How to Find Your Shruti
Your shruti is the one pitch every swara you sing gets judged against. Picking a Sa that sits comfortably in your voice, and locking it in before you start, makes everything after it easier.
- Find a comfortable middle note. Hum a relaxed, sustained note near the middle of your natural range — not a strained high note, not your lowest growl. That's roughly where your Sa should sit.
- Set it as your Sa in the tanpura. Open the online tanpura, pick the closest pitch class and octave in the Shruti (Sa) panel, and start the drone.
- Match your voice to the drone. Sing a long, steady "Sa" against the drone. If it beats or wavers against the tanpura, nudge the pitch class or octave until your voice and the drone lock together.
- Keep it steady through the session. Once it's set, leave it alone for the whole practice session — changing shruti mid-session makes it much harder to judge whether your swaras are actually landing in tune.