Music Lessons of a Novice

Naata adavu - Part 1

2011-07-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Returning to this blog after ages. I did take a break from dance lessons for about 3 yrs and restarted under a different teacher last October. I am going to try and use this as a form of chronicling the progress that I am making.

The second set of adavus is called the naata adavu where you extend you legs. If you remember in thatta adavu you basically tapped your feet alternately. Here you would extend and/or tap them according to the step.

This is also the first set of adavus where the solkattu (or the bol) remains fixed while the steps themselves change. From now on, each adavu will be identified more by the solkattu than the name.

The solkattu for Naata adavu is thai-yum-thath-tha thai-yum-tha-ha. That's 8 beats per cycle.

The main hand gesture (or mudra) for this adavu is tripathaka. It is holding the palm flat with the ring finger bent.

Step 1: Extend both your hands at shoulder height holding the tripathaka with palm facing down.
Thai - extend your right leg and turn your right hand to face the palm up.
yum - Bring you right leg back in, tap and turn the palm down.
tha - extend your left leg and turn your left hand to face the palm up
tha - bring your left leg back in, tap and turn the palm down.

Thai - yum - tha- ha repeat the same steps as above.

Gowlai - Vaiyathu Vaazhveergaal

2010-12-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

வையத்து வாழ்வீர்காள் நாமும் நம் பாவைக்கு
செய்யும் கிரிசைகள் கேளீரோ பாற்கடலுள்
பைய துயின்ற பரமனடி பாடி
நெய்யுண்ணோம் பாலுண்ணோம் நாற்காலை நீராடி

மையிட்டெழுதோம் மலரிட்டு நாம் முடியோம்
செய்யாதன செய்யோம் தீக்குறளை சென்றோதோம்
ஐயமும் பிச்சையும் ஆந்தனையும் கை காட்டி
உய்யுமாறெண்ணி உகந்தேலோர் எம்பாவாய்

Raagam: Gowlai
Arohanam: S R1 M1 P N3 S
Avarohanam: S N3 P M1 R1 G3 M1 R1 S

Like mentioned in yesterday's post, Gowlai is the second raaga of the Pancharatna Krithis (Dudukugala). The other popular krithis in Gowlai is Pranamamyaham and Sri Mahaganapathi Ravathumam.

This is also a vakra raga with the GMRS prayogam. It is a janya of the 15th Melakartha Mayamalava gowla. MMG has been already discusssed on this blog. I am not aware of many cine songs in this raga except one by IR "Vedham Nee Iniya Naadham nee", though the janaka raga MMG has been very extensively used in film music.

Naatai - Margazhi Thingal

2010-12-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

Also posted at vrangasayee.blogspot,com

மார்கழித் திங்கள் மதிநிறைந்த நன்னாளால்
நீராடப் போதுவீர்! போதுமினோ நேரிழையீர்!
சீர்மல்கும் ஆய்ப்பாடி செல்வச் சிறுமீர்காள்
கூர்வேல் கொடுந்தொழிலன் நந்தகோபன் குமரன்
ஏரார்ந்த கண்ணி யாசோதை இளஞ்சிங்கம்
கார்மேனிச் செங்கண் கதிர்மதியம் போல் முகத்தான்
நாராயணனே நமக்கு பறை தருவான்
பாரோர் புகழப் படிந்தேலோ ரெம்பாவாய்!

Raagam: Naatai Janya of 36th Melakartha Chalanaatai (This is the last raga of the suddha madhyama group).
Arohanam: S R3 G3 M1 Pa N3 S
Avarohanam: S N3 P M1 G3 M1 R3 S

This a vakra raga due to G3 M1 R3 S, For explanation on what is vakra ragam please see http://raagamudra.blogspot.com/2009/08/janya-raga-classification.html

Naatai is one of the 5 Gana (Heavy) Ragas and the first of the raga in the Pancharathna Krithis. (I may post about Pancharatna Krithis at a later date, will link this to that post then). It is interesting to note that the firs 5 pasurams of Andal Thiruppaavai as sung by MLV amma are set in the 5 raagas of Pancharatha Krithis (namely, Naatai, Gowlai, Arabhi, Varali and Sree). I would like to think this is not a mere coincidence. I tried to find a pattern for the rest of the raagas of thiruppaavai and couldn't. Maybe someone can help me spot it.

Jagadhanandakaraka, the first PR Krithi is set in Naatai. The most famous composition in Naatai is probably Mahaganapathim. You can see a filmy version of this in the movie "SindhuBhairavi". Narumugaiye from Iruvar, is set in Naatai.

Western Scales Part 1

2009-12-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Though this is not really a part of Carnatic music per se, some understanding of Western scales actually helps a lot in understanding light Classical and Film music and even some advance concepts in Carnatic. We will briefly discuss the Western scales.

We will begin with the Western notes. Like the S R G M (but quite unlike it too), are the Western notes of C, D, E, F, G, A, B. It is similar in the sense that there are also 7 notes and 5 half notes (sharps) in the Western music making a total of 12 similar to Carnatic music. And this is where the similarity ends at least theoretically. While the adhara shadja can be fixed at any frequency and will therefore determine the rest of swarasthanas, the notes in WCM (Western Classical Music) are fixed. That is the middle C is always at a fixed frequency (typically tuned by a piano) and so are the rest of the notes. The white keys on a piano are always the full notes (C, D, E, F etc) and the black keys are always half notes (#s like C#, D# etc). They never change. While going through some of these scales it might be easier for you to visualize them on a piano so here's an image to help you

Note that C is always to the left of the group of 2 black keys and never anywhere else. Recall from our earlier discussion that, unlike the Western C, the adhara shadja can be pegged at any position to the convenience of the singer or the artist.

Will continue with major/minor scales in a different post

Amrithavarshini

2009-08-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Literally, the meaning is 'one who showers amrit, the elixir of immortality.' It is a combination of two words: amrit and varshini.

Different schools of music place the origin of this raga under different melas. One school places this raga as the janya of the 39th mela Jhalavarali. But the present day Amritavarshini does not have any resemblance to the 39th mela. There are no compositions in this type of Amritavarshini.

The present day Amritavarshini could be placed as the janya of the 65th mela Mechakalyani. Or the 66th mela Chitrambari. It can be fitted to either of these melas as the raga does not have a Dhaivata. As the note Dhaivata is the only difference between Mechakalyani and Chitrambari, in the absence of that note, it could belong to either of these melas.

