POP -- SINGERS
Saturday, June 7, 2008
WESTERN MUSIC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Ten things you may not know about images on Wikipe
This article is about the music of Western civilization. For information on the music of the American and Canadian wests, see Western music (North America).
Western music is the genres of music originating in the Western world (Europe and its former colonies) including Western classical music, American Jazz, Country and Western, pop music and rock and roll. The word Western may be misleading as the definition of the western world has changed over time and because of the inclusion of Western influenced gen
Musical genres in the Western tradition include:
Classical music
Medieval music
Renaissance music
Baroque music
Classical music era
Romantic music
20th century classical music
Contemporary music
Pop and popular music
Acid (disambiguation)
Bluegrass
Blues
Country music
Disco
Folk
Hymns
Jazz
Metal
Neofolk
Punk rock
Rap
Rock and roll
Ska
Soul
Spirituals
Swing
Synthpop
Techno
• Ten things you may not know about images on Wikipe
This article is about the music of Western civilization. For information on the music of the American and Canadian wests, see Western music (North America).
Western music is the genres of music originating in the Western world (Europe and its former colonies) including Western classical music, American Jazz, Country and Western, pop music and rock and roll. The word Western may be misleading as the definition of the western world has changed over time and because of the inclusion of Western influenced gen
Musical genres in the Western tradition include:
Classical music
Medieval music
Renaissance music
Baroque music
Classical music era
Romantic music
20th century classical music
Contemporary music
Pop and popular music
Acid (disambiguation)
Bluegrass
Blues
Country music
Disco
Folk
Hymns
Jazz
Metal
Neofolk
Punk rock
Rap
Rock and roll
Ska
Soul
Spirituals
Swing
Synthpop
Techno
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
ITC SANGEET RESEARCH ACADEMY
What is Hindustani classical music?The classical music of North India is called Hindustani Classical Music.
How is Indian classical music different from Western classical music? What are their similarities?Melody and rhythm are the common grounds for music, be it Western or Indian. Indian music is essentially monophonic (single melody format or homophonic) while Western music can be polyphonic (multiple notes played or sung in harmonised unison), monophonic or a combination of both.
Western classical music is based upon the equal tempered scale, and rests upon melody, harmony and counterpart while Swara and Tala are the two basic components of Indian classical music.
Swaras are the twelve notes and the intervening semitones , while a Tala is a cycle of beats, starting with a stress point called the Sam and ending with a release point called the Khali. It is this (sam & khali) that brings life to a Tala.
What is meant by 'Hindustani' and 'Carnatic' music?Indian classical music has two distinct styles-Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music. Hindustani music is prevalent all over India except in the Southern States, where Carnatic music is practiced.
What is the origin of these two styles of music and which is older? No definite answer can be given about the antiquity of either of these styles of music. The tradition of Indian music practiced and developed is nearly three thousand years old. Indigenous musical styles and schools evolved and developed in different regions of the country by blending purely ritualistic music and folk music. The basic elements remain the same. The semantic divide between the two styles started from the time of the 'Sangeetaratnakara' of Sharangadeva (1210-1247 AD). This was later enhanced by the Muslim influence and this musical bifurcation was described for the first time as Hindustani and Carnatic music by Haripaladeva in his text the 'Sangeetsudhakara' (1309-1312 AD).
What are the similarities and differences between 'Hindustani' and 'Carnatic' music?Both the styles are monophonic, follow a melodic line and employ a drone (tanpura) with the help of one or two notes against the melody. Both the styles use definite scales to define a raga but the Carnatic Style employs Shrutis or semitones to create a Raga and thus have many more Ragas than the Hindustani style. Carnatic ragas differ from Hindustani ragas. The names of ragas are also different. However, there are some ragas which have the same scale as Hindustani ragas but have different names; such as Hindolam and Malkauns, Shankarabharanam and Bilawal. There is a third category of ragas like Hamsadhwani, Charukeshi, Kalavati etc. which are essentially Carnatic Ragas. They share the same name, the same scale (same set of notes) but can be rendered in the two distinctively different Carnatic and Hindustani styles. Unlike Hindustani music, Carnatic music does not adhere to Time or Samay concepts and instead of Thaats, Carnatic music follows the Melakarta concept.
What is a raga? Each Raga has its own scale consisting of minimum five and maximum seven notes (swaras). A raga has specific ascending (Aaroh) and descending (Avaroh) movements, specific dominating notes (vadi) and specific notes complementing the Vadi (Samvadi) notes. The characteristic phrases of a raga (Pakad) establish its identity and mood.
How many ragas are there?Originally, there were six Ragas and thirty-six Raginis (melodies with softer emotions). Hundreds of Ragas were created with the help of these Ragas and Raginis, many of which have become obsolete. In recent times, musicians have composed many more ragas. There are today, approximately, 120-150 ragas in use.
Are these ragas used in classical music only?Ragas are used in semi-classical and light music as well.
What is a Thaat?9. Thaat is a system by which different sets of complete scale of seven notes, in ascending order, are formulated to categorize the maximum number of ragas under it. Thaat or Mela is known as the Parental scale. There are ten Thaats under which most of the Hindustani ragas can be catagorised. These Thaats have the names of ragas and they are Bilawal, Khamaj, Poorvi, Kafi, Bhairavi, Kalyan, Bhairav, Marwa, Asavari and Todi.
How significant is 'Thaat' in classical music? Is it relevant in other types of music too?For a performer, Thaats have little significance but for a student of music, the system comes as a great help to understand the classification of ragas. Thaat does not have relevance in other types of music.
What is a 'Tanpura'? How does it help the singers?Tanpura or Tambura is a drone instrument, usually consisting of four or six strings tuned to Pa or Ma or Ni, Sa, Sa, Sa (Sol or Fa or Ti, Doh, Doh, Doh). The two strings in the centre are Sa of middle octave. The Pa or Ma or Ni and the last Sa are of the lower octave. The droning of the Tanpura helps singers to get set on the scale and it resonates to create a musical atmosphere.
What are the other instruments for vocal support? What is their origin? Why has the Harmonium become so popular in comparison with other instruments?Sarangi, Violin and Harmonium. The Sarangi originated from a folk instrument of Rajasthan, while the origin of the Violin and the Harmonium is from the West. The Harmonium is easy to master and therefore became very popular, though it is not worthy of pure Indian classical music. Its equal tempered notes, like the piano, cannot capture the embellishments (Shruti, Meend, Gamak etc.). It came into vogue not very long ago.
What are the prominent percussion instruments used for accompaniment?Tabla is the most prominent percussion instrument, apart from the 'Pakhawaj'_ an old, traditional instrument played to accompany Dhrupad singers. All other forms of Hindustani classical music use tabla, which came into being with the evolution of Hindustani classical music. The Tabla is believed to have been devised by Hazrat Amir Khusro.
Do vocalists and accompanists rehearse together for a long period of time like their counterparts in the West?No. Accompanists of the performers of Indian classical music do not necessarily rehearse together. Indian music is essentially, solo music. The training of a tabla player is not complete till he masters the art of accompaniment or stagecraft. He practices with many musicians to develop his skills as an accompanist just as the main performer does with different tabla players. In some cases, a musician may continue to practice with an accompanist of his choice for a long time.
For a vocal or instrumental performance, other accompanying artistes are seen with the main performer. How is it then a solo music?As the vocalist performs and music flows, the accompanists on the tabla and harmonium provide support by keeping the beats and following the mood of the performer. It is therefore, essentially, solo music.
What is a Khayal? How many such forms are there?Khayal is a form of rendering a raga. The essential component of a khayal is a composition (Bandish) and the expansion of the text of the composition within the framework of the raga. The nuances and sub forms employed to improvise and embellish the rendition vary from singer to singer. There are two forms of Khayal. Bada-Khayal in slow tempo and Chhota-Khayal in medium to fast tempo.
What is a Dhrupad? What are the differences between Dhrupad and Khayal?Dhruvapada or Dhrupad is another form of rendering a raga. It has a specific composition, consisting of four parts and is sung in different styles. The percussion accompaniment is the Mridang or Pakhawaj, a one-piece drum, as opposed to the two-piece drum, the tabla in khayal. The main difference between these two musical forms is that the Dhrupad is rigidly bound by the composition and the tala, within which all improvisation has to be made. The Khayal, on the other hand, has the freedom to free itself from the rhythmic beat and then return to the beginning of each time cycle (tala). Also, the two essential idioms used in Khayal, which are absent in Dhrupad, are the Sargam and Taan. Sargam is the singing of the notes (sa, re, ga,..), per se, instead of words while Taan is the sequential movement through the different notes using the vowel "Aa".
