Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s1.t4.2

v2.c11.s1.t4.2

The concept of melody is not completely the same between India and China. Indian music has seven melodies, originally named as Saptaka, which means the pitch. The seven basic tones from low to high are “shadja”, “risabha, “gandhara”, “madhyama”, “panchama”, “dhaivada” and “nishada” and also called Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni for short. The seven melodies of Indian music mainly use three octaves and are divided into three parts of mandra, madhya and tara according to ups and downs of voice range.