Music Notation System

Sangeet the combination of Swar, Taal, the worded composition and its embellishments. Music notation is any system used to visually represent the aurally perceived music, played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols. 

Notation is the useful and effective way for recording a music composition which will prevent losing it from musician‘s mind representing the way to sing or play on an instrument, also for learning and teaching the music.

These systems get refined over time based on changes, innovations, newer formats and elements of music. Various notation systems across the world has seen both growth and fall. All styles of notation system has and is still struggling to completely put on paper what is being performed vocally or with instruments.

The advantage of any notation system is that, to promote classical and popular music of various countries, notation helps explain the details of music very easily for people to understand and perform. 

Notation system ensures that the performance of music is in a controlled fashion and does not let it stray away from the composer’s piece. Hence the notation system helps in maintaining the tradition of keeping the lyrical or instrumental styles safe in vocal, rhythmic, and keeping the Guru-Shishya tradition everlasting.

The following aspects are controlled using the notation systems

1. Scale

2. Swars

3. Taal, Rhythm

4. Words and intonation

5. Speed

6. Musical graces

7. Musical ornaments

8. Accent

9. Dramatic effects

10. Orchestration

11. Rests pauses

Notation system helps preserve music in the way the composer had intended to compose. This system helps to protect the composition from any alteration over time and ensure the enduring legacy of guru-shishya Parampara. In todays world, for teaching and propagation of music, the system of notation is very critical tool.

All over the world there has been many an attempt to notate music. With the development of the written script, we also find references to notate music in its elementary format.

Music was important in ancient Israel for worship, expression and relaxation. Thus, the Hebrews developed a sophisticated form of mnemonic music notation for their worship services. Indeed, Hebrew cantillation, chanting the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), is one of the few mnemonic music systems with an unbroken chain of transmission from the Middles Ages. The blue marks are mnemonic musical symbols. Red symbols are phonetics

The current popular notation system was developed in the medieval times in Europe by Italian Benedictine monk and music theorist Guido of Arezzo who introduced the 4 line staff notation. symbols were used to represent absolute pitches and paced way for the concept of sight reading.

The renaissance period further saw development in western classical music in vocal and instrumental genres. Further symbols were added for various embellishments, rhythm, dynamics and performance related actions.

Western music is polyphonic and greater importance is given to orchestration. Hence the notation system has developed into a sound system which helps to cover all the styles used in western music. Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, which are frequently heard in non-European art music and in popular music. Another difference is that whereas most popular styles lend themselves to the song form, classical music has been noted for its development of highly sophisticated forms of instrumental music.

The following Notation systems are mentioned in our ancient texts

1. Swarankan Paddhati – Vedic to medival times

2. Dandamatrik swarlipi

3. Sankhyamaatrik swarlipi

4. Akaaratmik swarlipi

5. Sargam and sanketik swarlipi

6. Vishnu Digambar paddhati

7. Vishnu Narayan Bhatkande Paddhati

Indian system of notations begin with the Vedas itself. Just as the development of language and script began in India, so did the theory of music and its notation. 

In Vedic period, three types of Swar (which were basically accentuation of syllables), Udatta, Anudatta and Svarita, have been mentioned. Udatta denotes high, Anudatta denotes low and Svarita denotes medium, that is when there is a confluence of high and low. The symbols used to show them in written form were, 

1. An upright stroke above the syllable for Swarit (|)

2. A horizontal line under the syllable for Anudatta (-) 

3. No symbol for Uddata. 

Later, these notes of Vedic period were shown through numerals 1, 2 and 3 in place of lines. Samagaan was sung with the concept of accentuation and musical swars with the use of numbers from 1 to 7. Naradiya Shiksha gives the musical scale of Sama Gaan along with the scale used in folk music.  Notation was used in describing the elements of time, division, joining words and its accentuation and musical note.

Another important aspect of Sama Gaan was Shruthi Jaathi or embellishments used in recitation. There were five Jaathis and each had a symbol for notation

1. Deepta - ψ 

2. Ayata - Λ 

3. Karuna - *

4. Mridhu - No symbol

5. Madhya - No symbol

Hence it is clear that even during the vedic period, the swar uccharan was given importance and it was necessary to notate to remember the swar gaan. 

For More information -> Vedic Sangeet

From the texts of Naradiya Shiksha and Nayanadev- Bharatabashayam it is clear that the roots for a notation system had started to develop very early from the Vedic Period.

The accentuation system described in the Natya Shastra have taken inspiration from the Vedic Swarankan Paddhati. This is called the Gandharva Notation. Bharat muni has used the terms Shadja, Rishabh etc. to show the notes or Svaras in his work ‘Natyashastra’, whereas Matang has used syllables Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni to show the Svaras in his work ‘Brihaddeshi’. 

According to usage, he has shown the Svaras in two forms,

1. Hrasva (short) 

2. Deergh (long) 

Hrasva - Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni

Deergh - Saa Re Gaa Maa Paa Dhaa Nee

The unit of time was called ‘Kala’, which also had two forms 

1. Laghu (Small)

2.  Guru (big)

Laghu Kala was indicated by Hrasva and Guru Kala was indicated by Deerghakshar.

