Sthayi

Sthayi or Asthaayi is an initial phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition in Hindustani music.^[1] It is a way of systematizing the parts of a composition. The Sthayi part of a Dhrupad is the first of four stanzas and uses the middle octave's first tetrachord and the lower octave notes.^[2]

Sthayi means an octave. Shadjam to Nishadham is called sthayi or an octave. It is called a position. There are basically three sthayis but five sthayis are correct too.^{[clarification needed]}^{[citation needed]}