But the practice is to choose the earlier of the two ragas in case of such a dilemma.

Amritavarshini as it is sung today has the following Aarohana and Avarohana:

S G3 M2 P N3 S
S N3 P M2 G3 S

It is an Audava raga and is very melodious. It does not give scope for treatment as a major raga in a concert. One reason could be the absence of major compositions in the raga.

The very popular and frequently heard ones are Muthuswamy Dikshitar's 'Anandamritakarshini' in Adi Tala and Muthiaha Bhagavatar's 'Sudhamayee' in Rupaka Tala.

The raga is a hot favorite for ragamalika swara singing in ragam-taanam-pallavi.

There is a popular anecdote about this raga. It is said that while visiting Ettayapuram, a small village in Tamil Nadu, the great composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar was anguished to see the drought-hit arid land and people facing severe water shortage. Moved by their plight, Dikshitar looked up to the sky and burst forth in praise of the goddess in this raga. He beseeched Devi to bring rain and alleviate the plight of the drought-hit people.

He addressed the Devi as 'Anandamritakarshini, Amritavarshini'. When he sang 'Salilam Varshaya Varshaya', meaning 'let the rain pour', it is said the sky opened up. There was such a torrential rain that the place got flooded. He had then to plead 'Sthambhaya Sthambhaya', meaning 'stop, stop'.

This incident has given rise to the practice of musicians gathering together to sing this composition when there rains fail.

Wonderful rendition by T S Sreekumar

A unique Vocal+violin concert by a single person.

Film Music

Another Amrithavarshini

Hamsadhwani

2009-08-26T01:45:00.000-07:00

HAMSADHWANI, a Janya Ragam from Melam 29 Dheerasankarabharanam
is an audava-audava (Pentatonic scale)
Arohana: S R2 G3 P N3 S
Avarohana: S N3 P G3 R2 S

The Rasa associated with this Ragam is "Vira" (Bravery). Majority of the compositions in Hamsadhwani are on Lord Ganesha and the rest (well almost) are on Lord Rama. Hamsadwani features as a Ragam in many Ragamalikas. An Anecdote: Once, Tiger Varadachariar, a renowned musician of yesteryears, was listening to a poorly rendered hamdashwani by some musician, and he quipped: This is not Hamsadhwani - but Himsa dhvani!! (Sound of torture).

Famous compositions in this raga are
Vatapi Ganapathim, Vinayaka, Raghunayaka.

Vatapi Kalpanaswaras by Aishu

A Tamil Film Song

A Song from the albunm Colonial Cousins

A Punjabi Pop in Hamsdhwani !!!

When is a scale a raga?

2009-08-26T01:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some basic rules for calling a given scale a raga

1. The raga has its origin in a scale called ‘thaat’ or ‘mela’.

2. There should be at least 5 notes in a raga.

3. The 2 forms of a note i.e. flat and sharp, should not come in succession in a raga.

4. A raga has both ascending and descending (aaroha and avaroha) order of notes.

5. A raga should have the note ‘sa’ i.e. ‘do’ of the solfa notation.

6. A raga should have at least one note from ‘ma’ and ‘pa’, i.e. ‘fa’ and ’so’ of the solfa notation.

7. A raga should have both ‘vadi’ and ‘samvadi’ notes.

8. A raga should have an aesthetic value.

Janya Raga classification

2009-08-26T00:28:00.000-07:00

What is a janya raga?

It is a "derived" raga from one of the 72 Melakartha ragas. This derivation may be by

1. Excluding one or more sware from the "parent" or the janaka either in aarohana or avarohana or both
2. Including one or more swaras that do not belong to the parent. Such swaras are called anyaswaras.
3. Reordering the swaras differing from their natural flow.

1. Exclusion of Swaras: When this happens we end up with ragas having 6 or 5 swaras in either arohanam or avarohanam or both. A raga that has 7 swaras is called a sampoorna raga. By definition all Melakartha ragas are sampoorna ragas.
A raga with 6 swaras is called a Shadava Raga. A raga with 5 swaras is called a Audava raga. A raga can have different number of swaras in Arohanam and avarohanam. Therefore you can have sampoorna-shadava or shadava-sampoorna, sampoorna-audava or audava-sampoorna, shadava-audava or audava-shadava, sampoorna, shadava-shadava or audava-audava ragas (phew!!!)
Examples:

Sampoorna: Any melakartha raga like Shankarabharanam or Kalyani.
Shadava Sampoorna: Kambhoji. Janya of Harikambhoji (28th Mela).
Audava Sampoorna: Saveri (Janya of Mayamalava Gowla 15th Mela)
Shadava Shadava: Sriranjani (Janya of KH Priya 22nd Mela)
Audava Shadava: Malahari (Janya of MMG 15th Mela).
Audava Audava: Mohanam (Janya of HariKambhoji 29th Mela)

2. Including Anyaswaras: A raga that is "faithful" to its parent is called a Upanga Raga and one that uses foreign swaras are Bashanga ragas. All of the above janyas mentioned are upanga ragas. The Bashanga ragas may have one or more anya swaras.

Example:
Bhairavi (janya of natabhairavi 20th Mela). D2 is used as an anyaswara in the arohana. It is a sampoorna raga with D2 in arohana but D1 in avarohana.
Begada (janya of Shankarabharanam 29th Mela). Uses N2 in the avarohana.

3. Reordering of swaras: A raga where the swaras are sung in a different order every time they occur. Such ragas are called Vakra Raga (or twisted ragas)

Example:
PurviKalyani (Janya of 53rd Mela -Gamanshrama). S R1 G3 M2 P D2 P S | S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S
Sahana (28th Mela's Janya) S R2 G3 M1 P M1 D2 N2 S | SN2SD2N2D2PM1G3M1R2G3R2S :)

Simmendra Madhyamam

2009-08-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

ārohaṇa: S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S
avarohaṇa: S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

This is the 57th Melakartha. It has very few janyas so it's not as popular as a parent (or janaka) raga. By its own merit, it is often sung as a main piece in concerts and also quite often used on Ragam Thanam Pallavi. More on Ragam Thanam Pallavi in a later post.

It is very closely related to Shanmukapriya (56th mela) and differs from it only in the N. This causes it to be confused with Shanmukapriya more often than not if the musician is not careful about bringing out the N3 in the rendition.

