What is Saptak?

 The entire group of seven notes, 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni', taken from one end to the other end is called 'Saptak'.

In order to understand the full connotation of 'Saptak' it will be convenient to know something about 'Sthana' or 'Voice Register'. According to the pitch of sound, Hindustani Music recognises three 'Sthanas' or 'Voice Registers' known as 'Mandra Sthana'. Madhya-Sthana', and 'Tara-Sthana'. 'Sthana' and 'Saptak' are one and the same thing. The voice of 'Mandra Sthana' or 'Voice-Di-Petto' is said to be produced in the chest, the voice of 'Madhya-Sthana' or Voice-De-Falsetto is said to be produced by the throat and the voice of 'Tara-Sthana' is said to be produced by the head. Thus these three 'Voice-Registers originate from the chest, the throat and the head respectively. Each Voice-Register is actually an Octave higher than the preceding one. These three Voice-Registers, are also known as 'Mandra-Saptak', 'Madhya-Saptak' and 'Tara-Saptak' respectively. 

     MANDRA - SAPTAK : That 'Saptak' whose sound is doubly lower than the sound of the notes of  'Mandra-Saptak'. It is also known as the lower 'Voice-Register' or the  lower 'Saptak'.

     MADHYA- SAPTAK : That 'Saptak' whose sound is of medium pitch or is doubly higher than the sound of the notes of 'Mandra-Saptak', is called 'Madhya-Saptak'. It is also known as the middle 'Voice-Registar' or the middle 'Saptak'.

      TAR-SAPTAK : That 'Saptak' whose sound is doubly higher than the sound of the notes of 'Madhya-Saptak', is called 'Tar- Saptak'. It is also known as the higher 'Voice-Register or the higher 'Saptak'.

It can also be said that the 'Saptak' which produces the normal voice is called 'Madhya-Saptak'. The voice produced by 'Mandra-Saptak' is doubly lower than the voice of 'Madhya Saptak' and the voice of 'Tara-Saptak' is doubly higher than the voice of 'Madhya- Saptak'.

It may be noted here that normally the range of human voice is about three Octaves, i.e. from about 87 vibrations per second to 768 vibrations per second. But certain remarkable voices have been heard to go slow as to reach 40 vibrations per second or to reach a high note of 2048 vibrations per second. The range of human voice for the perception of a musical tone is from 32 to 33768 vibrations per second. It is interesting to note that the lowest audible sound has only16 vibrations per second and the highest audible sound has 38000 vibrations per second giving a range of about eleven Octaves.

The notes of the above three 'Saptaks' are expressed in writing by means of certain symbols. The notes of 'Mandra Saptak' are indicated by putting a dot over the notes.The notes of the 'Madhya-Saptak' do not require any symbols. These are indicated without adding or attaching any symbols to them. The notes of 'Tar Saptak' are indicated by putting a dot over the notes.