Make your own tunes

Compose a short melody on the swara pad, add rests and note lengths, then play it against your Sa.

This is a scratch pad, not a numbered home-path step. Learn the swaras on Practice first. Same content in tunes.md.

Composer

Tap the harmonium or type sargam below. The preview draws Bhatkhande notation — holds, rests, taal marks, bows, and ornaments update as you type. Quarter note = 1 beat at the current BPM.

Quick start

Pick Sa in the bottom bar. Choose a duration in the toolbar, then tap keys or type tokens.
Put each vibhāg between | barlines — e.g. | Sa Re Ga Ma |. Beat counts and taal marks (X, 0, 2…) show in the preview.
Set Taal and Start on beat (sam = 1; many Teentaal bandishes start on beat 9). Press ▶ Play — with Metro on, playback waits for that matra.
Rest is _ (never R). Bandish words: Dha:Su. Toolbar: | bar, {} murki, // note, ||: … :|| for repeats.

Reference: Examples · Syntax · Dashes & dugun · Bhatkhande legend

Tone in the bottom bar = Harmonium or Synth. Keys are fixed Western pitch; Sa Re Ga… follow your Sa. The pad lights only during playback on this page.

Play with Metro on, waits for the start beat · BPM in the bottom bar

Matras per vibhāg — green ✓ when the segment matches the selected taal.

Duration Dotted

Taal Start on beat Sam = beat 1. Many bandishes enter on khālī (Teentaal beat 9 = × of the second half).

Where tunes live. On this site (below) — author’s library from GitHub; play only, no edits. Save locally — .txt to your device (Load from disk to reopen). Save in browser — this browser only; lost if you clear site data or switch devices.

Examples

Paste any block into the score box, or press Example on the harmonium for a full bandish (Teentaal, start beat 9).

1 — Barlines, holds, and dugun (Teentaal — two 4-matra bars)

| Sa- Re [Ga Ma] | Pa Dha Ni Sa |

2 — Ornaments — kan ^ga, meend ~, murki { … }, phrase slur ( … )

| ^ga Ma Pa |
Sa~Re~Ga {Sa Re Ga} ( Dha:Su Ni:mi Pa:na )

3 — Bandish sketch — lyrics with colons; repeat ||: … :|| plays twice

// mukhda — Teentaal, often khālī on beat 9
Dha:Su Ni:mi Pa:na | Ma:ja Ga:ga Re:re Sa:ga
// antara
||: Sa:aa Re:re Ga:ga Ma:ma :||
Pa/8:Pa Dha/8:dha Ni/8:ni Sa'/8:sa

4 — Durations and rests

Sa/2 Re Ga/8 Ma/8 Pa
Sa _ Re _ Ga Ma
||: Sa Re Ga Ma :||x3

Syntax

One token per note or rest, separated by spaces. Preview marks are in the legend; hold vs rest dashes in Dashes & dugun.

Token	Meaning
`Sa` `Re` … `Ni`	shuddha swara — quarter (1 beat) unless you add a duration
`re` `ga` `dha` `ni`	komal (lowercase)
`Ma#` or `ma`	tivra Ma
`.Sa` `Sa,` / `Sa'` `Sa.`	mandra / taar — dot after name (no slash) is octave, not dotted rhythm
`Sa/2` `Sa/1` `Sa/8` `Sa/16`	half · whole · eighth · sixteenth — append `.` after the number to dot (× 1.5), e.g. `Sa/4.`
`Sa-` `Sa--` …	hold shorthand — same as `Sa/2`, `Sa/2.` … (dashes)
`_` or lone `-`	rest — preview shows - with no swara above
`[Sa Re]` `Sa&Re`	dugun shorthand — same as `Sa/8 Re/8`
`\|`	barline — taal marks and beat meter per vibhāg
`\|\|:` … `:\|\|`	repeat phrase twice (`:\|\|x3` three times) — compact do bār
`// mukhda` `"slide"`	comment — shown in preview, not played
`Sa:Su`	bandish syllable under the swara (`Sa:_` for held syllable)
`( Sa Re Ga )`	phrase slur — wide curve, several full matras (preview only)
`{ Sa Re Ga }`	murki — quick cluster in one matra
`^Ga` `Ma^Ga`	kan — grace swara before the main note
`Sa~Re~Ga`	meend — glide; `~` after each linked swara

Never use R for rest — that is Re. Colon attaches lyrics only to swaras, not to :|| repeat marks.

Dashes & dugun — what the preview means

The preview uses - in two ways. What you type is not always a literal dash — see Examples for mixed lines.

Hold the same swara (continue — do not re-attack)

A dash under the same swara means “keep singing this pitch for another matra.” You are not plucking or re-attacking; the note rings on.