Rendition of SM on Sax
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/pJX00I5jZS.As1NMvHdW/

Songs in SM from Films

Listen to the violins and the flute at the beginning

Karaharapriya

2009-08-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

This is the 22nd Melakartha.

It's scale is
Aarohana: S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S
Avarohana: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S

This is a very important and melodious melakartha and also important because it gives rise to a lot of janya ragas. Kharaharapriya has been decorated with compositions by many composers. All except the Dikshitars, including Muthuswami Dikshitar,[1] have composed songs in this rāgam. Thyagaraja has composed many in this rāgam. Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the three most important composers in Carnatic music, has not composed kritis in Kharaharapriya, but has composed kritis in a closely related ragam Harapriya, which bears stark similarities to Kharaharapriya.[3] A few of the popular compositions are listed here.
Chakkani rajamargamu, Pakkala nilapadi, Mitri Bhagyame, Rama ni samana, Nadachi Nadachi and Rama neeyata by Thyagaraja
Moovasai konda thiruman by Muthiah Bhagavatar
Senthil andavan, Srinivasa Thava Charanam by Papanasam Sivan

This is often sung as a main piece in concerts and is very conducive for elaborate alapana and kalpanaswarams. Karaharapriya in Hindustani system is called the Kafi thaat.

Here's a carnatic piece sung by great MS. Play close attention to the rag alapana at the beginning. Such a wonderful KHPriya

Nice demo of KHPriya on Keyboard. Not as faithful due to the inherent limitation of playing carnatic on keyboard but nevertheless, a good rendition.

Some movie songs in this raga

Kalyani

2009-08-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

It is the 65th Melakartha and arguably the queen of ragas. It is the most important Pratimadhyama raga. It is also known as Mecha Kalyani to conform to the Katapayadhi system (More on Katapayadhi later). It's scale is

Arohana: S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S'
Avarohana: S' N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S

Looking at the scale it looks like it differs from Shankarabharanam only in M. However, the swaraprayogas of Kalyani are very different from that of Shankarabharanam and they are poles apart in their distintive ways. Kalyani is also considered a very auspicious raga and a evening raga in general. This corresponds to Rag Yaman in Hindustani and to the C Lydian scale in Western Classical Music (Thanks Rajesh for pointing this out).

Here's a link to a mandolin rendition of Kalyani Varnam Vanajakshi
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/jUI0qkU-Wd.As1NMvHdW/

Here's a link to a very beautiful Krithi in Kalyani
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/b4p23skYgd.As1NMvHdW/

Shankarabharanam

2009-08-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

This is the 29th Melakartha and one of the main ragas in Carnatic Music. It is also a very important janaka raga (that is a lot of ragas are derived from it). It is usually sung either as a varnam or a main krithi with elaborate raga alapana. The placement of swaras in Shankarabharanam make it very conducive for alapana and numerous swaraprastharas (using swaras during a krithi to bring out the raga). Shankarabharanam literally means "jewel of Lord Shiva" and is considered to be favorite raga of the deity. It's scale is
Arohana: S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S'
Avarohana: S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

The placement of it swaras makes it resemble the C major scale very closely.

Some Carnatic compositions in this raga are Swara raga sudha, Saroja dhala nethri. Here's a link to a thillana in Shankarabharanam
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/rUp2f7tONS.As1NMvHdW/
Here's a pseudo western piece but played Carnatic style in Shankarabharanam.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/bUI09vl5wd.As1NMvHdW/

Movie Songs in Shankarabharanam

Classification of ragas - the Melakartha system

2009-08-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

The fundamental classification of ragas are as Melakartha ragas and Janya ragas. Melakartha are the fundamental ragas. For a raga to be termed as Melakartha raga, it has to be a sampoorna raga (i.e., has all the 7 swaras appearing once and only once and in the same order both in aarohana and avarohana). This begs a question, if there are only 7 notes (from our earlier lecture, we saw that there were 7 notes S R G M P D N) then how many melakartha can be there?
Well, the 7 notes are not just limited to 7 frequencies but to variations between them.

Consider one octave from the above image, that is from one C to another C. You will notice that there are 12 keys (7 white and 5 black). These 12 keys form the 12 swarasthanas. Each of the swarasthana is a variation of the 7 fundamental notes. M or madhyama has 2 variations, R, G, D, N have 3 variations each, S and P are fixed notes. We will denote the variations using subscripts 1,2 or 3. They are arranged on the 12 swarasthanas on a overlapping scale as follows.
1. S
2. R1
3. R2 = G1
4. R3 = G2
5. G3
6. M1
7. M2
8. P
9. D1
10. D2 = N1
11. D3 = N2
12. N3

Now this becomes a simple process of choosing 1 each of R G M D N to form a melakartha along with the S and P. We see that there are only 6 combinations of R and G that are possible - R1G1, R1G2, R1G3, R2G2, R2G3, R3G3 (The others are either meaningless because R2 is same as G1 etc or are one of the above six R2G2 == R3G1). Similarly D and N also have 6 combinations. Along with 2 variations of M, they give rise to a total of 6 X 6 X 2 = 72 Melakartha ragas. They start with Kanakangi as the 1st Melakartha with a scale of S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1 S and end with Rasikapriya as the 72nd Melakartha with a scale of S R3 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S.
The Melakartha ragas are arranged in 12 groups of 6 ragas each. The first 6 groups have M1 and the last 6 groups have M2. The first group starts with R1G1 and the next group has R1G2 and so on. Within each group the order goes as D1N1, D1N2, D1N3, D2N2, D2N3, D3N3. That is the sort order is basically M, RG group, DN group.
Given the Melakartha number it is possible to find out it's scale and vice versa. For ex 56th Melakartha means, this is in M2 group (since 56 > 36), it is in the 10th group (that is the 4th of the M2 ragas) and it is the 2nd within the group. That is it's scale will be S (R2 G2) M2 P (D1 N2) (This is the famous Shanmukapriya).

Another example:
What is the Melakartha number of S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S
R2 G3 is the 5th group and D1 N2 is the 2nd raga in that group which means the number will be 4*6+2 = 26 (This is the raga Charukesi).
Here's a link to the Melakartha classification and the scales of all the 72 ragas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melakarta#Table_of_Melakarta_ragas

The ragas represented as piano keys can be seen at
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Melakarta_ragams_(svg)

A page with links to sample of ragas on the keyboard
http://www.carnaticindia.com/melakartha_ragas.html

Demos of various melakarthas
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/carnatic_vocal/s/artist.105/ Look for Melakartha in the title.

