Tamil Piano | Notes

1. Introduction Tamil film music (Kollywood) and classical Carnatic songs have a unique melodic structure. While Western piano uses 12 equal semitones , Tamil songs are typically based on 7 relative notes (Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni). This paper provides a systematic method to convert any Tamil song into piano notes. 2. The Foundation: Sargam to Western Notes In Carnatic music, the scale is movable (relative pitch). For a piano, we fix a Sruti (tonic). Choose your Sa (Shadjamam) as any white or black key. Common choices for beginners:

C – G – Am – F (I – V – vi – IV) e.g., "Ava Enna Enna" (Vaaranam Aayiram) uses this. 6. Example Full Transcription (Short Sample) Song: "Ennavale" (from Kadhalan ) – first two lines. Scale: Sa = C (Mohanam: C D E G A) tamil piano notes

Once Sa is chosen, the other notes are:

Tamil lyrics: "Vaseegaraa… nee enakku oru vaseegaraa" Common transcription: Sa Ga Ma Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa (C – E – F – G – F – E – D – C) Step 2 — Map to piano keys (Sa = C) Sa = C Ga = E (major 3rd) Ma = F Pa = G Ri = D This paper provides a systematic method to convert

| Tonic (Sa) | Western Note | |------------|---------------| | C | C | | D | D | | G | G | | A | A | For a piano, we fix a Sruti (tonic)