What is a Thumri?The Thumri is yet another form of rendering ragas. However , this very popular, light classical form of Hindustani music, is limited to specific ragas whose key emotion is lyricism and eroticism, e.g. Bhairavi, Gara, Pilu. Effective word-play usually characterizes a Thumri. Chiefly associated with folk songs of UP and Punjab, the Thumri is composed in dialects of Hindi.
Sometimes the words of a Khayal or Thumri are difficult to follow. Why is it so?Sometimes the words are not intelligible because they are sung in a stylized manner and do not always follow the necessary scansion and get elongated with the notes.
Very often some artistes utter a small portion of the text three times and arrive at a stressed beat. What is it called and what is its significance?Very often musicians repeat a particular phrase thrice and arrive on the first beat of the rhythm known as 'Sam'. This division of any Tala, or rhythm cycle, into three equal parts to create variation and musical thrill is known as 'Tihaayi'. Artistically phrased tihaayi enhances the beauty of a performance.
HINDUSTANA MUSIC
Indian classical music is categorized under two genres. These are Hindustani and Carnatic. Broadly speaking, Carnatic music developed in the south of the country, while Hindustani is indigenous to the north.
Hindustani music is based on the raga system. A raga is a melodic scale, consisting of notes from the basic seven known as sa, re, ga, ma pa, dha, and ni. Apart from sa and pa which are constant, the other notes may be in major or minor tone, and this gives rise to innumerable combinations. Ten basic scales or thaats are recognized, and other ragas are considered to have evolved from these. A raga must contain a minimum of five notes.
Depending on the notes included in it, each raga acquires a distinct character. The form of the raga is also determined by the particular pattern of ascent and descent of the notes, which may not be strictly linear. Melody is built up by improvising and elaborating within the given scale. The improvisation is at times rhythm bound and at other times free from any overt rhythm.
Formal compositions (songs or instrumental compositions in a fixed meter) are juxtaposed with the improvised portion. Khyal and Dhrupad are two major types of compositions within the Hindustani genre. Of the two, Dhrupad is an older form and requires rigourous training in rhythm control as well as voice culture. Khyal developed as a more popular alternative as it contains both slow and lively compositions, though it retains its totally classical character.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
PURANDARA DASU
His songs are very beutiful.
He belives vithal. Because he said " Purandara Vithal " in his songs.
Monday, April 7, 2008
INDIAN MUSIC
Indian Music and in particular Karnatic music is universally cherished as a consummate art form. Karnatic music has a rich and glorious heritage and stands out nourished and healthy and vibrant. It’s not an archival subject to be looked up to in the archives of a library etc. Its contemporary value and relevance can be assessed – among other factors – like its study being in the curriculum of universities like the Cleveland State University. The annual Karnatic Music Festival held during the Easter Holiday time at this university is also termed as the ‘India Experience at CSU’.
One wonders what exactly constitutes the mystery of the magic in the Indian Karnatic music – its exquisite blend of a scientific system, intangible esthetic music of Bhava, Laya, Mysticism, religious fervor, and lyrics.
Well, among myriads of many unfathomable-contributing factors, the rich musical compositions of great Composers like Saint Thyagaraja, Muthuswmy Dikshidar, Shyama Shastry, Maharaja Swati Tirunal and many others have an amazing impact.
In this essay a humble effort is made to look at with marvel at the amazing splendor of the compositions of Maharaja Swati Tirunal and the Man. Swati Tirunal hails from the Royal Heritage. He is known to the world as the King of a state, Travancore in Kerala. His life can be equated to the life of a “lily” in the words of William Wordsworth. He led a worthy life of not only an able king but also a benevolent king, a patron of art and literature.
Swati Tirunal lived only for a short span of 34 years, i.e., from 1813 to 1847, but he proved the purpose of his incarnation of life through the meritorious contributions towards the state, especially, towards the Indian Music in multi languages. He was a distinguished linguist.
Blessed was his soul, it is rarity to find such wealth, richness clubbed with virtues. Along with his rich and royal heritages; he had imbibed the traditional ritualism and a spiritualism of high order.
In history, Indian Classical Music of the 18th century displayed a Golden Age. The Tamil Nadu gave the great Trinity- saint Tyagaraja, Sri. Muthuswamy Deekshitar and Sri Syama Sastry all at the same time were born and lived at Tiruvarur in Tanjore District.
The state of Travancore did not lag behind. At that time was the birth of Swati Tirunal and a great Hindu philosopher; Adi Sankara Bhagavat Pada was born at the village of Kaladi in Kerala. Adi Sankara rose to the peak in Hindu Advaita philosophy, a religious leader Maharaja Swati Tirunal raised to eminence not only as a King, but also as a versatile composer, musician and a patron of art and literature. As a benevolent ruler he is described as Dakshina Bhoka.
The mystic environment proves our illustrious personality’s emergence. The British regime tried to impose their dictatorial attitude of annexing the intestate property of the heirless royalties in which the kingdom of Jhansi and Satara were annexed. At this juncture the state of Travancore witnessed precarious state, the ruling king had expired, but the Queen had conceived but the child was yet to be born. Even before his birth he was declared a legal heir for the throne. This indicates the greatness of the soul, which had its halo effect even before it was born. The child got educated and developed mastery in various languages, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, English, Hindi, Persian and Arabic.
Swati Tirunal had his rigorous music education from veteran musicians like Karamana Padmanabha Bhagavathar, Suchindram Harihara Bhagavathar and the family Guru Meru swamy from whom he adopted the Marathi style of singing Abhang, and Dandi. From him he developed the Marathi language skill also.
He developed mastery not only in vocal music but also in playing string instruments - veena, percussion instruments, which made him an adept in playing Rhythm pattern and this was due to Vidwan Harihara Iyer. The association with Tanjore Quartet, the eldest brother Vadivelu made him learn the technique of violin.
He as a king patronized Hindustani vocalists and instrumentalists. His court patronized illustrious artists of all fields. Haridas from Bengal, Sachidanand from Pune, Vasudeva Sastri from Pune, Pandit Narsa from whom he learnt Hindustani Classical singing and developed his knowledge of singing Kheyal, Dhrupad, Tarana, Tappa, Tumri, Bhajans. He also patronized Ustad Allaudin Khan and Ramanujam.
He nurtured classical dancers at his court. Vadivelu and Sivanandam from Tanjore, Ayodhya Sukhdev were employed for Kathak dance. He brought about universality through Fine Arts; blend of all traditional arts. Pitchu Bhagavathar was also patronized for Nattuvangam.
Thus he could bring out beautiful structural edifices in his compositions that suited for semi - classical Hindustani Musical forms, like Kheyal, Thumri, Tappa, Bhajan etc. These musical forms are commonly used in concerts as well as traditional arts, like Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam and Kathak.
The true devotion to the deity enshrined in Thiruvananthapuram, Shri Padmanabha swamy, the adoration to Classical Music, traditional art; his passionate desire to bring his emotional outpourings, Swathi had tried to bring about the universal integration by bringing music as a medium through his varied linguistic compositions.
We find his versatility in his style rich lyrics, varied compositions and a wide range of musical forms due to which he stands unique not only in the state of Kerala but also in the field of composers of Indian Music.