Brief overview of beginner lessons

2009-08-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from my external blog on carnatic music. I think this will be useful for some of you.

Music is Universal (yeah I know it sounds cliched), but hey how do you explain the fact that music is made of seven notes in almost all forms. Sa ri ga ma pa da ni forms the basis. I am currently learning the Carnatic style and that is what I explain in this blog. Here is the series of lesson in Carnatic music. The first 5 lessons are taught in Mayamalavagowla raga (though the 5th lesson Alankaram may be done in other ragas to train the students in swara prayoga - the right use of notes for that raga).

1. Sarali varisai - Saral means easy in hindi. This the first lesson or baby steps in music.
http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Basic+Music+Lessons+-+Sarali+Varisai/31163

2. Mel sthayi varisai - The higher notes lesson. This has notes sung at a higher frequency to train the vocal chords. This is sometimes also known as thara sthayi varisai. Alternatively there is also the mandhra sthayi varisai that trains you in the lowest frequencies. This training helps you later on when you effortlessly move over the scale.
http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Basic%20Music%20Lessons%20-%20Upper%20Stayi%20Varisai/31165

3. Thaattu varisai - Here the swaras are sung out of their usual order sometimes skipping as much as 3 notes in between. This helps fix the swara sthanas in your mind so that later when you have make similar jumps in songs, it becomes easier.
http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Basic%20Music%20Lessons%20-%20Thattu%20Varisai/31168

4. Jandai varisai - This emphasises on repetition of swaras and is usually sung in fast speeds. This trains you to gain speed in singing without losing your sruthi.
http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Basic%20Music%20Lessons%20-%20Jandai%20Varisai/3116 4

5. Alankaram - Literally means decoration/makeup. It is named so since this is where we start beautifying the music with different meters and ragas. This is where you are introduced to different thalas (meters) such as rupaka, ata, eka, jamba thalam etc. In addition to the change in thalam, the swaras are also sang in different order. This is the first time that the student is introduced to different ragas especially the ones that remain unaltered in arohana and avarohana such as sankarabaranam, mohanam, hamsadhwani etc. For example the rupaka thala alankaram in mayamalavagowlai (mmg) looks like
sr srgm| rg rgmp| gm gmpd| mp mpdn| pd pdns|
The same in mohanam (srgpds) looks like
sr srgp| rg rgpd| gp gpds|
http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Basic%20Music%20Lessons%20-%20Alangaram/31170

6. Geetham - means song. This is first time you "graduate" from singing just swaras to songs. These are small songs where you first learn the swaras that make up the song and then the sahitya (or lyrics) of the song. It is considered auspicious to begin any endeavor with an invocation to Lord Ganesha. Accordingly "Shri Gananadha" in the raga malahari is the first geetham that is taught. This is followed by 3 more in the same raga. Typical other geethams are mohanam, kalyani, suddha saveri, kamboji etc.
http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Sangeetha+Bala+Paadam/23200

7. Swarajathi - This is longer than the geethams and usually involve intricate swara patterns. There is little or no gamaka (the slight shake of swaras to give beauty to the song). It is quite plain and follows the swara pattern faithfully. Two most common swarajathis are Rara veNu in raga bilahari and "Sambha siva" in Ragam Kamas. Since until this point the songs are sung only based on swaras with no gamakas, it is quite difficult to identify the raga just based on the singing. Later when we start with varnams we learn a lot of gamakas that help us identify raagas in other songs.

8. Varnam - When you reach varnams, and especially after you have learnt a handful of them, you have crossed the initial learning phases and are ready to venture into learning more and more complicated pieces. In fact even seasoned singers continue to learn varnams once in a while. Varnam is more like a full fledged song. It has a pallavi, anupallavi, followed by plain swaras called mukthayiswaram and finally charanam with a set of 4 (typical) chittaswarams. Varnams are important from two aspects
1. The songs have very few words so you have to fill the time with aaaa...eeee etc. These are called gamakas. Learning the gamakas and singing them properly gives you a better feel for the raga. While you may have seen little similarity between "vasudevayani" (a famous krithi in kalyani) and "kamala jaathala" (a geetham in kalyani), the moment you learn "vanajakshi" (a varnam in kalyani), the pieces tend to fall in place. You begin to appreciate patterns of swaras in various ragas.
2. The second advantage is that typically while training, varnams are sung in two kaalams (or sometimes in 3). Kaalams refers to the tempo with which the song is sung. The first speed is normal, the second speed is 2 swaras per beat and the 3rd speed is 4 swaras per beat. In effect 2nd speed is twice as fast and 3rd 4 times. It requires lot of practice to sing the varnam correctly in higher speeds while still sticking to the tune and the sruthi (octave). Once you have mastered it, it gives your voice flexibility to effortlessly glide over the swaras even at breakneck speed. When you stand mesmerised by Nithyashree's rendition of "Kannodu Kaanbadellam" in Jeans, especially the end with the swaras, thank her practice of varnams for that :)

http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/Music+Lessons+Varnams+Vol+1/28578#

While it typically takes about 2 to 3 yrs to cover all of the above, the mundane lessons are now over and now we move onto the more interesting world of Keerthanas.

Day 1 notes

2009-08-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

There are 7 notes in Carnatic Music - they are shadja (S) rishaba(R) gandhara(G) madhyama(M) panchama(P) dhaivatha(D) nishada(N). A set of these seven notes consitute an octave. There are usually 3 octaves (Mandra sthayi -lower, madhyasthayi-middle and thaarasthayi - upper). The frequency of the notes double from octave to another. The frequency at which you sing the adhara shadja ( the S of the middle octave) is called the sruthi or the pitch. A drone or tambura is used to help the musicians maintain the pitch. Common male pitches range from 1-3 and female pitches range from 4-6 or 6.5. A pitch of 1 corresponds to adhara shadja at middle C of the piano (440 hz). A pitch of 5 corresponds to G, 5.5 is G# and so on.

A concert usually begins with an invokation to Lord Ganesha and/or a varnam (more about varnam later). This is followed by krithis of alternating fast/slow short/long krithis. Thillanas and thukkadas are sung towards the end before finishing the concert with a piece or small verse in Madhyamavathi.

