Build a 6–10 page Interval Field Guide that helps Carnatic musicians identify Western intervals by sight and by ear, with notation, svara examples, recordings, and a short quiz.
Geetanjali School of Music trains students in Carnatic music, and many of them also sit for AP Music Theory. Every year we watch the same thing happen: students who can hear the relationship of every svara to Sa suddenly freeze when a worksheet asks for a "minor sixth" or "perfect fourth." The knowledge is there. The vocabulary isn't.
We want a field guide that closes that gap. Not a textbook chapter. A practical reference a Carnatic student can keep open while practicing, with visual notation, listening examples, and exercises they can actually run.
Deliverable: an Interval Field Guide for Carnatic Musicians, 6–10 pages, that covers every interval from unison through the octave. It should include a full interval table, at least 15 Western staff notation examples, at least 10 Carnatic svara examples showing how svara pairs map (and sometimes don't map) onto Western intervals, 5–10 original ear-training recordings you produce yourself, a short quiz with an answer key, and a 2–3 minute audio or video explanation of one interval you found genuinely tricky to categorize.
A note on framing: we are not asking you to claim that a Carnatic svara relationship is "the same as" a Western interval. The equal-tempered system and Carnatic pitch practice diverge, especially around thirds, sixths, and sevenths. Be honest about where the terminology helps and where it misleads. That honesty is part of the guide's value.
You'll get: access to our AP Music Theory reference materials, the College Board course framework, a recording setup checklist, and review sessions with a Carnatic faculty member and an AP Music Theory instructor. Final guide will be shared with our current AP cohort.