Pitch in Indian Classical Music

Here is a little more technical detail about pitch for those who are interested:

In practice, the human voice is limited to a certain range of keys (but this is quite a wide range).

With reference to Hindustani music, people tend to describe their pitch with reference to harmonium keys. So you may hear someone say, for example, that their pitch is “kaali chaar,” i.e. black four. That means that’s where they are comfortable singing their first Sa.

The word “safed” refers to white keys.

In the Carnatic system, a unit of measurement called “kattai” is used to refer to pitch. There are also half kattais. Half kattais indicate semi-tones (the black keys on a keyboard)

Below is a comparative pitch chart :

Carnatic Music	Hindustani Music	Western Music
Kattai 6	Mandra Safed 6 (Low)	A (Low)
Kattai 6 1/2	Mandra Kali 5	A#
Kattai 7	Mandra Safed 7	B
Kattai 1	Safed 1	C
Kattai 1.5	Kali 1	C#
Kattai 2	Safed 2	D
Kattai 2.5	Kali 2	D#
Kattai 3	Safed 3	E
Kattai 4	Safed 4	F
Kattai 4.5	Kali 3	F#
Kattai 5	Safed 5	G
Kattai 5.5	Kali 4	G#
Kattai 6	Safed 6	A
Kattai 6.5	Kali 5	A#
Kattai 7 (high)	Safed 7 (High)	B