A melody, worked through
#music/melody · Note 9 of 9 · part of Guitar
Everything in this series, applied to eight bars. The melody is my own, written to be simple enough to analyse and long enough to have a shape.
Key: C major — Sa = C · Time: 4/4 · Tempo: ♩= 90, andante
The melody in sargam
│ Sa Re Ga Ma │ Pa – Pa – │ Dha Pa Ma Ga │ Re – – – │
│ Ga Ma Pa Dha│ Ni – Ni – │ Sa' Ni Dha Pa │ Sa – – – │
Each – holds the note before it for another beat. Bars 4 and 8 are a single
note held for four.
The same thing in Western notes
| Bar | Sargam | Notes | Rhythm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sa Re Ga Ma | C D E F | four quarters |
| 2 | Pa – Pa – | G G | two halves |
| 3 | Dha Pa Ma Ga | A G F E | four quarters |
| 4 | Re – – – | D | one whole |
| 5 | Ga Ma Pa Dha | E F G A | four quarters |
| 6 | Ni – Ni – | B B | two halves |
| 7 | Sa' Ni Dha Pa | C B A G | four quarters |
| 8 | Sa – – – | C | one whole |
Where the notes are
Open position, using the C major scale from Sargam and the scale:
| Sargam | Note | String | Fret |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sa | C | 5th (A) | 3 |
| Re | D | 4th (D) | open |
| Ga | E | 4th (D) | 2 |
| Ma | F | 4th (D) | 3 |
| Pa | G | 3rd (G) | open |
| Dha | A | 3rd (G) | 2 |
| Ni | B | 2nd (B) | open |
| Sa' | C | 2nd (B) | 1 |
The tab
Bars 1–4:
Sa Re Ga Ma │ Pa Pa │ Dha Pa Ma Ga │ Re
e|--------------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
B|--------------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
G|--------------------│--0-----0----│--2--0--------│--------│
D|-----0--2--3--------│-------------│--------3--2--│--0-----│
A|--3-----------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
E|--------------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
Bars 5–8:
Ga Ma Pa Dha│ Ni Ni │ Sa' Ni Dha Pa│ Sa
e|--------------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
B|--------------------│--0-----0----│--1--0--------│--------│
G|--------0--2--------│-------------│--------2--0--│--------│
D|--2--3--------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
A|--------------------│-------------│--------------│--3-----│
E|--------------------│-------------│--------------│--------│
Why it works
Bars 1–4 climb and fall back. Sa up to Pa, a rest on Pa, then down to Re. Landing on Re is deliberately unfinished — Re is the second degree, and the ear expects it to keep moving. That tension is what carries you into bar 5.
Bars 5–8 do it again, higher, and resolve. The same rising shape starting a third up, reaching Ni — the leading note, the most restless of all — and only then falling to Sa. Ni to Sa' is a semitone, the smallest step available, and that is precisely why the ending sounds like an ending.
The arch. Lowest note Sa in bar 1, highest Sa' in bar 7, home in bar 8. One rise and one release across eight bars, which is roughly the smallest structure that feels like a complete thought.
Chords underneath
Harmonise it with the scale's own triads (Chords):
│ C │ C │ F │ G │
│ C │ G │ Am │ C │
That is I – I – IV – V – I – V – vi – I. The G under bar 4 is the important one: the V chord under a held Re makes the unfinished feeling deliberate rather than accidental.
How to practise it
- Sing it in sargam first, no guitar. If you cannot sing it you cannot phrase it.
- Play at 60 BPM with a metronome, one bar at a time.
- Join bars in pairs, then fours, then all eight.
- Bring it to 90 BPM only when eight bars are clean twice in a row.
- Add the chords last — or record yourself playing them and play the melody over the top.
Then move Sa. Put it at the 5th fret of the 5th string and the whole thing is in D, with the same shapes and the same fingering. Or clamp a capo at fret 2 and play it exactly as written — same result, no thinking required (The capo). That transposition, done without effort, is the point of everything in this series.
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