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.
Showing posts with label intro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label intro. Show all posts
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Music Intro
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.
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.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Intro to Bharatanatyam
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.
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
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.
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.
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