[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative) › c2.55 # A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2.55 A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2.55 - **Language:** English ### [c2.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.55) ed out of the ancient Swaras I may quote here what my learned friend Dr. Prabhakar Bhandarkar of Indore has to say about the difficulty of determining the relative pitches of the Swaras used in the Sama-Veda. He says "From Sangeeta Ratnakara I Chap v P, 58, and the Naradi Shiksha, it would appear that a "Rig" was chanted in mono tone, a "Gatha" in two notes, and a Sama in three notes, a scale of four swaras seems also to have been used, and was called Swarantara In what relations of pitch the notes stood in the last three cases, it is impossible to say. We are also ignorant of the stages by which the three notes of the Sama chant rose to the number seven, nor can we say with any certainty what relation these seven notes bore to the well known seven notes of the later music The former were named Krishta, Prathama, Dwitiya, Tritiya, Chaturtha, Mandra and Atiswara It is certain that these are in descending order of pitch, but in what exact relation, it is impossible to say Moreover, the names of the Sama notes, seem to have varied from time to time and in different parts of the country The enumeration and notation by the first seven numerals is more modern" (Vide P 162 Indian Antiquary July, 1912) - [Previous: c2.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.54) - [Next: c2.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.56) - [Up: c2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2) ## Linked texts (1) - [Saṅgītaratnākara](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.sangraha.sangitaratnakara) — Śārṅgadeva, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.55) · Pramāṇa