All beginner lessons are in a raga called Mayamalava gowla. The scale of any raga is expressed as the arohana (ascend) and the avarohana (descend). For Mayamalava gowla it is SRGMPDNS and SNDPMGRS respectively. The arohana and avarohana need not be symmetric. EX. Bilahari is a raga where arohana is SRGPDS and avarohana is SNDPMGRS. In such a raga PMG (use of M when descending from P to G) will be allowed but not GMP.

A krithi or main song in Carnatic Music is structured as Pallavi (Opening), maybe followed by Anupallavi, followed by 1 or more Charanams. For film music the in between spaces are filled with interludes of background music(BGM).
The main constituents of a krithi are lyrics (known as sahityam), the beats/rhythm (known as tala) and the tune in form of notes (swaras). (A raga is the scale on which the tune is based). The most common tala is adi tala. It consists of 8 beats per cycle (structured as 4 + 2 + 2). The format is 1 beat + 3 counts, 1beat+1flip, 1beat+1flip. A beat + count is called lagu and a beat + flip is called a dhrutham. So adi tala has 1 lagu and 2 dhruthams. At the 1st tempo, we sing 1 swara per beat as follow

S R G M |P D |N S ||(where I indicates a change from lagu to dhrutham, and || the end of the tala.)

In 2nd tempo this becomes
SR GM PD NS |SN DP |MG RS ||

And in the third tempo it becomes
SRGM PDNS SNDP MGRS |SRGM PDNS |SNDP SNDP ||

Here are links to the songs that we heard today in Mayamalavagowla

And here's the link to Vathapi Ganapathim by the one and only MS amma
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/KUf2mNSWIS.As1NMvHdW/

Brief note on music notation and sruthi.

2009-08-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

We will use English for notation. We will indicate them as s r g m p d n s. The longer notes will be S R G M P D N S. Occassionally I may use subscripts (more on what this means later) such as R1, R2, g3, n2 etc.
I will use ' for the upper soctave and . for the lower octave (more about octaves later). So upper r will be r' and lower n will be n.

If you want to practise singing one of the first things you need is sruthi box. Thanks to technology we now have a software that gives sruthi. You can download it from http://www.yourtanpura.co.cc/

We will discuss more about sruthi during the class.

Welcome to G2G Carnatic Music

2009-08-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

These are class notes for the G2G Carnatic Music class.

The rough outline of the class is as follows
Each class will consist of 3 parts - Music theory, Music practicals, Related stuff.
Music Theory will be where I talk about some Fundamental theories, some physics behind music. It may include some history of CM, analysis of raga etc.
Music practical will be small singing snippets that you can practise either during class or on your own. This will include things like varisais, simple songs etc.
Related stuff will be information about how CM relates to film music, hindustani and western classical music. Viewing some video/listening to audio and analysing them etc.

Tentative Schedule

Day 1: Intro, SRGMPDNS, Raga, Tala, Laya, Sruthi. MMG
Day 2: SSRRGGMMPPDDNNSS, Melakartha raga, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani
Day 3: SMGMRGSR, Melakartha continued, Simmendra madhyamam, Karaharpriya
Day 4: Alankaram, Janya Raga classfication. Hamsadhwani, Amurthavarshini,
Day 5: Western music scales, Lambodhara, Janya continued. Kapi, Ritigaula
Day 6: Vara veena, Nalinakanthi, Shanmukapriya
Day 7: Sruthi Bedham - Bedha chakras. (Hindolam, Mohanam, Madhyamavathi, Suddha saveri, Suddha Dhanyasi)
Day 8: SB continued, Ragamalka, RTP, thillana and thukkada.

Raghunayaka

2009-07-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

Ragam: Hamsadhwani
Tala: Adhi
Composer: Saint Thyagaraja

S R2 G3 P N3 S / S N3 P G3 R2 S
(Janya of 29th Melakartha Sankarabharanam)

Song

Pallavi: RaghunAyakA nee pAdha yUga rAjeeva mulane vidajala sri
Anupallavi: agajala moola parathOli nan Adharimpa neeve gadhi kAdha sri
Charanam: bhavasagaramu dhAta lEka ne palu gasibadini marugu jeriti
Avani jAtipa srutha rakshaka anandakara sri tygarajanuta

Pranamamyaham

2009-07-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

Ragam: Goulai
Thalam: Aadi
S R1 M1 P N3 S / S N3 P M1 G3 M R1 S
Vakram in the avarohanam,
Composer: Mysore Vasudevachar
Song
Pallavi: Pranamaamyaham Sri Gowri Sutham Panitheelpa Vaasudeva Bhaktha Sathatham Anupallavi: Gananaatha Amara Brunda Sevitham Panihaara Bhooshitam Muni vara Vanditham Charanam: Drutha Chaaru Moodakam Gajamukham Sritha Karaamitha Garva Bhanjakam Natha Loka Santhosha Daayakam Sritha Bhaktha Paalakam Siddhi Vinaayakam

Parthasarathi Nannu

2009-06-22T03:12:00.000-07:00

Parthasarathi Nannu
Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
Ragam: Madhymavathi
S R2 M1 P N2 S/ S N2 P M1 R2 S
Tala:

Korina Varamu

2009-06-22T02:32:00.000-07:00

Korina Varamu
Composer: Patnam Subramania aiyer
Raga: Ramapriya (52nd melakartha)
S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S / S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S
Tala: Rupaka

If tha above doesn't work. Try this instead
Korina Varamu

Brova Bharama

2009-06-22T02:14:00.000-07:00

BrOva Bharama
Composer: Saint Tyagaraja
Ragam: Bahudari (Janya of 28th Mela HariKambhoji)
S G3 M1 P D2 N2 S S N2 P M1 G3 S

Tala: Adi

Songs that I have learnt

2009-06-22T02:13:00.001-07:00

I am going try and post all the songs that I have learnt with links to stalwarts singing the same. Enjoy :)

Mayamalava Gowlai in Carnatic Music (aka Is it 7/12/16?)

