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...

, the second-most prominent note of 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...

 is referred as samvadi. This could be misleading, as it may not necessarily refer to the second-most played note.

A samvadi is a note of special significance. A performer will typically try to emphasize the samvadi along with the vadi

Vadi (Hindustani classical music)

Vadi, in both Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music, is the dominant swara of a given raga . "Vadi is the most sonant or most important note of a Raga." It does not refer to the most played note but it rather refers to a note of special significance.It is usually the swara which is...

 when improvising on a certain raga. The vadi and samvadi can be crucial in defining the raga at hand, and in some cases two ragas with the same arohana

Arohana

Arohana, Arohanam or Arohan, in the context of North Indian Classical Music and South Indian Classical Music, is the ascending scale of notes in a raga...

 and avrohana can be distinguished only by the prominence of their sonant and consonant notes.