Having been born in a royal family with illustrious background, Swati Tirunal had every opportunity to acquire his musical knowledge along with training in other branches, right from the childhood. At a fairly early age, he learnt many Indian & foreign languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Persian, Arabic, English & Marathi.He produced three literary pieces viz. Bhakti Manjari, Syanandurapura varnana prabhandam, and Padmanabha satakam. In the short span of his illustrious 34 years he had composed more than 200 compositions which included all the varieties like – Swarajati, Varnam- Padavarman and Tana Varnam, Kritis. Padam – Javali and Tillana. His Group Compositions – the Navaratri Kritis – nine compositions in nine ragas which are religiously sung even now in Kerala during the Navaratri festival and the navabhakti Kirtanas based on the nine kinds of Bhakti – Devotion , like Shravanam, Kirtanam, Vandanam, Arcganam, Dasyam, Sakyam, Padasevanam and Athmanivedanam are some of his spectacular worthy contributions. His contributions towards Dance Janre like Jati-Swaram, Padavarnam, Padam, Javali, and Thillana in Malayalam and Manipravalam languages are again popular features in his repertoire.In the next issue the special features of his musical compositions, his contribution to the enrichment of Karnatic music, his literary achievements etc are brought out with stress on his works as versatile composer, lyricist, linguist and musicologist. It’s an interesting study to see him as Swati as a patron of musiciansSwati as a composerSignificant contribution of swati to MusicSwati Tirunal’s contribution in Hindustani Ragas and CompositionsSwati’s contribution to dance musical formsGeneral appraisal of swati’s worksWe could examine in detail about his various types of musical compositions, in different languages, and their distinctive features. Swati Tirunal gave up his checkered life in 1847. It is astonishing to see his achievements within the short span of 34 years. Considering his contributions to enrich the Karnatic music in different languages, styles and structures, we can safely place him on equal status with the musical Trinity of Karnataka Music. Tiger Varadachariar said that of Swati Tirunal “The Royal Composer combines in his style the elegance of Thyagaraja with the grandear of Muthuswamy Dikshither”. J.A. Brown has recorded “the Maharaja has acquired fame all over India because of his interest in education, his cultured mind and his ability to compose songs and also because of proficiency in several languages”. As Bhartrihari says ‘poets who are the fountains of rasa have neither obsolescence nor death” Truly, Swati Tirunal’s, name will live as long as music lives.
One wonders what exactly constitutes the mystery of the magic in the Indian Karnatic music – its exquisite blend of a scientific system, intangible esthetic music of Bhava, Laya, Mysticism, religious fervor, and lyrics.
Well, among myriads of many unfathomable-contributing factors, the rich musical compositions of great Composers like Saint Thyagaraja, Muthuswmy Dikshidar, Shyama Shastry, Maharaja Swati Tirunal and many others have an amazing impact.
In this essay a humble effort is made to look at with marvel at the amazing splendor of the compositions of Maharaja Swati Tirunal and the Man. Swati Tirunal hails from the Royal Heritage. He is known to the world as the King of a state, Travancore in Kerala. His life can be equated to the life of a “lily” in the words of William Wordsworth. He led a worthy life of not only an able king but also a benevolent king, a patron of art and literature.
Swati Tirunal lived only for a short span of 34 years, i.e., from 1813 to 1847, but he proved the purpose of his incarnation of life through the meritorious contributions towards the state, especially, towards the Indian Music in multi languages. He was a distinguished linguist.
Blessed was his soul, it is rarity to find such wealth, richness clubbed with virtues. Along with his rich and royal heritages; he had imbibed the traditional ritualism and a spiritualism of high order.
In history, Indian Classical Music of the 18th century displayed a Golden Age. The Tamil Nadu gave the great Trinity- saint Tyagaraja, Sri. Muthuswamy Deekshitar and Sri Syama Sastry all at the same time were born and lived at Tiruvarur in Tanjore District.
The state of Travancore did not lag behind. At that time was the birth of Swati Tirunal and a great Hindu philosopher; Adi Sankara Bhagavat Pada was born at the village of Kaladi in Kerala. Adi Sankara rose to the peak in Hindu Advaita philosophy, a religious leader Maharaja Swati Tirunal raised to eminence not only as a King, but also as a versatile composer, musician and a patron of art and literature. As a benevolent ruler he is described as Dakshina Bhoka.
The mystic environment proves our illustrious personality’s emergence. The British regime tried to impose their dictatorial attitude of annexing the intestate property of the heirless royalties in which the kingdom of Jhansi and Satara were annexed. At this juncture the state of Travancore witnessed precarious state, the ruling king had expired, but the Queen had conceived but the child was yet to be born. Even before his birth he was declared a legal heir for the throne. This indicates the greatness of the soul, which had its halo effect even before it was born. The child got educated and developed mastery in various languages, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, English, Hindi, Persian and Arabic.
Swati Tirunal had his rigorous music education from veteran musicians like Karamana Padmanabha Bhagavathar, Suchindram Harihara Bhagavathar and the family Guru Meru swamy from whom he adopted the Marathi style of singing Abhang, and Dandi. From him he developed the Marathi language skill also.
He developed mastery not only in vocal music but also in playing string instruments - veena, percussion instruments, which made him an adept in playing Rhythm pattern and this was due to Vidwan Harihara Iyer. The association with Tanjore Quartet, the eldest brother Vadivelu made him learn the technique of violin.
He as a king patronized Hindustani vocalists and instrumentalists. His court patronized illustrious artists of all fields. Haridas from Bengal, Sachidanand from Pune, Vasudeva Sastri from Pune, Pandit Narsa from whom he learnt Hindustani Classical singing and developed his knowledge of singing Kheyal, Dhrupad, Tarana, Tappa, Tumri, Bhajans. He also patronized Ustad Allaudin Khan and Ramanujam.
He nurtured classical dancers at his court. Vadivelu and Sivanandam from Tanjore, Ayodhya Sukhdev were employed for Kathak dance. He brought about universality through Fine Arts; blend of all traditional arts. Pitchu Bhagavathar was also patronized for Nattuvangam.
Thus he could bring out beautiful structural edifices in his compositions that suited for semi - classical Hindustani Musical forms, like Kheyal, Thumri, Tappa, Bhajan etc. These musical forms are commonly used in concerts as well as traditional arts, like Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam and Kathak.
The true devotion to the deity enshrined in Thiruvananthapuram, Shri Padmanabha swamy, the adoration to Classical Music, traditional art; his passionate desire to bring his emotional outpourings, Swathi had tried to bring about the universal integration by bringing music as a medium through his varied linguistic compositions.
We find his versatility in his style rich lyrics, varied compositions and a wide range of musical forms due to which he stands unique not only in the state of Kerala but also in the field of composers of Indian Music.
Having been born in a royal family with illustrious background, Swati Tirunal had every opportunity to acquire his musical knowledge along with training in other branches, right from the childhood. At a fairly early age, he learnt many Indian & foreign languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Persian, Arabic, English & Marathi.He produced three literary pieces viz. Bhakti Manjari, Syanandurapura varnana prabhandam, and Padmanabha satakam. In the short span of his illustrious 34 years he had composed more than 200 compositions which included all the varieties like – Swarajati, Varnam- Padavarman and Tana Varnam, Kritis. Padam – Javali and Tillana. His Group Compositions – the Navaratri Kritis – nine compositions in nine ragas which are religiously sung even now in Kerala during the Navaratri festival and the navabhakti Kirtanas based on the nine kinds of Bhakti – Devotion , like Shravanam, Kirtanam, Vandanam, Arcganam, Dasyam, Sakyam, Padasevanam and Athmanivedanam are some of his spectacular worthy contributions. His contributions towards Dance Janre like Jati-Swaram, Padavarnam, Padam, Javali, and Thillana in Malayalam and Manipravalam languages are again popular features in his repertoire.In the next issue the special features of his musical compositions, his contribution to the enrichment of Karnatic music, his literary achievements etc are brought out with stress on his works as versatile composer, lyricist, linguist and musicologist. It’s an interesting study to see him as Swati as a patron of musiciansSwati as a composerSignificant contribution of swati to MusicSwati Tirunal’s contribution in Hindustani Ragas and CompositionsSwati’s contribution to dance musical formsGeneral appraisal of swati’s worksWe could examine in detail about his various types of musical compositions, in different languages, and their distinctive features. Swati Tirunal gave up his checkered life in 1847. It is astonishing to see his achievements within the short span of 34 years. Considering his contributions to enrich the Karnatic music in different languages, styles and structures, we can safely place him on equal status with the musical Trinity of Karnataka Music. Tiger Varadachariar said that of Swati Tirunal “The Royal Composer combines in his style the elegance of Thyagaraja with the grandear of Muthuswamy Dikshither”. J.A. Brown has recorded “the Maharaja has acquired fame all over India because of his interest in education, his cultured mind and his ability to compose songs and also because of proficiency in several languages”. As Bhartrihari says ‘poets who are the fountains of rasa have neither obsolescence nor death” Truly, Swati Tirunal’s, name will live as long as music lives.
