: सप्तक) means "gamut" or "the series of seven notes". It denotes the set of swaras, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni which comprise a musical scale

Musical scale

In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...

 in Indian classical music

Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...

. In Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

, saptak literally means "containing seven" and is derived from the Sanskrit word sapta which means "seven"; However, the usual scale of Indian music spans from Sa in the Madhya Saptak to Sa in the higher, Taar Saptak. This makes eight notes instead of the seven in each Saptak

It is important to note that the Sargam (Sa-Re-Ga...) of Indian music can be likened to Do-Re-Mi... from European music.

Generally, a raga

Raga

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...

 would involve notes from three saptaks. The basic saptak is called the Madhya Saptak (Devanagari

Devanagari

Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: मध्य सप्तक). For notes with lower frequencies, the artist may use the Mandra Saptak (Devanagari

Devanagari

Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: मंद्र सप्तक)', which is the lower octave of the Madhya Saptak. For notes with higher frequencies, the upper octave or the Taar Saptak (Devanagari

Devanagari

Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: तारा सप्तक) is used.
The notes in the lower octave are denoted by an apostrophe before the note representation (or a dot below the note representation) and the notes in the upper octave are denoted by an apostrophe after the note representation (or a dot above the note representation).

For example:

Mandra Saptak : Ş or 'S

Madhya Saptak : S

Taar Saptak : Ŝ or S'