expressive inflection by listening. Teental claps fall on 1, 5 and 13; the wave is on 9.

How to read this notation

Sa is the chosen reference pitch. Note signs used in this score:

g = komal Ga; r = komal Re; S = Sa; n = komal Ni; d = komal Dha; M = shuddha Ma; P = Pa.

↑ marks the upper octave and ↓ the lower octave; an unmarked note is in the middle octave.

Each separate beat position is one matra. Joined notes fall within that beat. — continues the previous sound; · is an unsung position. Padding before an entry or after a close does not add another cycle.

Within-beat durations are exact only where specified. Learn the execution of glides, graces and inflection by listening.

Within a grouped column, spaces separate beats; letters joined without spaces share a beat. The column heading states the beat numbers.

In the Sung swaras row, (कोमल) or (को) labels a komal swara; it is not sung and is not a grace note. Parentheses around note letters in the melody row still mark graces.

Line-by-line musical meaning

• Sthayi pickup: Enter at beat 9; the komal Ga–Re descent reaches Sa, then turns through Ni and Dha.
• Sthayi cycle 1: Sam is komal Ni. Pa appears in the first half; the latter half descends through lower Ni and Dha.
• Sthayi cycle 2: The second half reaches upper Sa and Re before descending through Ni and Dha.
• Sthayi close: Close on Sa at beat 8; the next pickup is available at beat 9.
• Antara pickup: The antara pickup begins on repeated komal Ni and descends to Ga.
• Antara cycle 1: Sam is Ma. The latter half moves through upper komal Ga, Ma and Re before returning to middle Ni.
• Antara cycle 2: Upper Ga opens the row, but the latter half lies in the middle register. A dash holds the previous pitch, not the octave of the next note.
• Antara close: The close resembles the sthayi close but begins on Ma rather than Pa; preserve that difference.

Entry, sam and return

Both sections enter at beat 9, occupy two full cycles after their pickups, and close at beat 8. The sthayi first sam is Ni; the antara first sam is Ma. After either close, the next section or a repeated sthayi may enter at beat 9. Repetition count is flexible, not fixed by this written page.

Learning sequence

1. Establish Sa and identify each komal note without assuming a fixed concert pitch.
2. Count Teental and speak the swara syllables at their written positions.
3. Learn the sthayi pickup, full cycles and close in that order.
4. Learn the antara separately, marking every register change.
5. Join the sections with the stated return, retaining the written differences between similar phrases.

Common pitfalls

Do not convert a held note into a new attack, confuse an octave sign with punctuation, or add a beat to a closing fragment. Read the complete section before choosing a repetition pattern. A sargam is a fixed composition here, not permission to replace its rows with a generic ascending scale.