CARNATIC - MUSIC
CARNATICCarnatic music, also known as karṇāṭaka sangītam is one of the two styles of Indian classical music, the other being Hindustani music. The present form of Carnatic music is abased on historical developments that can be traced to the 15th - 16th centuries CE and thereafter. From the several epigraphical inscriptional evidences and other ancient works[1], the history of classical musical traditions can be traced back about 2500 years.
Carnatic music is completely melodic, with improvised variations. The main emphasis is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki).[2]
Like Hindustani music, Carnatic music rests on two main elements: rāga, the modes or melodic formulæ, and tāḷa, the rhythmic cycles.[3]
Carnatic music
IAST
karṇāṭaka sangītam
IPA
kʌrˈnɑːʈʌkʌ ˌsʌŋˈgiːt̪ʌ
Sanskrit
कर्णाटक सङ्गीतं
Kannada
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಸಂಗೀತ
Malayalam
കര്ണാടക സംഗീതം
Tamil
கருநாடக இசை
Telugu
కర్నాటక సంగీతం
Topics
Sruti • Swara • Raga • Tala • Melakarta • Composers
Timeline
Instruments
Veena - Mridangam - Ghatam - Morsing - Kanjira - Violin
Awards
Sangeetha Kalanidhi - Sangeetha Choodamani
Events
Festivals
Purandaradasa Aradhane – Kanakadasa Aradhane – Hampi Sangeetotsava – Sangeet Natak Akademi – Thyagaraja Aradhana – Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana
Media
Sruti, The Music Magazine
Compositions
Varnam - Kriti - Geetham - Swarajati - Ragam Thanam Pallavi - Thillana - Padam - Javali - Mangalam
Famous Carnatic Musicians
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar • Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar • Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer • D. K. Pattammal • M. S. Subbulakshmi • Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer • Lalgudi Jayaraman • M.S.Gopalakrishnan • T.N.Krishnan • M.D.Ramanathan • M.Balamuralikrishna • M. L. Vasanthakumari • K. J. Yesudas
Origins and history
See also: List of Carnatic music treaties
Like all art forms in Indian culture, Carnatic Music is believed to have a divine origin - it is believed to have originated from the Devas and Devis.[4] However, it is also generally accepted that the natural origins of music were an important factor in the development of Carnatic music. [4] Ancient treatises describe the connection of the origin of swaras to the sounds of animals and birds, and man’s keen sense of observation and perception that tried simulating these sounds - after hearing and distinguishing between the different sounds that emanated from bamboo reed when air passes through its hollows, man designed the first flute. In this way, music is venerated as an aspect of the supreme (nāda brāhmam)[5]. Folk music is also said to have been a natural origin of Carnatic music, with many folk tunes corresponding to certain Carnatic ragas (discussed later).[4]
The Vedas are generally accepted as the main probable source of Indian music. The Sama Veda is said to have laid the foundation for Indian music, and consists mainly of hymns of Rigveda, set to musical tunes which would be sung using three to seven musical notes during Vedic sacrifices.[4] The Yajur-Veda, which mainly consists of sacrificial formulae, mentions the veena as an accompaniment to vocal recitations during the sacrifices.[6]
References to Indian classical music are made in many ancient religious texts, including epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Yajnavalkya Smriti mentions "Veena vadhana tathvangna sruti, jathi, visartha talanjaaprayasena moksha margam niyachathi" ("The one who is well versed in veena, one who has the knowledge of srutis and one who is adept in tala, attains salvation without doubt.")[7] Carnatic music is based on music concepts mentioned in Bharata's Natya Shastra.[8]. The Natya Shastra mentions many musical concepts (including swara and tala) that continue to be relevant to Carnatic music today.[4]
According to some scholars,[4] Carnatic music shares certain classical music concepts with ancient Tamil music. The concept of Pann is related to Ragas used in Carnatic music.[9]. The rhythmic meters found in several musical forms (such as the Tiruppugazh) and other ancient literature, resemble the talas that are in use today[10][11]
Both Carnatic and Hindustani music shared a common history. Since the late 12th and early 13th centuries, as a result of the increasing Persian influence (and as a result of the Islamic conquest) in North India, Hindustani Music started evolving as a separate genre, while Carnatic music was relatively unaffected by these Arabic and Iranian influences.[12] In Carnatic Music (which was based in South India), the pan-Indian bhakti movement laid a substantial basis as far as the use of religious themes are concerned, while major developments post 13th century also contributed to its divergence from Hindustani music.[13]
Carnatic music saw renewed growth during the Vijayanagar Empire by the Kannada Haridasa movement of Vyasaraja, Purandara Dasa, Kanakadasa and others.[14] Purandara Dasa who is known as the Sangeeta Pitamaha (the grandfather of Carnatic music) laid out the fundamental tenets and framework for teaching Carnatic music.[15][4]. Venkatamakhin is credited with the classification of ragas in the Melakarta System and wrote his most important work; Chaturdandi Prakasika (c.1635 CE) in Sanskrit. Govindacharya expanded the Melakarta Scheme into the Sampoorna raga system, which is the system in common use today.
Even though the earlier writers Matanga, Sarangadeva and others also were from Karnataka, the music tradition was formally named Karnataka Sangeetha for the first time only in the 13th Century when the Vijayanagara empire was founded.[16]
A unique development in the art of instrumental carnatic music took shape under the patronage of the kings of the Kingdom of Mysore in the 18th through 20th centuries. The composers used to play their compositions on instruments such as the veena, rudra veena, violin, tambura, ghata, flute, mridangam, nagaswara, swarabhat. Some instruments such as harmonium, sitar and jaltarang, though uncommon to the southern region came into use and the English influence popularised the saxophone and piano. Even royalty of this dynasty were noted composers and proficient in playing musical instruments, solo or in concert with others.[17] Some famous instrumentalists were Veena Sheshanna(1852-1926)[18], Veena Subbanna (1861-1939),[19] T. Chowdiah[20]and others.
Nature of Carnatic music
Carnatic music is practised and presented today by musicians in concerts or recordings, either vocally or through instruments. Carnatic music itself developed around musical works or compositions of phenomenal composers (see below).
Compositions
In contrast to Hindustani Music of the northern part of India, Carnatic music is taught and learned through compositions, which encode many intricate musical details, also providing scope for free improvization. Nearly every rendition of a Carnatic music composition is different and unique as it embodies elements of the composers vision, as well as the musician's interpretation.
A Carnatic composition really has two elements, one being the musical element, the other being what is conveyed in the composition. It is probably because of this fact that most Carnatic music compositions are composed for singing. In addition to the rich musical experience, each composition brings out the knowledge and personality of the composer, and hence the words are as important as the musical element itself. This poses a special challenge for the musicians because rendering this music does not involve just playing or singing the correct musical notes; the musicians are expected to understand what was conveyed by the composer in various languages, and sing musical phrases that act to create the effect that was intended by the composer in his/her composition.
There are many types/forms of compositions. Geethams and Swarajatis (which have their own peculiar composition structures) are principally meant to serve as basic learning exercises, and while there are many other types/forms of compositions (including Padam, Javali and Thillana), the most common forms are the Varnam, and most importantly, the Kriti (or Keerthanam), which are discussed below.
Varnam
Main article: Varnam
This is a special item which highlights everything important about a raga; not just the scale, but also which notes to stress, how to approach a certain note, classical and characteristic phrases, etc. Though there are a few different types of varnams, in essence, they all have a pallavi, an anupallavi, muktayi swaras, a charana, and chittaswaras. They are sung in multiple speeds, and are very good for practice. In concerts, varnams are often sung at the beginning as they are fast and grab the audience's attention.[21]
Kriti
Main article: Kriti
Carnatic songs (kritis) are varied in structure and style, but generally consist of three units:
Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music. One or two lines.
Anupallavi. The second verse. Also two lines.
Charana. The final (and longest) verse that wraps up the song. The Charanam usually borrows patterns from the Anupallavi. There can be multiple charanas.
This kind of song is called a keerthanam or a Kriti. There are other possible structures for a Kriti, which may in addition include swara passages named chittaswara. Chittaswara consists only of notes, and has no words. Still others, have a verse at the end of the charana, called the madhyamakāla. It is sung immediately after the charana, but at double speed.