During the time of Matang, the Swarankan Paddati had been well established that in his text Brihadeshi he has explained all concepts of Alankar, Taan, Murchana in the Swarankan Paddathi. But an original form of the text is not available today.

An early stone wall inscription in Kudumiyanmalai contains early forms of Swar notation.

In the 10th century, Abhinava gupta in Abhinava Manjari has described about the developement of the Swarankan Pranali. In the 11th century text of Bharat Bhashyam by Nayana Bhupala has used Swarankan Paddhati for Jaathi Prastar. 

Later on, we find changes in the system as mentioned in the texts of 11th century Mansolaas and Sangit Choodamani. The Swarankan system was diffused. This is evident from the lopsided form in Bharatabashyam. 

The refinement of the Swarankan paddhati in Bharatbhashyam was this found in Sangeet Ratnakara. The swar Saptak of Sharangdev was well established then. In the ‘Svargatadhyaya’ of Sharngadev’s ‘Sangeet Ratnakar’ written in 13th C, the seven Svaras have been shown in a manner similar to that of Matang. However, Svaras of Mandra and Tara registers or Saptaks are shown with a dot above the Swar and a perpendicular line above the Svara (G’a) respectively. Since the murchana paddathi was still in place there was no separate notation for vikrit Swar.

But after the period of Sharangdev, there was noticeable indifference towards Swarankan Paddhati in medival texts due to political turmoil in the country. With this, the importance to notate the practical art forms was forgotten and the art form slowly went to the singers and players of instruments. 

Later on, the information on Swarankan Paddhati by Pandit Somnath is very important. Somnath has used symbols for depicting Gamakas and various music ornaments used in that period and has given the compositions using the same in his work. The below figure gives us the symbols used for gamakas of swar

After this period, we find mention of symbols for Vikrit swars in Rag Tatva Vibodh by Srinivas, Hridaya Kautak and Hridaya Prakash by Hridaya Narayan dev till early 17th century of Venkatamaki – Chaturdandiprakashika.

The 18th century was completely devoid of any scholarly development in the field of music and arts. During this period, the british had ruled the land. During the end of 19th century, maulabaksh with the help of baroda king had set up a music vidhyalaya and popularized the Swarankan Paddhati to write the compositions and taal in lipi. He had introduced Swarchit Swankan Paddati but it is not available today.

There have been other attempts for notating instrumental music by scholars like Shri Surendra Tagore, Krishna Bandopadhyay, Kshetra Mohan Goswami. But these systems did noy survive with time. 

The Dandamatrik swarlipi was created by Kshetra mohan goswami but it was popularized in Bengal by sourendra mohan who was a disciple of kshetra mohan. This notation system was used for teaching music in the Bengal Music School.

Srimati Saraladevi Choudhurani invented the Sankhya Maatrik Swarlipi. 

Shri Dvijendranath Thakur invented the Aakaratmik swarlipi in the 19th century. 

Shri Jyothirindranath Tagire invented the Metrical Notation in early 19th century.

Shri Paiskanthi Ghosh invented the phonetic Notation in early 19th Century. Pandit Shankar Pandit of Gwalior Gharana has shown approval to his notation system after the former penned the Chaturang composition sung by Pandit ji in his notation system.

Shri Krishnadan Banerjee had studied the western notation systems and invented a new swarlipi paddhati – Sargam swarlipi and Saankethik swarlipi.

Swami Vivekananda also has given a notation system in his music treatise Sangeet Kalpataru. It had influence from the notation system of Kshetra mohan goswami.

The modern-day revival of the theory of indian music and notation system was possible due to the efforts of pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkande and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. They were born in a period which was literally a blind period in terms of music. There was a lax in the arts and culture of the country. Music was a mere amusement for many. During the time of Mughals, there was a wide gap between the artistes and scholars of music and hence there was a perceptible detachment of theory and practice. But during the british, music was even forgotten and considered taboo by many in the society.

During the time both the musicians were born, there were no music scholars who could help, nor was there any ready made text available for learning music. Both the musicians had simple goals

1. To simply classical music so that it attracted more people to pursue and learn it, and 

2. To develop a notation system to help preserve the ancient compositions and propagate it through print media for better reach. 

Pandit Bhatkande had started to read the ancient texts from various locations across the country and met with many regional musicians. With this he had started to develop a strong swarlipi and started to author the Kramik Pustak Malika and Sri Lakshya Sangitam. It was this herculean task that Pandit Bhatkande had taken upon himself to revive classical music from the depths and bring it back the glory it once enjoyed.

Typically, a teacher would not reveal the techniques and compositions of a Gharana unless it is a very deserving student. Bhatkande had met with many such ustads and on learning and listening the compositions had set it to Swar and Taal in the Kramik Pustak Malika . He learnt traditional ragadari bandishes in the genres of Khayal, Dhrupad, Dhamar, Tarana and Thumri and notated the same. As a disclaimer, Pandit bhatkande has clearly mentioned that on reading the notation of a bandish, one cannot perform classical music as such without learning it from the guru.