2009-04-20T03:19:00.000-07:00

This came as an eye opener to me today when my teacher mentioned that MMG is used for beginning lessons in Carnatic because it does not have any parallel swaras. Though I have known about the melakartha schema and the 12/16 swarasthanas etc, it never occured to me that MMG is unique because of this property.
Let me explain for the uninitiated.
There are 7 swaras in Carnatic Music(CM). These are S, R, G, M, P, D, N. S and P are always fixed. However R, G, M, D, N have variations. R, G, D, N have 3 variations each and M has 2 variations for a total of 1(S)+1(P)+3*4(R,G,D,N)+2(M) = 16. Now this is not completely true since there are only 12 swarasthanas in an octave. If you look at piano keys for example (start at C and count till you reach the end of the octave B. Include both black and white keys), you can 12 keys. This is because the R and G have three variations on an overlapping scale. Or in other words you have R1, (R2=G1), (R3=G2), G3. Similarly we have D1, (D2=N1), (D3, N2), N3. In other words 4 swarasthanas give rise to the 6 variations with the middle two swarasthanas standing in for 2 variations each.
Going by this and picking only the swarasthanas that do not have overlapping variations we end up with S, R1, G3, M1, P, D1, N3, S which is..... Mayamalava gowlai. Simple yet astounding, why because MMG is what you start training with and having swarasthanas that are not confusing or that which can be misconstrued for something else is very important. Having the placement of your swaras at the appropriate place within the sruthi is very important for having a good command over the scale as you learn different ragas. This becomes easier by using swarasthanas that are unique and hence MMG.

This begs a question - what about the other variation with prati madhyama,
S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S (which is called Kamavarthini). Even in this raga the swaras are unique. I can only attribute this to our perpetual propensity for suddha madhyama ragas. I will continue to search and find the correct answer and explain in a later post.

Aruna Sairam 30/12/2008

2008-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

List of songs

1. Viriboni - Bhairavi
2. Elle Ilamkiliye - Begada
3. Vasudevayani - Kalyani
4. Muruga Murga - Saveri
5. Nambi Kettavar - Hindolam
6. Kaligiyunte - Kiravani
7. RTP - Kambhoji (Pallavi also in Mayamalavagowlai, Sriranjini, Nattaikurinji and Poorvikalyani)
8. Abhang
9. Vishamakkara Kannan
10. Bhakta jana vatsale - Brindavana Saranga
11. Srinivasa Kavacham - Madhyamavathi and Revathy (I thought I heard some Bowli but not sure).

Unnikrishnan 29/12/2008

2008-12-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

List of songs
1. Maya theertha - Mayamalava gowlai
2. Umai kooriya thiru maindha - Pantuvarali
3. Marivere dhik - Shanmukha priya
4. Naadhanai - Nattai RTP (Ashta Dasa Ragamalika which means 18 ragas. I could capture only 17 :( )
Naatai, Varali, Sree, Bhairavi, Kalyani, Arabhi, Saindhavi, todi, Mohanam, Saveri, Paras, Khamas, Chanyasi, Atana, Sahana, Madhyamavathi, Sankarabharanam.
5. Mamava Jagadeeswara - Saraswati Manohari
6. RTP Brindavana Saranga
7. Eppo varuvaro - Jonpuri
8. Kavadi chindu
9. Jagadho dharana - Kaapi
10.Thandanana Brahmam okate

TM Krishna 28/12/2008

2008-12-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

List of songs

1. Nadha thanum anisham - Chittaranjan
2. Samugana nilva - Kokilavani
3. Varamulosagi - Kiravani
4. Neelayadakshi - Paras
5. TP - Thodi - Enthuku dayaradhu
6. Inthakannanda - Bilahari (Niraval in Bilahari, Mand, Kambhoji)
7. Irakkam varamal - Behag
8. Andru ivvulakam - Sindhu Bhairavi
9. Thillana - Poornachandrika
10. Madhyamavathi

Nithyasree Mahadevan 27/12/2008

2008-12-31T07:17:00.000-08:00

Venue: Mylapore Fine Arts Club

Nithyasree is an example for other musicians in her professionalism and in being down-to-earth. Her music has improved a lot from the beginning. I am probably not qualified to say this but in the initial days, her singing was kind of jarring bordering on being noisy. Now I can see her a refined musician who uses her high pitched voice to her advantage with appropriate modulations and mellowing/toning down in the higher octaves. She started the concert bang on dot at 6pm and never had a dull moment. The concert lasted more than 3 hrs but kept the audience rapt like a thriller movie and left them yearning for more. Nithyasree must also be appreciated for her inclusion of tamil krithis in mainstream and her versatile use of rare ragas. It was a delectable feast. Encouraged by my DH, I spoke to her after the concert and clarified some doubts on the ragas of a couple of pieces. It was then that I could see her warm smile and her girl-next-door approach to her audience!!! Keep it up!!!

The list
1. Innum en manam - Charukesi
2. Vara narada narayana - Vijayashree
3. E papamu jesithira - Atana (The alapana reminded me of "Yaar tharuvar intha ariyasanam" from saraswathi sabadam - I think)
4. Chetasri - Dvijavanthi
5. Deva Jagannada - Kalyana Vasantham
6. Nenarunchinanu - Malavi
7. Sari evvaramma =- Bhairavi
8. Ramadootham - Manirangu
9. RTP - Nalinakanthi (Tha pallavi was also sung in Bhoopalam, Kambhoji, Hamsanandi, Madhyamavvarali, Srothasree, Surya). Surya here is very close to Hindolam and I kept thinking it was Hindolam during the niraval until Nithyasree clarified to the audience.
10. Kandena Udupiya - Behaag. This seems to be the raga of the season. At least 3 different sang this (out of the 6 concerts I attended)!!!
11. Sree padam - Varnaroopini. This again I got confused with Rasika Ranjani because it sooo resembled "Nilakuyile unnodu naan" from Magudi - Ah Raja... a post on IR later
12. Eppadi Padinaro - Aberi
13. Thillana - Jayajayavanti
14. Madhyamavathi.

Wait for her next season :)

Neyveli Santhagopalan on 26/12/2008

2008-12-31T04:17:00.000-08:00

Venue: Indian Fine Arts Society, Balamandir German Hall

In contrast to the Ranjani/Gayathri duo, this concert was very deep and slow paced. He took his time to build up the raga, with deeper alaapanas and swaraprastharas. His singing is very methodical and I did enjoy it a lot, however, this is probably not something for the novice listener. I also had a feeling that musicians tune their concert depending on the venue. I am yet to see Neyveli's performance at a different sabha but I wonder if it would have been better had it been Academy or Krishna Gana Sabha. It is one thing to plan your concert based on audience and completely another issue if it is due to the sabha, but I digress.
Here's the list

1. Kuvalayadala - Nattaikurinji
2. Nivada negama - Saranga
3. Madha innum - Sriranjini
4. Abhimanamel - Begada
5. Mokshamu Galada - Saramathi (The alapana for this was simply outstanding)
6. Sri Subramanyaya - Kambhoji
7. Muruganin Marupeyar - Behag
8. Villanai Otha (Kavadi chindu)
9. Kaakai Chiraginile.

