Indian music is chiefly based on melody, i.e., consonant notes in suitable succession. Besides this physiological sensation, there is a deep psychological involvement. The notes or svaras (स्वर) used in an Indian musical scale have the same musical intervals as those of the major diatonic scale. The five additional notes in pure intonation, तीव्र (sharp) and कोमल (flat) are also used. Thus, the choice is usually made from the following twelve svaras : सा (shadja), रे(को) and रे (rishabha), ग(को) and ग g ndh ra), म and म(ती) (madhyam), प (pancham), ध (को) and ध (dhaivata), नी(को) and नी (nishad), सा. However, as compared to the fixed frequency of the tonic in western music, an Indian vocalist or musician has the freedom to set any frequency as the tonic. Besides, unlike western music, dissonant intervals are sometimes introduced to enhance the musical effect.

However, the whole structure of Indian music is based on r\(\bar a\) gas (राग), which are wellestablished melody types with a wide variety of emotional content. They can be courageous, amorous, melancholy, cheerful, soothing, or ecstatic. R\(\bar a\) gas are capable of conveying these emotions to the listener and different r gas are assigned to different seasons and different parts of the day.