Pandit Vishnu Digambar, the founder of Gandharva Mahavidhyala, also developed a notation system with which he printed books for the curiculam of the Institute he foudned. His notation system was considered more scientific and has influence of the western staff notation. In his notation each matra had its own symbol and hence there were many symbols in this notation making it more complex and scientific. 

Post the creation, the followers of both notation systems have made many a changes and hence the original is quite different from the ones followed today. Initially there were three lines drawn for three octaves in Vishnu Digambar Notation. The first line was for taar then the Madhya and then the mandra saptak (lower to up). Hence three lines were required just for one line. Later, symbols were used for denoting the taar and madra saptak. The symbol for Vikrit swar also underwent a change. Earlier for shuddh it was φ and komal was ψ and tevra was Д. This was replaced by no symbol for shuddh and dash on top for komal and dash below for tevra. 

Further reading >> Swar Notation, Taal Notation

Both the musicans wanted to improve the status of music and ensure music becomes a part and parcel of comman households and young students in their educational years. They wanted colleges to be opened where music is taught and propogated. Through the notations of compositions, they wanted the comman man to enjoy the glory and happiness of classical music.

The Bhatkande swarlipi did not use excessive symbols and was simple for all to understand. He modified the Swarankhan Paddathi by adding new elements to cover the aspects of Hindustani Classical music. He introduced notations for Komal, Tevra, Kan, Meend, Khatka and Taal notations. 

Today the north Indian music follows the Bhatkhande swarlipi. 

By studying the history of music, it is known that the song was born in the Vedic period itself.  It is very difficult to notate Indian music in totality due Raga Sangeet being a form of free expression and improvisation. Any musician be it a vocalist or instrumentalist never performs the Raga, or Bandish in the very same way in various performances. hence, notating every performance will be a considered as something new, unlike pre composed western classical pieces.

Indian classical music has two aspects in music – Nibadh and Anibadh Sangeet. Importance is given to Anibadh Sangeet more than Nibhadh Sangeet. All music was set to Swar and Taal, based on which the exploration of the Geet would happen in the Anibadh form as per the creativity of the performer. Hence there was no need for notation. Hence historically we only find mention of the words of the songs along with name of Taal and Raga and not the notation. 

There have been many attempts to notate right from the Vedic period.  There must have been some written material for students of different intellectual levels and different abilities. It is not possible today to accurately describe when the Indian vocal system started, because the teaching of music continued orally due to the Guru Shishya tradition. Even when writing has developed sufficiently now, the subtilties of Raga Sangeet can be understood and imbibed only after listening directly to the Guru.

Various aspects of Indian music and history prevent the music to be completely notated.

1. Shuddha and Vikrit swars kept changing over time and along with it, the concept of scales or modes kept changing. Hence we find many ragas with same names but differing in the use of swars

2. Earlier music was played on fretless and multiple string instruments. with the establishment of a tonic note to Sa as the starting swar, this change had a huge impact on all scales and ragas which previously existed.

3. Anibadh Sangeet forms or Free form of singing without Taal which stems from ones creativity and hence is bound to change with person

4. The voice and instrument can bring out many embellishments and subtilities while singing and decorating a swar or a phrase such as Gamaka, Khatka, zamzama, murki, Kan, Meend etc.

5. Depicting Shruthi or the tonal space between two swars according to the raga and the mood.

6. Rasa and bhav of ragas and swars

7. Difficulty in notating Kaku or modulations

8. Difficulty in notating complex rhythms such as Bol Bant, Ladant, Layakari. 

9. Difficulty in notating fluctuation in volume 

10. No notation for Rests

11. No concept of key signature as there is no concept of frequency based fixing of pitches and notes in Indian music.

Notation in its current form is at best considered a tool for preservation of old and new compositions rather than as a tool for learning the composition. Students and musicians who have sufficient knowledge can greatly benefit in learning new compositions with a help of notation as they can understand the nuances of Raga and how the Raga is to be sung.

The term Bandish uses the root word Bandh, which means bound by Swar, Taal and Words. The basic construct of the composition can be notated using the available systems today. However, the act of singing the song, which includes the use of correct frequencies of swars, the movement between the swars, the emotion behind the song and the conveying it using the Raga, needs the guidance of the Guru to learn the composition. 

The concept of Shruthi and raga can only be learnt from a guru as the experience is more important for being able to reproduce what the guru is teaching.

The concept of a raga music is a very fluid one with a variety of musical ornaments and graces used as per the wish of the performer with on-the-spot improvisations. Hence the concept of notation will not do complete justice to Indian music for Manodharma or Kalpana Sangeet. 

Only a guru can teach how high or low a note is to be sung, how words are to be broken, how to produce the Swar or approach and leave it, where to add musical ornaments, where to pause etc. Ragas which use ati-komal or tevra swar cannot be explained by writing but need to be heard and experienced to reproduce. Hence there was and is no requirement for books and pen to note down these nuances of music. 

It is not just enough to understand the composition based on the notation, but one must have complete knowledge in performance of a Raga and Taal along with its Bhav and beauty. The different styles of each Gharana further add complexities in the performance of a Raga or Bandish making notation of a performance unnecessary. 

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