Ranjani Gayathri 25/12/2008

2008-12-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

Venue: Sri Parthasarathy Swmai Sabha, Vidya Bharathi Kalyana Mandapam,Mylapore.

This is the first time I am hearing the sisters sing, LIVE. It was mesmerizing. The choice of songs and ragas to maintain the tempo throughout the concert was amazing. Singing as a pair has it advantages, taking a break from singing while the other takes over, providing variety through two voices and different modulations, blending voices to create a much deeper audio etc. Think of a mono vs stereo recording :)

Here's the list of songs

1. Chinta thirchuda- Sourashtram
2. Nayaganai (Thiruppavai) - Darbar
3. Pari thaana meechithe = Bilahari
4. Sri Sathyanarayanam - Subha Pantuvarali - (The same raga as Vaigarayail from Payanangal mudivathillai, for the uniniated).
5. Sarasa saamadhana - Kaapi Narayani
6. Rama Katha Sudha - Madhyamavathi
7. Viruttam in Simmendra Madhyamam and Sindhu Bhairavi followed by Adum Chidambaramo - Behaag
8. Raghuvara tuma ko (Tulsidas) - Ahir Bhairavi
9. Abhang - Jhinjoti (similar to Senchurutti)
10. Abhang Pandaricha - Chandrakauns - Spl request from audience
11. Mangalam (Bhavamana).

Madras Music Season 2008

2008-12-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

As with all my other blogs, this has gone into a lull as well. So planning to revive it with posts about concerts that I attend this season. I will try to post links to songs as much as possible. Mostly it will only be a list of songs sung by the artist, as I don't feel I am qualified enough to critique!!

Manasa Etulo

2008-03-28T02:22:00.000-07:00

One of the most soothing krithis I have heard. I specifically requested the teacher to teach me this. The krithi is set in raaga Malayamarutham which is a janya of Chakravagam (remember the "Indiralogthu Chakravagam" in "Adhisaya Raagam"?) Chakravagam is the 16th melakartha (S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S).
For MM: The aarohana/avarohana are S R1 G3 P D2 N2 S | S N2 D2 P G3 R1 S
MM literally means "Mountain Breeze" and is an apt name.
The sahitya of this song goes
P:
Manasa Etulorthune
Naa mana vini jekonave
AP:
Dinakara kula bushanu nee
Deenudavai bajana jesi
Dinamu kadupu manina neevu
Ninavadhella guna viheena
C:
Kalilo raajasa thaamasa
gunulugala vaarichelimi
kalasi melasi thirugu jumani
kaalamu gada pakkani
sulabamuga kada theranu
suchanalanu theliya jeyu
ihanu thyaaga raja maata
vinavadhella gunaviheena

This piece is usually palyed on nadhaswaram on the morning of marriage day.

Thatta adavu

2008-02-04T01:25:00.000-08:00

The first set of adavus is called thatta adavu. Thattu means "to tap" in tamil as in tapping one's feet or a tap on the shoulder. (Not to be confused with tapping energy). So in this adavu all we do is tap our feet. Quite easily the simplest of the lot, though you may initially feel really tired trying to do the whole set with repititions. For this adavu, like most other you sit in araimandi. Arai means half, mandi means to kneel. So araimandi is a posture in which you are half seated, feet turned outward, close to each other but not touching, hands behind your back. There are seven steps in thatta adavu. I give them below in the following short hand notation R= tap your right foot once, L= tap your left foot once. RR = tap right foot twice without puase. Spaces serve to indicate pause.
Step 1: R L (repeat as you wish)
Step 2: R R L L
Step 3 R R R L L L
Step 4: R R RRR L L LLL
Step 5: R R R RRR L L L LLL
Step 6: R R R L RRR L L L R LLL
Step 7: R L R L R L RLR L R L R L R LRL

as you can see the length of adavus increases with each step. Initially, when you still haven't mastered graceful movements, this might remind you of saani midhikardhu, but don't worry, it will start resembling more of dance soon.

Chalamela Varnam Darbar

2008-01-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

I wanted to learn a varnam after a long time so the teacher started darbar. Darbar is the Janya of the 22nd Melkartha Karaharapriya.
Arohanam: S R2 M1 P D2 N2 S
Av: S N2 D2 P M1 R2 G2 G2 R2 S

Pallavi:
Chalamela Jesevura chalanammina naapai||
Anu pallavi:
Valchi yunna natho vaadhaela venugopala deva||
Charanam:
Palukumu natho ||

When I have the time I will upload the swaras for the varnam too. For now you will have to be satisfied with it.

Music Intro

2008-01-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

Music is Universal (yeah I know it sounds cliched), but hey how do you explain the fact that music is made of seven notes in almost all forms. Sa ri ga ma pa da ni forms the basis. I am currently learning the Carnatic style and that is what I explain in this blog. Here is the series of lesson in Carnatic music. The first 5 lessons are taught in Mayamalavagowlai raga (though the 5th lesson Alankaram may be done in other ragas to train the students in swara prayoga - the right use of notes for that raga).

1. Sarali varisai - Saral means easy in hindi. This the first lesson or baby steps in music.

2. Mel sthayi varisai - The higher notes lesson. This has notes sung at a higher frequency to train the vocal chords. This is sometimes also known as thara sthayi varisai. Alternatively there is also the mandhra sthayi varisai that trains you in the lowest frequencies. This training helps you later on when you effortlessly move over the scale.

3. Thaattu varisai - Here the swaras are sung out of their usual order sometimes skipping as much as 3 notes in between. This helps fix the swara sthanas in your mind so that later when you have make similar jumps in songs, it becomes easier.

4. Jandai varisai - This emphasises on repetition of swaras and is usually sung in fast speeds. This trains you to gain speed in singing without losing your sruthi.