Prominent composers
Purandara Dasa
There are many composers in Carnatic music.
See also: List of Carnatic composers
Purandara Dasa (1480 - 1564) is known as the father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music due to his pioneering contributions to Carnatic music. Purandara Dasa is renowned for formulating the basic lessons of Carnatic music. He structured graded exercises known as Swaravalis and Alankaras, and at the same time, introduced the Raga Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learnt by beginners. He also composed Gitas (simple songs) for novice students. Although only a fraction of his other compositions still exist, he is said to have composed around 475,000 compositions in total.[22]
The contemporaries Tyagaraja (1759? - 1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar, (1776 - 1827) and Syama Sastri, (1762 - 1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music due to the quality of Syama Sastri's compositions, the varieties of compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar and Tyagaraja's prolific output in composing kritis.[23] [24]
Prominent composers prior to the Trinity of Carnatic music include Annamacharya, Narayana Theertha, Bhadrachala Ramadas, Sadasiva Brahmendra and Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi. Other prominent composers are Swathi Thirunal, Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Neelakanta Sivan, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Mysore Vasudevachar, Koteeswara Iyer, Muthiah Bhagavathar, Subramania Bharathiyar and Papanasam Sivan. The compositions of these composers are rendered frequently by prominent artists of today.
Papanasam Sivan
Composers of Carnatic music were often inspired by religious devotion and were usually scholars proficient in one or more of the following languages Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. They usually included a signature, called a mudra, in their compositions. For example, all songs by Tyagaraja (who composed in Telugu) have the word Thyagaraja in them, all songs by Muthuswami Dikshitar (who composed in Sanskrit) have the words Guruguha in them, songs by Syama Sastri (who composed in Telugu) have the words Syama Krishna in them while Purandaradasa, who composed in Kannada, used the signature Purandara Vittala. Gopalakrishna Bharathi used the signature Gopalakrishnan and composed in Tamil. Papanasam Sivan, who has been hailed as the Tamil Thyagaraja of Carnatic music[25], also composed in this language, as well as Sanskrit[26], and used the signature Ramadasan.
Important elements of Carnatic music
Śruti
Main article: Śruti (music)
Śruti commonly refers to musical pitch.[27] It is the approximate equivalent of a tonic (or less precisely a key) in Western music; it is the note from which all the others are derived. It is also used in the sense of graded pitches in an octave. While there are an infinite number of sounds falling within a scale (or raga) in Carnatic music, the number that can be distinguished by auditory perception is twenty-two (although over the years, several of them have converged). In this sense, while shruti is determined by auditory perception, it is also an expression in the listener's mind.[28]
Swara
Main article: Swara
Swara refers to a type of musical sound that is a single note, which defines a relative (higher or lower) position of a note, rather than a defined frequency.[29] Swaras also refer to the solfege of Carnatic music, which consist of seven notes, "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" (compare with the Hindustani sargam: sa-re-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni or Western do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti). These names are abbreviations of the longer names shadja, rishabha, gandhara. madhyama, panchama, dhaivata and nishada. Unlike other music systems, every member of the solfege (called a swara) has three variants. The exceptions are the drone notes, shadja and panchama (also known as the tonic and the dominant), which have only one form; and madhyama (the subdominant), which has two forms. A 7th century stone inscription in Kudumiyan Malai[30] in Tamil Nadu shows vowel changes to solfege symbols with ra, ri, ru etc. to denote the higher quarter-tones. In one scale, or ragam, there is usually only one variant of each note present. The exceptions exist in "light" ragas, in which, for artistic effect, there may be two, one ascending (in the arohanam) and another descending (in the avarohanam).
Raga system
Main article: Raga
A raga in Carnatic music prescribes a set of rules for building a melody - very similar to the Western concept of mode.[31] It specifies rules for movements up (aarohanam) and down (avarohanam), the scale of which notes should figure more and which notes should be used more sparingly, which notes may be sung with gamaka, which phrases should be used, phrases should be avoided, and so on.
In Carnatic music, the sampoorna ragas (those with all seven notes in their scales) are classified into a system called the melakarta, which groups them according to the kinds of notes that they have. There are seventy-two melakarta ragas, thirty six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is sadharana (perfect fourth from the tonic), the remaining thirty-six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is prati (an augmented fourth from the tonic). The ragas are grouped into sets of six, called chakras ("wheels", though actually segments in the conventional representation) grouped according to the supertonic and mediant scale degrees. There is a system known as the 'Katapayadi sankhya to determine the names of Melakarta Ragas.
Ragas may be divided into two classes: janaka ragas (i.e melakarta or parent ragas) and janyaragas (descendant ragas of a particular janaka raga). Janya ragas are subclassified into various categories themselves.
There are potentially hundreds and thousands of ragas, with over 5000 that have been used.[32]
Tala system
Main article: tala (music)
Tala refers to the beat set for a particular composition (a measure of time). Talas have cycles of a defined number of beats and rarely change within a song. They have specific components, which in combinations can give rise to the variety to exist (over 108), allowing different compositions to have different rhythms.[33]
Carnatic music singers usually keep the beat by moving their hands up and down in specified patterns, and using their fingers simultaneously to keep time. Tala is formed with three basic parts (called angas) which are laghu, dhrtam, and anudhrtam, though complex talas may have other parts like plutam, guru and kaakapaadam. There are seven basic tala groups which can be formed from the laghu, dhrtam, and anudhrtam:
Dhruva tala
Matya tala
Rupaka tala
Jhampa tala
Triputa tala
Ata tala
Eka tala
A laghu has five variants (called jaathis) based on the counting pattern. Five jaathis times seven tala groups gives thirty-five basic talas, although use of other angas results in a total of 108 talas.
Improvisation
There are four main types of improvisation in Carnatic music, but in every type, adhering to the scale and phrases of the raga is required.
Raga Alapana
Main article: Alapana
This is the exposition of the ragam of the song that is being planned to be performed. A performer will explore the ragam first by singing lower octaves then moving up to higher ones and touching various aspects of the ragam while giving a hint of the song to be performed. It is a slow improvisation with no rhythm.[34]
Theoretically, this ought to be the easiest type of improvisation, since the rules are so few, but in fact, it takes much skill to sing a pleasing, comprehensive (in the sense of giving a "feel for the ragam") and, most importantly, original ragam.
Niraval
Main article: Niraval
This is usually performed by the more advanced concert artists and consists of singing one or two lines of a song repeatedly, but with improvised elaborations.
Kalpanaswaram
Main article: Kalpanaswaram
The most elementary type of improvisation, usually taught before any other form of improvisation. It consists of singing a pattern of notes which finishes on the beat and the note just before the beat and the note on which the song starts. The swara pattern should adhere to the original raga's swara pattern, which is called as aarohanam-avarohanam
Thanam
This form of improvisation was originally developed for the veena and consists of expanding the raga with syllables like tha, nam, thom, aa, nom, na, etc
Ragam Thanam Pallavi
Main article: Ragam Thanam Pallavi
This is a composite form of improvisation. As the name suggests, it consists of Raga Alapana, Thanam, and a pallavi line. The pallavi line is sung twice, and Niraval follows. After Niraval, the pallavi line is sung again, twice in normal speed, then sung once at half the speed, then twice at regular speed, then four times at twice the speed. Kalpanaswarams follow.
Learning Carnatic music
Carnatic music is traditionally taught according to the system formulated by Purandara Dasa. This involves swaravalis (graded exercises), alankaras (exercises based on the seven talas), Geethams or simple songs, and Swarajatis. After the student has reached a certain standard, Varnams are taught, and later, the student learns Kritis. It typically takes several years of learning before a student is adept enough to perform at a concert.
The learning texts and exercises are more or less uniform across all the South Indian states. The learning structure is arranged in the increasing order of the complexity. The lessons start with the learning of the sarali varisai (solfege set to a particular raga).
Carnatic music was traditionally taught in the gurukula system, where the student lived with and learnt the art from his guru (perceptor). From the late 20th century onwards, with changes in lifestyles and need for young music aspirants to simultaneously manoeuvre a parallel academic career, this system has found few takers.
Musicians often take great pride in letting people know about their Guru Parampara, or the hierarchy of disciples from some prominent ancient musician or composer, to which they belong. People whose disciple-hierarchies are often referred to are Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri, Swathi Thirunal, Papanasam Sivan among others.
