Elements of carnatic music:

      Carnatic music is one of the two main classification of  Indian classical music, the other being Hindustani music. It emphasises on vocal music. The main elements of carnatic music are

•       Raga(the melody)
•       Swara(the musical sound of note)
•       Sruthi(the musical pitch)
•       Tala(rhythmic beats)

Raga:

     Raga is a melodic mode in carnatic music. It is defined by series of swaras. There are two main classification of ragas as,

1.  Melakartha ragas
2.   Janya ragas

Melakartha ragas contain same swaras in arohanam(upward movement in raga) and avarohanam(downward movement in raga).There are 72 melakartha ragas. Janya ragas are derived from these melakartha ragas.

Swara:

      Seven basic notes or swaras in music are,

1.   Shadja  (Sa)
2.   Rishabh (Ri)
3.   Gandaram (Ga )
4.   Madhyam (Ma)
5.   Pancham (Pa)
6.   Dhaivat (Da)
7.   Nishad(Ni)

With fine variations in these except Sa and Pa, there are twelve notes in carnatic music.

Sruthi:

      Sruthi is the musical pitch and base note on which the entire musical exercise is based. Sruthi may be classified as

1. Sama sruthi
2. Madhyama sruthi

In sama sruthi, songs are sung with Sa and Pa as the base notes. In madhyama sruthi, songs are sung with note Ma as the reference.


Tala:
   Tala is the rhythmic beat with which songs are sung. There are seven talas as

1.    Druva
2.     Matya
3.     Roopaka
4.     Triputa
5.     Jampa
6.     Ada
7.      Eka

Tala include lagu(tapping the palm), anudritham(single beat) and dritham(two beats). In tala, lagu is the only variable segment and with its variation in 5 forms , the total tala can be given as 7*5=35.