Get ready — Set up & warm

Pick Sa, start the drone, breathe, sing Bilawal, then a short morning warm-up. When you sit with patterns, open Practice. Glides and swells are on Ornaments.

Practice (first hour) → · Ornaments → · SOVT

1 · Basics — Set up to sing

The full note system (swaras, saptak, komal/tivra, Bilawal as a thaat) lives on Theory · Start here. This section is only what you need to start the drone and sing.

Quick map — sargam

You will sing Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni (sargam). Sa is whatever pitch you choose as home — not a fixed piano key. Full names and the 12-note chart: Theory → Swara · Śuddha / komal / tivra.

Saptak: mandra (low, dot below) · madhya (plain) · taar (high, dot above). Detail: Theory → Saptak.

Accidentals: komal = lowercase + underline (re…); tivra Ma = stroke above. Detail: Theory.

Choosing the note you sing as Sa

Step one of every session: pick Sa and drone it.

1. Voice type (rough start): many adult men around C or C#; many adult women / children around G, G#, or A. Find yours by ear.
2. Comfort: a Sa where you can reach an octave down and up without strain.

Swara reference keyboard

Bilawal octave — 8 notes, ending on taar Sa. Click a key to hear it (tone follows Tone in the bottom bar). Green underline = fixed (Sa / Pa).

Sing Bilawal (your first scale)

All-natural scale — same intervals as Western major when Sa is the tonic. Why it is called Bilawal thaat: Theory → Thaat. Warm-ups stay on Bilawal; alankars can switch thaat on Practice.

▶ Aroha (ascending)

▶ Avaroha (descending)

▶ Full (up then down)

Speed uses BPM and More → Note / Dotted in the bottom bar. Match the drone on sargam, then on “aa”.

Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing

Steady airflow from the diaphragm — the body side of vāyu on Theory.

How to find it:

1. Lie on your back, one hand on your belly, one on your chest.
2. Breathe in slowly through the nose — the belly hand should rise, the chest hand should stay almost still.
3. Breathe out slowly and evenly — the belly falls. Chest stays quiet.

Standing/sitting (daily):

• Sit tall or stand relaxed, spine long, shoulders down, jaw and throat loose.
• In (4 counts): low, silent breath into the belly.
• Hold (2–4 counts): stay relaxed, don’t lock the throat.
• Out (8+ counts): release on a steady hiss “sssss” — long, even, no wobble.

2 · Morning warm-ups

Do a few minutes of SOVT first if the voice feels dry, then this morning routine with the tanpura on your Sa. Glides and swells live on Ornaments after the alankar pad.

The daily morning routine (≈15–20 min)

Step 1 — Humming (2–3 min)

Lips together, teeth slightly apart, jaw loose. Hum a comfortable Sa — feel a gentle buzz on the lips and front of the face (“the mask”). Keep it quiet and easy. Then add pitch with Hum the major scale & 1 · 3 · 5 below.

Step 2 — Vowels / aakar (3–4 min)

Open the hum into the six Eastern vowel shapes, still on a single comfortable Sa:

आ (aakar) is the main vowel for classical practice — give it the most time.

Hum the major scale & 1 · 3 · 5

Still on a closed hum (mmm), add the major scale (Bilawal) pitches. Degree numbers match Western major: 1 = Sa, 3 = Ga, 5 = Pa. Match the drone; keep the buzz forward and quiet — this is still a warm-up, not a shout.

A · Full major scale (hum)

Hum the whole octave up, then down. Same pitches as Bilawal; lips stay closed.

▶ Up (1–2–3–4–5–6–7–1′)

▶ Down

▶ Up + down

B · Triad 1 · 3 · 5 (Sa · Ga · Pa)

The major triad is the skeleton of Bilawal: tonic, major third, fifth. Hum each note long enough to lock pitch against the tanpura, then connect them.

▶ 1 · 3 · 5 — Sa · Ga · Pa

▶ Fold — Sa · Ga · Pa · Ga · Sa

▶ Arpeggio — Sa · Ga · Pa · Sȧ · Pa · Ga · Sa

Step 3 — Sa Re Ga Ma (4–5 min)

Open the hum into named pitches. Use the ▶ buttons in Basics → Bilawal. First on sargam (note names), then on “aa”. Slow and in tune beats fast and sloppy.

Step 4 — Lower & higher octaves (3–4 min)

▶ Mandra (kharaj) — walk down from Sa and back:

▶ Taar — walk up past the octave, staying light:

▶ Whole range: low Sa → mid Sa → high Sa