In modern times, it is often common for students to visit their gurus daily or weekly to learn music. Though new technology has made learning easier with the availability of quick-learn media such as learning exercises recorded on audio cassettes and CDs, these are discouraged by most gurus who emphasize that face-to-face learning is best for students.
Notations
Notation is not a new concept in Indian music. However, Carnatic music continued to be transmitted orally for centuries without being written down. The disadvantage with this system was that if one wanted to learn about a Kriti composed, for example, by Purandara Dasa, it involved the difficult task of finding a person from Purandara Dasa's lineage of students.
Written notation of Carnatic music was revived in the late 17th century and early 18th century, which coincided with rule of Shahaji II in Tanjore. Copies of Shahaji's musical manuscripts are still available at the Saraswathi Mahal Library in Tanjore and they give us an idea of the music and its form. They contain snippets of solfege to be used when performing the mentioned ragas.
Melody
Unlike Western music, Carnatic music is notated almost exclusively in tonic solfa notation using either a Roman or Indic script to represent the solfa names. Past attempts to use the staff notation have mostly failed. Indian music makes use of hundreds of ragas, many more than the church modes in Western music. It becomes difficult to write Carnatic music using the staff notation without the use of too many accidentals. Furthermore, the staff notation requires that the song be played in a certain key. The notions of key and absolute pitch are deeply rooted in Western music, whereas the Carnatic notation does not specify the key and prefers to use scale degrees (relative pitch) to denote notes. The singer is free to choose actual pitch of the tonic note. In the more precise forms of Carnatic notation, there are symbols placed above the notes indicating how the notes should be played or sung; however, informally this practice is not followed.
To show the length of a note, several devices are used. If the duration of note is to be doubled, the letter is either capitalized (if using Roman script) or lengthened by a diacritic (in Indian languages). For a duration of three, the letter is capitalized (or diacriticized) and followed by a comma. For a length of four, the letter is capitalized (or diacriticized) and then followed by a semicolon. In this way any duration can be indicated using a series of semicolons and commas.
However, a simpler notation has evolved which does not use semicolons and capitalization, but rather indicates all extensions of notes using a corresponding number of commas. Thus, Sā quadrupled in length would be denoted as "S,,,".
Rhythm
The notation is divided into columns, depending on the structure of the tāḷaṃ. The division between a laghu and a dhrutam is indicated by a ।, called a ḍaṇḍā, and so is the division between two dhrutams or a dhrutam and an anudhrutam. The end of a cycle is marked by a ॥, called a double ḍaṇḍā, and looks like a caesura.
Concerts
Carnatic music concerts are usually performed by a small ensemble of musicians who sit on a slightly elevated stage. Carnatic music concerts can be vocal recitals, accompanied by supporting instruments, or purely instrumental concerts, but irrespective of whether it is a vocal or purely instrumental concert, what is featured in a typical concert are compositions which form the core of this music. The lead-musician must also choose a signature octave based on his/her (vocal) range of comfort. However, it is expected that a musician maintains that same pitch once it is selected, and so to help all the performers maintain the selected pitch, the tambura is the traditional drone instrument used in concerts. However, tamburas are increasingly being replaced by śruti boxes, and now more commonly, the "Electronic tambura"
In a vocal recital, a concert team may have one or more vocalists, accompanied by instrumentalists. Other instruments such as the veena and/or flute can be found to occasionally accompany a lead vocalist, but usually a vocalist is supported by a violin player (who sits on his/her left), and a few percussion players including at least a mridangam (who usually sits on the other side of the vocalist, facing the instrumentalist). Other percussion instruments that are also used include the ghatam, kanjira and morsing, which also accompany the main percussion instrument and play almost in a contrapuntal fashion along with the beats. The objective of the accompanying instruments is far more than following the melody and keeping the beats. The accompaniments form an integral part of every composition presented, and they closely follow and augment the melodic phrases outlines by the lead singer. The vocalist and the violinist take turns while elaborating or while exhibiting creativity in sections like raga, niraval and kalpanaswaram. Unlike Hindustani music concerts, where an accompanying tabla player can keep beats without following the musical phrases at times, in carnatic music, the accompaniments have to know follow intricacies of the composition since there are percussion elements such as eduppu, in several compositions. Some of the best concerts feature a good bit of interaction with the lead musicians and the accompaniments exchanging notes, and accompanying musicians predicting the lead singer musical phrases.
Carnatic music is completely melodic, with improvised variations. The main emphasis is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki).[2]
Like Hindustani music, Carnatic music rests on two main elements: rāga, the modes or melodic formulæ, and tāḷa, the rhythmic cycles.[3]
Carnatic music
IAST
karṇāṭaka sangītam
IPA
kʌrˈnɑːʈʌkʌ ˌsʌŋˈgiːt̪ʌ
Sanskrit
कर्णाटक सङ्गीतं
Kannada
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಸಂಗೀತ
Malayalam
കര്ണാടക സംഗീതം
Tamil
கருநாடக இசை
Telugu
కర్నాటక సంగీతం
Topics
Sruti • Swara • Raga • Tala • Melakarta • Composers
Timeline
Instruments
Veena - Mridangam - Ghatam - Morsing - Kanjira - Violin
Awards
Sangeetha Kalanidhi - Sangeetha Choodamani
Events
Festivals
Purandaradasa Aradhane – Kanakadasa Aradhane – Hampi Sangeetotsava – Sangeet Natak Akademi – Thyagaraja Aradhana – Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana
Media
Sruti, The Music Magazine
Compositions
Varnam - Kriti - Geetham - Swarajati - Ragam Thanam Pallavi - Thillana - Padam - Javali - Mangalam
Famous Carnatic Musicians
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar • Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar • Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer • D. K. Pattammal • M. S. Subbulakshmi • Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer • Lalgudi Jayaraman • M.S.Gopalakrishnan • T.N.Krishnan • M.D.Ramanathan • M.Balamuralikrishna • M. L. Vasanthakumari • K. J. Yesudas
Origins and history
See also: List of Carnatic music treaties
Like all art forms in Indian culture, Carnatic Music is believed to have a divine origin - it is believed to have originated from the Devas and Devis.[4] However, it is also generally accepted that the natural origins of music were an important factor in the development of Carnatic music. [4] Ancient treatises describe the connection of the origin of swaras to the sounds of animals and birds, and man’s keen sense of observation and perception that tried simulating these sounds - after hearing and distinguishing between the different sounds that emanated from bamboo reed when air passes through its hollows, man designed the first flute. In this way, music is venerated as an aspect of the supreme (nāda brāhmam)[5]. Folk music is also said to have been a natural origin of Carnatic music, with many folk tunes corresponding to certain Carnatic ragas (discussed later).[4]
The Vedas are generally accepted as the main probable source of Indian music. The Sama Veda is said to have laid the foundation for Indian music, and consists mainly of hymns of Rigveda, set to musical tunes which would be sung using three to seven musical notes during Vedic sacrifices.[4] The Yajur-Veda, which mainly consists of sacrificial formulae, mentions the veena as an accompaniment to vocal recitations during the sacrifices.[6]
References to Indian classical music are made in many ancient religious texts, including epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Yajnavalkya Smriti mentions "Veena vadhana tathvangna sruti, jathi, visartha talanjaaprayasena moksha margam niyachathi" ("The one who is well versed in veena, one who has the knowledge of srutis and one who is adept in tala, attains salvation without doubt.")[7] Carnatic music is based on music concepts mentioned in Bharata's Natya Shastra.[8]. The Natya Shastra mentions many musical concepts (including swara and tala) that continue to be relevant to Carnatic music today.[4]
According to some scholars,[4] Carnatic music shares certain classical music concepts with ancient Tamil music. The concept of Pann is related to Ragas used in Carnatic music.[9]. The rhythmic meters found in several musical forms (such as the Tiruppugazh) and other ancient literature, resemble the talas that are in use today[10][11]
Both Carnatic and Hindustani music shared a common history. Since the late 12th and early 13th centuries, as a result of the increasing Persian influence (and as a result of the Islamic conquest) in North India, Hindustani Music started evolving as a separate genre, while Carnatic music was relatively unaffected by these Arabic and Iranian influences.[12] In Carnatic Music (which was based in South India), the pan-Indian bhakti movement laid a substantial basis as far as the use of religious themes are concerned, while major developments post 13th century also contributed to its divergence from Hindustani music.[13]
Carnatic music saw renewed growth during the Vijayanagar Empire by the Kannada Haridasa movement of Vyasaraja, Purandara Dasa, Kanakadasa and others.[14] Purandara Dasa who is known as the Sangeeta Pitamaha (the grandfather of Carnatic music) laid out the fundamental tenets and framework for teaching Carnatic music.[15][4]. Venkatamakhin is credited with the classification of ragas in the Melakarta System and wrote his most important work; Chaturdandi Prakasika (c.1635 CE) in Sanskrit. Govindacharya expanded the Melakarta Scheme into the Sampoorna raga system, which is the system in common use today.
