Example 8. Common gamaka types

N.B.: notable omission in Dikshitar’s list ([1904] 2010): “mordent” (Powers 1958a), a.k.a. “ahata” (Nijenhuis 2001)

In the following examples, the bottom staff shows the svara in both Western and Indian notation, with the appropriate gamaka symbol from Dikshitar’s system placed above the Western notation. The top staff shows an approximation of how the gamaka would sound in the specified raga. (Although it is only explicitly marked in the vali, the ettra-jaru, and the erakka-jaru, sliding between pitches is typical of all gamakas except those based on vina hammer-on and pull-off techniques, namely the spurhita, khandippu, and ravai.)