You type	Preview	Matras
`Sa`	Sa	1
`Sa/2` or `Sa-`	Sa -	2 — half
`Sa/2.` or `Sa--`	Sa - -	3 — dotted half
`Sa/1` or `Sa---`	Sa - - -	4 — whole

Shorthand: append - after a bare swara (no /duration) — each - adds one held matra. Sa- = Sa/2, Sa-- = Sa/2., and so on.

Rest (silence)

A dash with no swara above it is a rest — silent matra(s). Never type bare - in the middle of a word; use _ (or a lone - token).

You type	Preview	Matras
`_` or `-`	-	1 silent
`_/2`	- -	2 silent
`Sa _ Re`	Sa then - then Re	note · rest · note

Dugun, tingun, chaugun (several events in one matra)

When two or more swaras share one beat, the preview draws a tight bow underneath (not a phrase slur). Each event is shorter; together they fill one matra.

Name	Per matra	Type (any one row)	Preview
Dugun	2	`Sa/8 Re/8` · `[Sa Re]` · `Sa&Re` · `_/8 Pa/8`	bow under 2 tokens
Tingun (tigun)	3	`Sa/8 Re/8 Ga/8` · `[Sa Re Ga]` · `Sa&Re&Ga`	bow under 3 tokens
Chaugun	4	`Sa/16 Re/16 Ga/16 Ma/16` · `[Sa Re Ga Ma]` · `Sa&Re&Ga&Ma`	tighter bow under 4

Square brackets and & expand to the right note lengths. A rest inside counts: [Sa _] = dugun with silence.

Not the same as…

Phrase slur ( … ) — several full matras, one breath (preview only).
Murki { … } — several quick swaras in one matra.
Meend Sa~Re — arc above; glide, not a bow below.

Bhatkhande legend

What the preview draws when you type Western-style tokens (Sa/2, _, Sa/8) — not staff notation.

Swaras

Preview	Meaning	Type
	Shuddha (natural) swaras — one matra each	`Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni`
	Komal (flat) — underline	`re ga dha ni`
	Tīvra Ma — short vertical stroke above	`Ma#` or `ma`

Saptak (octave)

Preview	Meaning	Type
	Ati-mandra — two dots below	`Sa,,` or `..Sa`
	Mandra — one dot below	`Sa,` or `.Sa`
	Madhya — no octave mark	`Sa`
	Tār — one dot above	`Sa'` or `Sa.`
	Ati-tār — two dots above	`Sa''` or `Sa..`

Matra (duration)

Hold vs rest dashes: Dashes & dugun.

Preview	Matras	Type
	1 — quarter	`Sa` or `Sa/4`
	1½ — dotted quarter	`Sa/4.`
	2 — half	`Sa/2`
	3 — dotted half	`Sa/2.`
	4 — whole	`Sa/1`
	1 silent matra (rest)	`_`
	2 silent matras	`_/2`

Dugun, tingun, and chaugun (notes inside one matra)

Preview	Meaning	Type
	Dugun — two events share one matra (eighths, including a rest). Bow underneath.	`Sa/8 Re/8` · `[Sa Re]` · `Sa&Re`
	Tingun (tigun) — three events share one matra. Bow underneath.	`Sa/8 Re/8 Ga/8` · `[Sa Re Ga]`
	Chaugun — four notes share one matra (sixteenths). Tighter bow.	`Sa/16 Re/16 Ga/16 Ma/16` · `[Sa Re Ga Ma]`

Ornaments & taal marks

Preview	Meaning	Type
	Taal marks above the first swara of each vibhāg — X = sam, 0 = khālī, 2/3/4 = taali	`\|` barlines + taal picker
	Kan — small grace swara before the main note	`^ga` before · `Ma^ga` inline
	Meend — glide between swaras (arc above)	`Sa~Re~Ga` or `Sa~ Re Ga`
	Murki — quick cluster in one matra	`{ Sa Re Ga }`
	Chhand — $ under dugun/tingun/chaugun bow (Bhatkhande taan mark)	`[Sa Re]` · `Sa/8 Re/8`

Bars and repeats

Preview	Meaning	Type
	Vibhāg — barline between groups	`\|`
	Phrase slur — one sung group (curved line underneath; not a dugun bow)	`( Sa Re Ga )`
	Repeat the phrase twice (a compact do bār — not a Bhatkhande mark, only for playback)	`\|\|: … :\|\|`
	Comment / remark — label, not a swara. Line notes sit on their own row; quoted notes sit in the line.	`// mukhda` or `"slide"`
	Bandish words under the swaras (one syllable per matra). Held matras use ·	`Dha:Su Ni:mi Pa:na Sa/2:_`