Even though the earlier writers Matanga, Sarangadeva and others also were from Karnataka, the music tradition was formally named Karnataka Sangeetha for the first time only in the 13th Century when the Vijayanagara empire was founded.[16]
A unique development in the art of instrumental carnatic music took shape under the patronage of the kings of the Kingdom of Mysore in the 18th through 20th centuries. The composers used to play their compositions on instruments such as the veena, rudra veena, violin, tambura, ghata, flute, mridangam, nagaswara, swarabhat. Some instruments such as harmonium, sitar and jaltarang, though uncommon to the southern region came into use and the English influence popularised the saxophone and piano. Even royalty of this dynasty were noted composers and proficient in playing musical instruments, solo or in concert with others.[17] Some famous instrumentalists were Veena Sheshanna(1852-1926)[18], Veena Subbanna (1861-1939),[19] T. Chowdiah[20]and others.
Nature of Carnatic music
Carnatic music is practised and presented today by musicians in concerts or recordings, either vocally or through instruments. Carnatic music itself developed around musical works or compositions of phenomenal composers (see below).
Compositions
In contrast to Hindustani Music of the northern part of India, Carnatic music is taught and learned through compositions, which encode many intricate musical details, also providing scope for free improvization. Nearly every rendition of a Carnatic music composition is different and unique as it embodies elements of the composers vision, as well as the musician's interpretation.
A Carnatic composition really has two elements, one being the musical element, the other being what is conveyed in the composition. It is probably because of this fact that most Carnatic music compositions are composed for singing. In addition to the rich musical experience, each composition brings out the knowledge and personality of the composer, and hence the words are as important as the musical element itself. This poses a special challenge for the musicians because rendering this music does not involve just playing or singing the correct musical notes; the musicians are expected to understand what was conveyed by the composer in various languages, and sing musical phrases that act to create the effect that was intended by the composer in his/her composition.
There are many types/forms of compositions. Geethams and Swarajatis (which have their own peculiar composition structures) are principally meant to serve as basic learning exercises, and while there are many other types/forms of compositions (including Padam, Javali and Thillana), the most common forms are the Varnam, and most importantly, the Kriti (or Keerthanam), which are discussed below.
Varnam
Main article: Varnam
This is a special item which highlights everything important about a raga; not just the scale, but also which notes to stress, how to approach a certain note, classical and characteristic phrases, etc. Though there are a few different types of varnams, in essence, they all have a pallavi, an anupallavi, muktayi swaras, a charana, and chittaswaras. They are sung in multiple speeds, and are very good for practice. In concerts, varnams are often sung at the beginning as they are fast and grab the audience's attention.[21]
Kriti
Main article: Kriti
Carnatic songs (kritis) are varied in structure and style, but generally consist of three units:
Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music. One or two lines.
Anupallavi. The second verse. Also two lines.
Charana. The final (and longest) verse that wraps up the song. The Charanam usually borrows patterns from the Anupallavi. There can be multiple charanas.
This kind of song is called a keerthanam or a Kriti. There are other possible structures for a Kriti, which may in addition include swara passages named chittaswara. Chittaswara consists only of notes, and has no words. Still others, have a verse at the end of the charana, called the madhyamakāla. It is sung immediately after the charana, but at double speed.
Prominent composers
Purandara Dasa
There are many composers in Carnatic music.
See also: List of Carnatic composers
Purandara Dasa (1480 - 1564) is known as the father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music due to his pioneering contributions to Carnatic music. Purandara Dasa is renowned for formulating the basic lessons of Carnatic music. He structured graded exercises known as Swaravalis and Alankaras, and at the same time, introduced the Raga Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learnt by beginners. He also composed Gitas (simple songs) for novice students. Although only a fraction of his other compositions still exist, he is said to have composed around 475,000 compositions in total.[22]
The contemporaries Tyagaraja (1759? - 1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar, (1776 - 1827) and Syama Sastri, (1762 - 1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music due to the quality of Syama Sastri's compositions, the varieties of compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar and Tyagaraja's prolific output in composing kritis.[23] [24]
Prominent composers prior to the Trinity of Carnatic music include Annamacharya, Narayana Theertha, Bhadrachala Ramadas, Sadasiva Brahmendra and Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi. Other prominent composers are Swathi Thirunal, Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Neelakanta Sivan, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Mysore Vasudevachar, Koteeswara Iyer, Muthiah Bhagavathar, Subramania Bharathiyar and Papanasam Sivan. The compositions of these composers are rendered frequently by prominent artists of today.
Papanasam Sivan
Composers of Carnatic music were often inspired by religious devotion and were usually scholars proficient in one or more of the following languages Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. They usually included a signature, called a mudra, in their compositions. For example, all songs by Tyagaraja (who composed in Telugu) have the word Thyagaraja in them, all songs by Muthuswami Dikshitar (who composed in Sanskrit) have the words Guruguha in them, songs by Syama Sastri (who composed in Telugu) have the words Syama Krishna in them while Purandaradasa, who composed in Kannada, used the signature Purandara Vittala. Gopalakrishna Bharathi used the signature Gopalakrishnan and composed in Tamil. Papanasam Sivan, who has been hailed as the Tamil Thyagaraja of Carnatic music[25], also composed in this language, as well as Sanskrit[26], and used the signature Ramadasan.
Important elements of Carnatic music
Śruti
Main article: Śruti (music)
Śruti commonly refers to musical pitch.[27] It is the approximate equivalent of a tonic (or less precisely a key) in Western music; it is the note from which all the others are derived. It is also used in the sense of graded pitches in an octave. While there are an infinite number of sounds falling within a scale (or raga) in Carnatic music, the number that can be distinguished by auditory perception is twenty-two (although over the years, several of them have converged). In this sense, while shruti is determined by auditory perception, it is also an expression in the listener's mind.[28]
Swara
Main article: Swara
Swara refers to a type of musical sound that is a single note, which defines a relative (higher or lower) position of a note, rather than a defined frequency.[29] Swaras also refer to the solfege of Carnatic music, which consist of seven notes, "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" (compare with the Hindustani sargam: sa-re-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni or Western do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti). These names are abbreviations of the longer names shadja, rishabha, gandhara. madhyama, panchama, dhaivata and nishada. Unlike other music systems, every member of the solfege (called a swara) has three variants. The exceptions are the drone notes, shadja and panchama (also known as the tonic and the dominant), which have only one form; and madhyama (the subdominant), which has two forms. A 7th century stone inscription in Kudumiyan Malai[30] in Tamil Nadu shows vowel changes to solfege symbols with ra, ri, ru etc. to denote the higher quarter-tones. In one scale, or ragam, there is usually only one variant of each note present. The exceptions exist in "light" ragas, in which, for artistic effect, there may be two, one ascending (in the arohanam) and another descending (in the avarohanam).
Raga system
Main article: Raga
A raga in Carnatic music prescribes a set of rules for building a melody - very similar to the Western concept of mode.[31] It specifies rules for movements up (aarohanam) and down (avarohanam), the scale of which notes should figure more and which notes should be used more sparingly, which notes may be sung with gamaka, which phrases should be used, phrases should be avoided, and so on.
In Carnatic music, the sampoorna ragas (those with all seven notes in their scales) are classified into a system called the melakarta, which groups them according to the kinds of notes that they have. There are seventy-two melakarta ragas, thirty six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is sadharana (perfect fourth from the tonic), the remaining thirty-six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is prati (an augmented fourth from the tonic). The ragas are grouped into sets of six, called chakras ("wheels", though actually segments in the conventional representation) grouped according to the supertonic and mediant scale degrees. There is a system known as the 'Katapayadi sankhya to determine the names of Melakarta Ragas.
