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The following notations are used to describe the keys on the keyboard:
For convenience, the reference note, called the tonic, or the key, or the
Sa, is assumed to be the first white key, indicated in the diagram by the
letter S.
Remember: any key can become a Sa; but we have assumed the first white key
to be the Sa (S), for convenience and convention, simplicity and
uniformity.
There are seven musical notes: Sa, indicated by S; Re, by R; Ga, by G;
Ma, by m; Pa, by P; Dha, by D; and Ni, indicated by N. All these 7 notes
are the white keys, as shown in the diagram. They are called shuddha
(natural) swara-s (notes). In this scheme , only Ma is represented by the
lower-case "m"; the rest are represented by the respective CAPITAL letters.
Out of these 7 natural notes, Sa (S) and Pa (P) are invariable: Sa and Pa do
not have any lower or higher variation. The remaining notes --Re, Ga, Ma,
Dha, and Ni -- each has a variation. Ma has a higher variation, called Ma
teevra (sharp). It is represented by the letter "M" (CAPITAL this time),
its location being as shown in the diagram. The remaining four -- Re, Ga,
Dha, and Ni -- each has a lower variation, called komal (flat). They are
represented respectively by the letters r, g, d, and n. Their locations on
the keyboard are shown in the diagram. So, we have 12 notes from Sa through
Ni, as shown under:
S, r, R, g, G, m, M, P, d, D, n, N.
They are represented by the 12 keys as shown in the diagram. In the
present case, where our Sa is the first white key, the natural notes are
white keys, and the variable notes (the sharp and flats) are black keys.
The thirteenth key is Sa again, but this Sa sounds higher than the
previous Sa with which we started.
Keyboard image courtesy of Manoo Patel.
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