A western notes to sargam converter for any Sa
This western notes to sargam converter turns Western note names — single notes, a whole melody line, notes with octave numbers such as C4 or B♭3, or chord symbols — into Indian sargam: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni with komal and tivra swaras and the mandra, madhya and taar saptak marked. It works the other way too: type sargam and get the Western notes for your instrument.
Sargam is relative, so you choose your Sa — also by harmonium name, such as “Safed 1” (C) or “Kali 1” (C♯) — and the octave of the middle Sa. Every result appears five ways: Western notes, sargam letters for typing, sargam names with notation marks, Hindi (Devanagari) and Carnatic swaras, each with a copy button. Press Play to hear the line.
How to use the Western Notes to Sargam Converter
- Choose Western → Sargam or Sargam → Western.
- Pick your Sa: a singer who says “I sing in Kali 2” chooses D♯/E♭ (Kali 2).
- Set Middle Sa: octave 4 puts madhya Sa next to middle C; low male voices often use octave 3.
- Type or paste the line. Western notes without an octave number go in the middle octave, or next to the previous note if you choose Nearest to the previous note.
- Copy the version you need, press Play line to check it by ear, or tap a key on the keyboard.
Western Notes to Sargam Converter features
Movable Sa
All 12 keys with both spellings for black keys and the harmonium safed/kali names, so the same melody can be read in any scale.
Komal, tivra and octave marks
Komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni, tivra Ma, and dots for mandra and taar saptak (two dots beyond that), on screen and as Unicode combining marks in copied text.
Hindi and Carnatic output
Devanagari सा रे ग म प ध नि and the Carnatic swarasthanas R1 R2 G2 G3 M1 M2 D1 D2 N2 N3, with their shared positions shown in the table.
Reads many sargam spellings
Letters (S r R g G m M), names (komal Re, tivra Ma, Dha(k)), Devanagari with marks, Carnatic numbers and dotted letters such as Ṡa.
Correct Western spelling
Komal swaras become flats of the scale degree and tivra Ma a sharp fourth, so Sa = C♯ gives E♯ and B♯.
Indian sargam vs Western notes (Sa = C)
Carnatic music names 16 swarasthanas for these 12 positions, so four positions have two names (R2 and G1, for example). The table assumes equal temperament; in performance many swaras are tuned by ear, and a komal Re may sit a little lower in one raga than in another.
| Western | Hindustani | Letter | Carnatic | Semitones above Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Sa | S | S (Shadjam) | 0 |
| C♯ / D♭ | Komal Re | r | R1 | 1 |
| D | Shuddha Re | R | R2 = G1 | 2 |
| E♭ | Komal Ga | g | G2 = R3 | 3 |
| E | Shuddha Ga | G | G3 | 4 |
| F | Shuddha Ma | m | M1 | 5 |
| F♯ | Tivra Ma | M | M2 | 6 |
| G | Pa | P | P (Panchamam) | 7 |
| A♭ | Komal Dha | d | D1 | 8 |
| A | Shuddha Dha | D | D2 = N1 | 9 |
| B♭ | Komal Ni | n | N2 = D3 | 10 |
| B | Shuddha Ni | N | N3 | 11 |
Which notation this tool uses — and why books differ
The marks follow the Bhatkhande system, the notation used in most Hindustani books and institutions: no mark for a shuddha swara, a horizontal line under a komal swara, a vertical line over tivra Ma, a dot below for mandra saptak and a dot above for taar saptak (NIOS Hindustani Music course, book 1, chapter 5, “Notation System of Hindustani Music”). The Paluskar system and many teachers use other signs, so check your book’s key.
For typing, a lowercase letter is the lower form of a pair — r g d n are komal, m is shuddha Ma — capital M is tivra Ma, and an apostrophe before or after a letter marks the lower or upper octave. Some websites, and this site’s scale finder, write tivra Ma as M′ instead, so say which convention you used when sharing notation.
Harmonium scale names: safed and kali
Singers often name their Sa by harmonium key: white keys (safed) are numbered 1–7 from C, black keys (kali) 1–5 from C♯. So Safed 1 = C, Kali 1 = C♯, Safed 2 = D, Kali 2 = D♯, Safed 3 = E, Safed 4 = F, Kali 3 = F♯, Safed 5 = G, Kali 4 = G♯, Safed 6 = A, Kali 5 = A♯ and Safed 7 = B (Swarganga, “Patti (Scale)”). On a scale-changer harmonium, choose Sa by the pitch you hear. To check it, play it on the online piano, sing into the online tuner, or find your comfortable Sa with the vocal range test.
Western Notes to Sargam Converter FAQ
How do I convert western notes to sargam?
Pick your Sa and count semitones up from it: 0 Sa, 1 komal Re, 2 Re, 3 komal Ga, 4 Ga, 5 Ma, 6 tivra Ma, 7 Pa, 8 komal Dha, 9 Dha, 10 komal Ni, 11 Ni. With Sa = C, C D E F G A B is S R G m P D N.
What is Sa Re Ga Ma in Western notes?
It depends on Sa. With Sa = C it is C D E F; with Sa = G (Safed 5) it is G A B C; with Sa = C♯ (Kali 1) it is C♯ D♯ E♯ F♯.
What are carnatic notes vs western notes?
With Sa = C: R1 = D♭, R2 = D, G2 = E♭, G3 = E, M1 = F, M2 = F♯, P = G, D1 = A♭, D2 = A, N2 = B♭ and N3 = B. R3, G1, D3 and N1 share positions with G2, R2, N2 and D2.
What do komal and tivra mean?
Komal means flat: komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni are a semitone below their shuddha (natural) form. Tivra means sharp and applies only to Ma, a semitone above shuddha Ma.
How are mandra and taar saptak written?
In Bhatkhande notation a dot below a swara puts it in the lower (mandra) octave and a dot above puts it in the upper (taar) octave. When typing, this tool uses an apostrophe before the letter for mandra ('N) and after it for taar (S').
Can I convert chords to sargam?
Yes. Type chord symbols such as Am, F or G7 and each becomes its swaras in brackets, built up from the root in the middle octave; with Sa = C, Am is [D S’ G’] — Dha, taar Sa and taar Ga.