Ragas may be divided into two classes: janaka ragas (i.e melakarta or parent ragas) and janyaragas (descendant ragas of a particular janaka raga). Janya ragas are subclassified into various categories themselves.
There are potentially hundreds and thousands of ragas, with over 5000 that have been used.[32]
Tala system
Main article: tala (music)
Tala refers to the beat set for a particular composition (a measure of time). Talas have cycles of a defined number of beats and rarely change within a song. They have specific components, which in combinations can give rise to the variety to exist (over 108), allowing different compositions to have different rhythms.[33]
Carnatic music singers usually keep the beat by moving their hands up and down in specified patterns, and using their fingers simultaneously to keep time. Tala is formed with three basic parts (called angas) which are laghu, dhrtam, and anudhrtam, though complex talas may have other parts like plutam, guru and kaakapaadam. There are seven basic tala groups which can be formed from the laghu, dhrtam, and anudhrtam:
Dhruva tala
Matya tala
Rupaka tala
Jhampa tala
Triputa tala
Ata tala
Eka tala
A laghu has five variants (called jaathis) based on the counting pattern. Five jaathis times seven tala groups gives thirty-five basic talas, although use of other angas results in a total of 108 talas.
Improvisation
There are four main types of improvisation in Carnatic music, but in every type, adhering to the scale and phrases of the raga is required.
Raga Alapana
Main article: Alapana
This is the exposition of the ragam of the song that is being planned to be performed. A performer will explore the ragam first by singing lower octaves then moving up to higher ones and touching various aspects of the ragam while giving a hint of the song to be performed. It is a slow improvisation with no rhythm.[34]
Theoretically, this ought to be the easiest type of improvisation, since the rules are so few, but in fact, it takes much skill to sing a pleasing, comprehensive (in the sense of giving a "feel for the ragam") and, most importantly, original ragam.
Niraval
Main article: Niraval
This is usually performed by the more advanced concert artists and consists of singing one or two lines of a song repeatedly, but with improvised elaborations.
Kalpanaswaram
Main article: Kalpanaswaram
The most elementary type of improvisation, usually taught before any other form of improvisation. It consists of singing a pattern of notes which finishes on the beat and the note just before the beat and the note on which the song starts. The swara pattern should adhere to the original raga's swara pattern, which is called as aarohanam-avarohanam
Thanam
This form of improvisation was originally developed for the veena and consists of expanding the raga with syllables like tha, nam, thom, aa, nom, na, etc
Ragam Thanam Pallavi
Main article: Ragam Thanam Pallavi
This is a composite form of improvisation. As the name suggests, it consists of Raga Alapana, Thanam, and a pallavi line. The pallavi line is sung twice, and Niraval follows. After Niraval, the pallavi line is sung again, twice in normal speed, then sung once at half the speed, then twice at regular speed, then four times at twice the speed. Kalpanaswarams follow.
Learning Carnatic music
Carnatic music is traditionally taught according to the system formulated by Purandara Dasa. This involves swaravalis (graded exercises), alankaras (exercises based on the seven talas), Geethams or simple songs, and Swarajatis. After the student has reached a certain standard, Varnams are taught, and later, the student learns Kritis. It typically takes several years of learning before a student is adept enough to perform at a concert.
The learning texts and exercises are more or less uniform across all the South Indian states. The learning structure is arranged in the increasing order of the complexity. The lessons start with the learning of the sarali varisai (solfege set to a particular raga).
Carnatic music was traditionally taught in the gurukula system, where the student lived with and learnt the art from his guru (perceptor). From the late 20th century onwards, with changes in lifestyles and need for young music aspirants to simultaneously manoeuvre a parallel academic career, this system has found few takers.
Musicians often take great pride in letting people know about their Guru Parampara, or the hierarchy of disciples from some prominent ancient musician or composer, to which they belong. People whose disciple-hierarchies are often referred to are Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri, Swathi Thirunal, Papanasam Sivan among others.
In modern times, it is often common for students to visit their gurus daily or weekly to learn music. Though new technology has made learning easier with the availability of quick-learn media such as learning exercises recorded on audio cassettes and CDs, these are discouraged by most gurus who emphasize that face-to-face learning is best for students.
Notations
Notation is not a new concept in Indian music. However, Carnatic music continued to be transmitted orally for centuries without being written down. The disadvantage with this system was that if one wanted to learn about a Kriti composed, for example, by Purandara Dasa, it involved the difficult task of finding a person from Purandara Dasa's lineage of students.
Written notation of Carnatic music was revived in the late 17th century and early 18th century, which coincided with rule of Shahaji II in Tanjore. Copies of Shahaji's musical manuscripts are still available at the Saraswathi Mahal Library in Tanjore and they give us an idea of the music and its form. They contain snippets of solfege to be used when performing the mentioned ragas.
Melody
Unlike Western music, Carnatic music is notated almost exclusively in tonic solfa notation using either a Roman or Indic script to represent the solfa names. Past attempts to use the staff notation have mostly failed. Indian music makes use of hundreds of ragas, many more than the church modes in Western music. It becomes difficult to write Carnatic music using the staff notation without the use of too many accidentals. Furthermore, the staff notation requires that the song be played in a certain key. The notions of key and absolute pitch are deeply rooted in Western music, whereas the Carnatic notation does not specify the key and prefers to use scale degrees (relative pitch) to denote notes. The singer is free to choose actual pitch of the tonic note. In the more precise forms of Carnatic notation, there are symbols placed above the notes indicating how the notes should be played or sung; however, informally this practice is not followed.
To show the length of a note, several devices are used. If the duration of note is to be doubled, the letter is either capitalized (if using Roman script) or lengthened by a diacritic (in Indian languages). For a duration of three, the letter is capitalized (or diacriticized) and followed by a comma. For a length of four, the letter is capitalized (or diacriticized) and then followed by a semicolon. In this way any duration can be indicated using a series of semicolons and commas.
However, a simpler notation has evolved which does not use semicolons and capitalization, but rather indicates all extensions of notes using a corresponding number of commas. Thus, Sā quadrupled in length would be denoted as "S,,,".
Rhythm
The notation is divided into columns, depending on the structure of the tāḷaṃ. The division between a laghu and a dhrutam is indicated by a ।, called a ḍaṇḍā, and so is the division between two dhrutams or a dhrutam and an anudhrutam. The end of a cycle is marked by a ॥, called a double ḍaṇḍā, and looks like a caesura.
Concerts
Carnatic music concerts are usually performed by a small ensemble of musicians who sit on a slightly elevated stage. Carnatic music concerts can be vocal recitals, accompanied by supporting instruments, or purely instrumental concerts, but irrespective of whether it is a vocal or purely instrumental concert, what is featured in a typical concert are compositions which form the core of this music. The lead-musician must also choose a signature octave based on his/her (vocal) range of comfort. However, it is expected that a musician maintains that same pitch once it is selected, and so to help all the performers maintain the selected pitch, the tambura is the traditional drone instrument used in concerts. However, tamburas are increasingly being replaced by śruti boxes, and now more commonly, the "Electronic tambura"
In a vocal recital, a concert team may have one or more vocalists, accompanied by instrumentalists. Other instruments such as the veena and/or flute can be found to occasionally accompany a lead vocalist, but usually a vocalist is supported by a violin player (who sits on his/her left), and a few percussion players including at least a mridangam (who usually sits on the other side of the vocalist, facing the instrumentalist). Other percussion instruments that are also used include the ghatam, kanjira and morsing, which also accompany the main percussion instrument and play almost in a contrapuntal fashion along with the beats. The objective of the accompanying instruments is far more than following the melody and keeping the beats. The accompaniments form an integral part of every composition presented, and they closely follow and augment the melodic phrases outlines by the lead singer. The vocalist and the violinist take turns while elaborating or while exhibiting creativity in sections like raga, niraval and kalpanaswaram. Unlike Hindustani music concerts, where an accompanying tabla player can keep beats without following the musical phrases at times, in carnatic music, the accompaniments have to know follow intricacies of the composition since there are percussion elements such as eduppu, in several compositions. Some of the best concerts feature a good bit of interaction with the lead musicians and the accompaniments exchanging notes, and accompanying musicians predicting the lead singer musical phrases.
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