Harmonium Online with Sargam and Drones
This harmonium online gives you 37 keys, from C3 to C6, that keep sounding for as long as you hold them, like a reed harmonium with the bellows moving. Choose your Sa and turn on the sargam labels: every key then shows Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha or Ni, with the komal swaras underlined, tivra Ma marked with a small stroke above and dots for the lower and upper octave, as in Bhatkhande notation.
Swaras on the harmonium with Sa on white 1 (C)
With Sa on white 1, the shuddha swaras fall on the white keys; komal Re, Ga, Dha, Ni and tivra Ma are the black keys between them.
| Swara | Key | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sa | white 1 | C |
| komal Re | black 1 | C♯ |
| Re | white 2 | D |
| komal Ga | black 2 | D♯ |
| Ga | white 3 | E |
| Ma | white 4 | F |
| tivra Ma | black 3 | F♯ |
| Pa | white 5 | G |
| komal Dha | black 4 | G♯ |
| Dha | white 6 | A |
| komal Ni | black 5 | A♯ |
| Ni | white 7 | B |
How to use it
- Choose your Scale (Sa): white 1 is C, black 1 is C♯, white 2 is D, and so on. The Sa keys get a coloured line at the bottom.
- Keep Sargam labels on to see the swara on every key. A dot below marks the lower octave (mandra), a dot above the upper octave (taar).
- Press Sa drone and, if you like, Pa drone, then set the volume in Settings so the drone sits under your voice.
- Play with your fingers or with the keys Z X C V B N M and Q W E R T Y U I; on a phone, swipe the keyboard sideways to reach the low octave.
- Use the Scale changer to move the sound up or down by semitones while your fingers stay on the same keys. Stop all or Esc silences everything.
Help and explanations
For riyaz, switch on the Sa drone and the Pa drone: they keep sounding while you play or sing, like the drone stops of a harmonium. The tone is synthesized in your browser from reed-like harmonics, not recorded from a real instrument, and nothing you play leaves your device.
Harmonium for riyaz: playing and singing together
Most singers use the harmonium in riyaz in three ways: to hold a drone, to give the next swara before they sing it, and to play back a phrase so they can copy it. Start with the Sa drone alone and sing a long Sa until your voice and the drone blend. Then play Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa slowly, one key at a time, and sing each swara after the key, not over it, so you hear whether you landed on the note or slid past it.
Two tools on this page help with the sequence. Record session keeps which keys you pressed and for how long; Replay plays them back, so you can sing along with your own exercise. Start practice picks a target key and tells you if you found it, a quick way to learn where the komal and tivra swaras sit in a new scale. To check how steady your sung Sa is, use the voice tuner in another tab.
How to choose your Sa (scale) by voice
In Indian music the scale is the pitch of Sa, and it should come from your voice, not from the instrument. Pick a Sa where the lower Pa still sounds clear and the upper Sa is reachable without pushing. As a rough guide, many men sing with Sa between C and D♯ (white 1 to black 2) and many women between F and A♯ (white 4 to black 5), but these are only tendencies. The vocal range test measures your lowest and highest notes so you can choose with numbers instead of guessing.
A scale-changer harmonium lets the player keep the same fingering and move the whole sound, which is how accompanists follow singers with different scales. The Scale changer here does the same: with Sa on white 1 and the changer at +1, you play the C fingering and hear C♯ (black 1). If you would rather learn the real keys of each scale, leave the changer at 0 and change Scale (Sa) instead; the sargam labels move with it. Every key is tuned in equal temperament from A4 = 440 Hz.
Harmonium, shruti box or tanpura?
The harmonium is a keyboard with metal reeds and hand-pumped bellows, so it can play melody, chords and drones; it is the usual companion for bhajans, ghazals, qawwali and light classical singing. A shruti box uses the same kind of reeds but has no keys: it only holds a drone, normally Sa with Pa or Ma. The tanpura is a plucked string instrument whose buzzing bridge (jawari) gives a rich, shimmering Sa–Pa drone, and it remains the classical reference for concerts.
Because each key is a fixed pitch, a harmonium cannot glide between notes (meend) or show the finer shrutis, so many teachers prefer a tanpura or shruti box drone for long riyaz and use the harmonium to learn swaras and compositions. You can do both here: try the online shruti box for a reed drone with Sa and Pa or Sa and Ma, or the tanpura drone when you want a brighter Sa to sing against.
Tips
- Start with Sa on white 1 (C): the shuddha swaras then fall on the white keys and you learn the sargam shape first.
- With headphones, keep the drones low; they should support your voice, not cover it.
- If a song feels too high, lower the Scale changer by one or two semitones instead of forcing the top notes.
- Record a short alankar, replay it and sing along to check each swara against the key.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play harmonium online for free without downloading an app?
Yes. This harmonium runs in the browser on phones, tablets, laptops and PCs, with no download or sign-up. You can add the page to your home screen to open it like an app.
How do I play this harmonium with my laptop keyboard?
Z X C V B N M and Q W E R T Y U I play the white keys of the two upper octaves; S D G H J and 2 3 5 6 7 play the black keys. The low octave is played with the mouse or by touch. Esc stops every sound.
What do the underlines, strokes and dots on the sargam labels mean?
They follow Bhatkhande notation, used in Hindustani music: an underline marks a komal swara (Re, Ga, Dha, Ni), a short vertical stroke above marks tivra Ma, a dot below means the lower octave and a dot above the upper octave.
What does the scale changer do?
It moves the sound of every key and the drones by semitones while you keep the same fingering, like the sliding reed board of a scale-changer harmonium. The line under the drone buttons shows the pitch your Sa really has.
Which scale (Sa) should I choose for singing?
The one where lower Pa is clear and upper Sa is comfortable. Many men end up between C and D♯ and many women between F and A♯, but test your own range and choose by ear.
Does it sound like a real harmonium?
It is a synthesized reed tone with a short bellows-like attack and a softer reed an octave below. It is good for learning swaras and practising with a drone; touch, bellows control and the character of a real instrument still need a physical harmonium.
Is my playing recorded or uploaded?
No. The page does not use the microphone. Record session only keeps which keys you pressed, in this tab’s memory, and it disappears when you close or reload the page.