5. Alankaram - Literally means decoration/makeup. It is named so since this is where we start beautifying the music with different meters and ragas. This is where you are introduced to different thalas (meters) such as rupaka, ata, eka, jamba thalam etc. In addition to the change in thalam, the swaras are also sang in different order. This is the first time that the student is introduced to different ragas especially the ones that remain unaltered in arohana and avarohana such as sankarabaranam, mohanam, hamsadhwani etc. For example the rupaka thala alankaram in mayamalavagowlai (mmg) looks like
sr srgm| rg rgmp| gm gmpd| mp mpdn| pd pdns|
The same in mohanam (srgpds) looks like
sr srgp| rg rgpd| gp gpds|

6. Geetham - means song. This is first time you "graduate" from singing just swaras to songs. These are small songs where you first learn the swaras that make up the song and then the sahitya (or lyrics) of the song. It is considered auspicious to begin any endeavor with an invocation to Lord Ganesha. Accordingly "Shri Gananadha" in the raga malahari is the first geetham that is taught. This is followed by 3 more in the same raga. Typical other geethams are mohanam, kalyani, suddha saveri, kamboji etc.

7. Swarajathi - This is longer than the geethams and usually involve intricate swara patterns. There is little or no gamaka (the slight shake of swaras to give beauty to the song). It is quite plain and follows the swara pattern faithfully. Two most common swarajathis are Rara veNu in raga bilahari and "SAmbha siva" in Ragam Kamas. Since until this point the songs are sung only based on swaras with no gamakas, it is quite difficult to identify the raga just based on the singing. Later when we start with varnams we learn a lot of gamakas that help us identify raagas in other songs.

8. Varnam - When you reach varnams, and especially after you have learnt a handful of them, you have crossed the initial learning phases and are ready to venture into learning more and more complicated pieces. In fact even seasoned singers continue to learn varnams once in a while. Varnam is more like a full fledged song. It has a pallavi, anupallavi, followed by plain swaras called mukthayiswaram and finally charanam with a set of 4 (typical) chittaswarams. Varnams are important from two aspects
1. The songs have very few words so you have to fill the time with aaaa...eeee etc. These are called gamakas. Learning the gamakas and singing them properly gives you a better feel for the raga. While you may have seen little similarity between "vasudevayani" (a famous krithi in kalyani) and "kamala jaathala" (a geetham in kalyani), the moment you learn "vanajakshi" (a varnam in kalyani), the pieces tend to fall in place. You begin to appreciate patterns of swaras in various ragas.
2. The second advantage is that typically while training, varnams are sung in two kaalams (or sometimes in 3). Kaalams refers to the tempo with which the song is sung. The first speed is normal, the second speed is 2 swaras per beat and the 3rd speed is 4 swaras per beat. In effect 2nd speed is twice as fast and 3rd 4 times. It requires lot of practice to sing the varnam correctly in higher speeds while still sticking to the tune and the sruthi (octave). Once you have mastered it, it gives your voice flexibility to effortlessly glide over the swaras even at breakneck speed. When you stand mesmerised by Nithyashree's rendition of "Kannodu Kaanbadellam" in Jeans, especially the end with the swaras, thank her practice of varnams for that :)

While it typically takes about 2 to 3 yrs to cover all of the above, the mundane lessons are now over and now we move onto the more interesting world of Keerthanas. More later.

Intro to Bharatanatyam

2008-01-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

Bha(va)Ra(ga)Tha(la) Natyam is one of the oldest known dance forms of South India and is one of the seven classical dances of India. The others are Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Kathakali, Kathak, Odissi and Manipuri. The origins of Bharathanatyam can be traced back to Sage Bharatha who wrote "Natya Shastra" on which this dance form is based.
The first step in learning this dance form is "thatti kumbidal" which literally means to tap and salute. Every class begins and ends with this step. This is our way of thanking Mother Earth for her support and asking her permission to jump on her during the session.
1. We begin by holding both hands in katka mudra* in front of our chest and standing in samapadha*.
2. Beat the right leg first, then the left. Extend both the hands in shikara mudra* pointing towards the earth.
3. Bring the hands towards your shoulders and extend outwards making a circle while at the same time sitting down.
4. Extend your hands towards the earth with palms outstretched (pushpakoota mudra).
5. Raise your hands to your eyes, briefly touching then and bring them back to the earth.
6. Slowly stand up while raising your hands in a circular motion above your head and making the anjali mudra.
7. Descend the anjali mudra towards your chest.
8. Take both your hands towards your back and place them on the lower back with palms open facing outwards and thumb extended.
9. Tap you right foot.

Eventhough this may sound complicated, it is quite simple to do and you will master it in no time. Anjali has a excellent video on this one here.

Suswaagatham

2008-01-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

This blog is an attempt at recording my learnings in my music and dance classes such that it becomes useful for others. I will try and post details about my lessons as well as any pertinent links to it on the day of the class. If you are not into Carnatic music or Bharatanatyam, there's little on this blog that will be useful/interesting to you. Your time may be better spent elsewhere.
The primary purpose of this blog is twofold.
1. Record the classes (notes, steps, related info etc.) so that it maybe useful later on as a reference.
2. Give me something worthwhile to blog about and make this useful for my classmates.
I will try and update this page twice weekly (on Wednesdays and weekends). The primary focus will be on Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam (Tanjore style). I may briefly visit other forms as the need arises. If you have suggestions about what else I could put up please send them my way.

Raagamudra is the name of this blog. It is a combination of two terms

Raaga - This represents the tune of the music. There are hundreds of raagas in the world of music and different raagas have been shown to evoke different emotions. Raaga is the lifeline of Carnatic music and an integral part of bharathanatyam. In fact the ra in bha-ra-tha natyam refers to raaga. bha refers to bhava and tha refers to thala. More in detailed about the carnatic raga system in a later post.

Mudra - Literally means symbol. It is used extensively in bharatanatyam to indicate various objects, emotions, situations etc. Mudras are used in yoga as well and are known to create specific effects when used properly. More in detailed about bharatanatya mudras in a later post.

Together raagamudra means "the symbol of raaga". Dikshitar, one of the sangeetha mummurthis (The music trinity of Carnatic music) uses raaga mudras in a lot of his krithis. This is a technique by which he places the name of the raaga as part of the saahitya without messing up the meaning and some of these require clever manipulations of the language. More about Dikshithar krithis in a later post.

There are a lot of terms in this post that may seem very alien to you but do not worry they will start making sense as soon as I explain more.