Shruthi Shuddhi – Becoming One with Shruti
What we refer to as “Shruti” is nothing but a constant drone buzzing at a certain frequency to establish a baseline pitch for whatever we sing. This is a fundamental shift from how western music looks at a compositional piece, where they treat melodies with absolute frequencies. But in Indian music, everything is relative to this baseline drone frequency. So we call Shruti, the very fabric upon which the entire music flows. We call it the “aadhar” – the foundation. It’s usually the first note Sa. Only when Sa is established, can other notes flow because all other notes or swaras are derived from where Sa is. Without Sa, we cannot know where Re or Ga or Ma or any other note is.
So aligning yourself perfectly to Shruti itself is a sadhana. On certain days when I am just singing Sa and Pa, I am deeply moved and tears naturally flow out of me – this has happened many times especially when there’s no one around and no distractions or mental noise going on. And my voice that day just cooperated so that it comes perfectly in unison with the shruti – when that happens, your body starts resonating – and the vibrations created thereby can generate a certain experience within you that I simply cannot articulate.
When a simple alignment with Shruti can do this to you, just imagine the possibilities with ragas!
Perfecting the Technique
But does aligning with Shruti mean you’ve mastered the music? Far from it. Indian classical music is revered not only for its depth but for the discipline it demands. This is not casual practice. It is tapasya—a mindful, focused pursuit of inner alignment sustained for long periods of time.
The body must first become the instrument. Even sitting cross-legged with a straight spine takes conscious effort and patience to cultivate. From there, comes the work of refining your pitch, breath, and tone—to align not just outwardly, but inwardly with the Shruti.
Then begins your relationship with rhythm. What may first seem like simple timekeeping gradually reveals itself as a profound language—full of intricate mathematical patterns, cycles, and improvisations. You begin to see rhythm not as structure, but as play—an intelligent flow of energy.
When you then explore ragas the right way, you can easily start observing a natural emotional outpour that happens almost intuitively, without singing a single word but simply singing swaras in a particular raga. An important part of this experience is to make sure you’ve worked on your shruti shuddhi aspects we just talked above. Only then you can experience ragas in such a way.
A moment comes in a practitioner’s journey, when she is no longer singing – music simply happens with her. And with it comes an inner joy and stillness that can be experienced beyond our psychological boundaries. This is simply because of pure resonance—when the sound and your inner system become one.
This is when music stops being art and becomes a divine presence.
Experience Music Beyond The Surface
Without this inner work, it’s easy to enjoy music for its superficial beauty—its lyrics, its emotion, its story. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But that kind of joy is momentary. It’s like listening to a spiritual talk that inspires you briefly, compared to the deep, lasting bliss that comes from perfecting a yoga posture after weeks of practice.
Music as a Transformative Practice
Practicing Indian classical music—like dance or any other classical art—has the power to reshape you from within. For children and adults, it has the power to build patience, bring focus and utmost stillness, a quality that’s becoming scarce by the day. The way I see it is that these forms of pursuits are designed in such a way that consciousness is built-in. You cannot sing a swara correctly without being present. You don’t have to make an effort to focus—focus becomes a necessity, and over time, a natural state.
If you simply practiced with such a mindset, it has the power to touch you at your deepest core of who you are. No religion or belief systems needed. It’s a lightening ticket to divine!