Pitch Name Converter

What the names mean

Pitch class

All the C keys on a keyboard, in every octave, are one pitch class; so are all the C♯ keys, and so on: twelve in all. This page numbers them C = 0, C♯ = 1 … B = 11 (integer notation; some books give 0 to another note). Every name below gives a pitch class, not an octave.

Safed and Kali

Safed means white and Kali means black; These names are used traditionally in Marathi and some other Indian systems. Hindustani musicians often name a key by the harmonium key it falls on: its colour and its place counted from C. Safed 1 to 7 are the white keys C D E F G A B; Kali 1 to 5 are the black keys C♯ D♯ F♯ G♯ A♯. A singer who says “I sing in Safed 5” means their Sa is G.

Kattai

The Carnatic way to give the key of Sa: whole numbers on the white keys from C (1 = C … 7 = B) and halves on the black keys (1.5 = C♯ … 6.5 = A♯). There is no 3.5, because there is no black key between E and F (one web page’s table differs: see “Why names differ”). Flute sellers also write shruti or shruthi for the same number.

Sa

The home note of Indian music. You choose which key it is, to suit your voice or instrument, and every other note is counted from it.

Swara

A note named by its place above Sa: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, with komal (lowered) Re, Ga, Dha, Ni and tivra (raised) Ma. These are the Hindustani names. Carnatic music names the twelve swara positions (swarasthanas) with letters and numbers: S, R1, R2 … N3.

The Indian terms switch

In the footer, under Display. On this page it puts the Safed and Kali names first, numbers the keys on the picture, and adds the swaras in Devanagari and the Carnatic swarasthana names, labelled Carnatic.

Why names differ between sellers and teachers

• Two traditions, two counts. Hindustani musicians often name Sa by its harmonium key, Carnatic musicians by kattai. The whole numbers agree (Safed 5 = kattai 5 = G), the black keys do not (Kali 2 = kattai 2.5 = D♯).
• Different words for one thing. Sellers of Carnatic flutes write kattai, shruti or shruthi for the same number. The word shruti also means the drone, and the microtones between the twelve keys.
• Counting on. One teaching site numbers keys on into the next octave, so its 8th white key is C again and its 6th black key is C♯ again. If someone gives a Safed number above 7 or a Kali number above 5, ask which key they mean.
• One kattai table differs. One online music academy prints kattai 3.5 = F and puts every number above it a half step higher than here (4 = F♯ … 6.5 = B, with no 7). Every other kattai table has no 3.5 and gives F = 4 … B = 7, as this page does. If a number came from that table, check which key is meant.
• Scale changers. On a harmonium with a scale changer the reeds can be shifted, so that, for example, the reeds for Kali 1 sound when you press the F key. The names on this page are the keys you hear.
• Bansuri names. Sellers name a bansuri’s “scale” in two ways. One says Sa is played with the top three holes closed, and the name printed on the flute is the note with all holes closed (the low Pa). Another says the scale is the Sa you get with all six holes closed. So two flutes sold as “C” may not have Sa on the same key: ask the seller which holes give Sa. (On one seller’s 8-hole Carnatic flute, Sa comes with the first two finger holes covered.)
• No fixed frequency. These names are keys, not frequencies. This page plays them in equal temperament (all twelve half steps the same size) from your A4, the A above middle C: 440 Hz unless you changed it in the Tuner.