What makes one a good singer or an instrumentalist or a musician?
Sum total of the 7 basic notes or swaras plus 5 additional ones - in all 12 make for the notes.
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni - these are the basic notes to begin with.
Do Re Mi Fa So Laa Ti - hope I got this set right!
Sa and Pa (Do and So) remain at a particular fixed level whatever be the pitch in which we begin.
The pitch is a scale in which one is comfortable to sing in.
We will talk about singing here as there is so much to say on this subject.
To continue, Sa and Pa are called fixed notes (they don't have siblings!). They are single and dont mingle.
All the left out notes - Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni come in pairs. But they are not identical twins either. Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni have an elder or younger sibling to put it simply. Which in effect means both notes have the same name but to distinguish both from each other we give them names such as Shudh and Komal or Shudh and Teevra (Sharp and minor or is it major and minor?!) according to the higher or lower step that note occupies - if say Re is alloted step Nos. 2 and 3 then the Re which occupies step 2 is called Komal (delicate) 'Re' wheras the Re which occupies a higher step than the preceeding one is called as Shudh 'Re'.
This order I am mentioning is the one I picturise in the Hindustani style of music.
There is a different order of singing the basic 7 notes in Carnatic and Hindustani which tells them apart from each other, style-wise.
I picturise all the total 12 notes somewhat like this:
Sa Re Re Ga Ga Ma Ma Pa Dha Dha Ni Ni
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
When someone is taught music they are asked to sing after the basic 7 notes and never all the 12 like indicated above. one takes only among the pair of notes.
For Hindustani the order step wise can be imagined to be as follows:
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni
1 3 5 6 8 10 12
In the Carnatic the order step-wise can be imagined to be as follows:
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni
1 2 5 6 8 9 12
You will notice how in this style and that style the basic notes consists of 7 but a bit different from each other.
Notice how the steps change from this one to that when you sing the 2nd note Re which differs and then the Dha which again differs.
It is as if one style favours 2 higher notes or simply put 2 elder sisters from among the 7 basic notes while the other one favours the 2 younger sisters of the notes from among the 7 basic notes.
Both have the same step numbers for the remaining 5 notes namely Sa, Ga, Ma, Pa and Ni.
This subtle difference is different to hear and to sing they sound so much styles apart from each other. but when you put it down to a flight of stairs with each note representing one step at a time then we know we are skipping steps here and there to make all that difference and lend that uniqueness to that sytle of music.
Having said the above in terms of steps and (staircases) so that one can understand what all this difference is all about, we may move on to the next thing which strikes me.
Each is sung is a different fashion. Hindustani music is light, subtle and sung in a very delicate way - you can say from the throat. Whereas in Carnatic it is sung with force and a lot of gamaka (a gamaka is having to shake the voice or the string in the instrument a little this way and that way before settling on that note's step. For eg., lets take the case of 'Re' and see how best I can describe in theory how it is sung in both styles!
in Hindustani the Re comes next only to Sa. So we take step 1 and sing the first note 'Sa' which has a fixed place as you will see for Pa also each and every time. Then we have Re and we go to the 3rd step without disturbing step number 2 in any way. its like gently side or over-stepping step 2 and go on to step 3.
Whereas in Carnatic right after the 1st note of Sa you go on to the 2nd step and while doing so you bring along the flavour of the 1st step also and shake your voice in between before settling down on step 2. And its not done subtly either! A lot of vibrations this side and that is made before reaching step 2. That is the voice occilates between 1.75 to 2.25 before settling into 2! I hope I am making myself clear with this eg. likewise all the notes are sung by bringing the notes below and above that note but a word of caution here will be in order. When I say below and above vibrations I should clarify with another eg for this. Between notes Re and Ga there are big gaps - a jump from 2 to 5 straight away - so from Re to Ga would be 2.05 to 5 and dwelling between 5.1 and 5.25 for split seconds before resting on step 5 fully and so on.
You may now be conversant with 12 imaginary steps. Then what could be these scales that we are talking about?
Many of us have our own plus and minus where our voice or pitch is concerned.
Step 1 of singer 'A' may be step 5 of singer 'B' but after starting from whatever step as step 1 the order of taking steps remains the same though now you will notice a difference in the pitching of one singer from the other. Many of us are aware of some singers singing in lower pitches more comfortably and some are comfortable singing from higher pitches.
Then there is something called octaves which is nothing but 12 steps on ground floor to the first and then from first floor to the second floor and then from the second floor to the third floor covering a range of 36 steps in all! Usually a singer is comfortable in the higher steps like say 6th step from ground floor, going through 1 to 12 of the steps on first to second floor with ease and then reach until say 5 steps of the steps on the second to the third floor. If a singer is able to cover the entire 36 stairs without struggling (read going off-key :D) then its a very well trained voice indeed.
Now we know of the 12 notes, the basic 7 in two of the styles in India, then the pitch or the starting point which one is comfortable with and then the range or octaves which can be touched with ease.
Music is a big ocean in which many of us drown and lose ourselves whether it is just to listen or to sing or to participate as in a chorus.
These 12 notes are combined in different ways to produce a raga which is the backbone of both styles of music in India. Ragas are permutations and combinations of notes and are easily identified due to a set of notes gone about in a particular manner only.
Hindu mythology tells us that the mother and father of music are Lord Shiva and Parvathi.
They are the mother and father of music. Lord Shiva represents the raag Bhairav and the Goddess Parvathi as Bhairavi. From these two are born children and grand children and hence you have a whole lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, 1st, 2nd removed aunts, uncles and cousins. You have a whole family even in our raga based system.
Again we have ragas based on the seasons.
We have ragas based on different emotions.
We have ragas based on different the different time durations of the day and night in the 24 hours. So we have the early morning ragas like Bhopali, Lalit, Bhairav, etc, (usually devotional songs and compositions are sung in such ragas which suits and sets the mood and tone at the beginning of the day when one is just waking up) and the noon ragas when one is a bit brisk and can sink in some fast paced and lively notes), then the evening ragas like the Yaman Kalyan (where the mood is one of leisure and rest when the day's work is done almost and its pleasure time) and the night ones like Deepak, etc. which spark the light in us as its all dark outside.
This is as best as I could describe from what I have myself experienced of music and learning and singing all these years.
Then there are those seasonal ones like raag Basant, (Bahar and Basant Bahar are all combinations taking one or two notes from this raag and that raag to give birth to another raga) which suggests spring time which is like a garden full of colorful flowers. Also the raag Peelu which is a favourite to set the Holi songs in - Holi is a celebration of the arrival of spring hence the colored water is thrown over each other playfully through a big water syringe (pitchkaari in Hindi).
Behind each raga there is a story. These stories are interesting. Most are mythological like raag Kedar, while some are creations of greats like the Tansen, the royal court musician in the Moghul period in India.
Ragas have a minimum of any 5 notes from Sa to Ni in the ascending order and in the descending order too 5 notes are a minimum. Like for eg in Bhopali there are 5 notes in both ascending and descending order - Sa Re Ga Pa Dha (Sa from the higher octave) and while descending Sa of the higher octave to Dha Pa Ga Re Sa of the starting point or lower octave or coming back to the beginning note from where one starts this raga.
If described in steps then it would 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 then step 1 of the higher octave then return back the same way from 1 of the higher octave and then 10, 8, 5, 3 and 1 of the steps you started and travelled while going up.
Raag Bhoopali is a raag which is full of the bhakthi or devotion and any number of bhajans and compositions exist.
My father the most love Iyer Saab used to tell me that there were Ustads he knew who would learn just 4 ragas one for each time slot and practice it until they are experts in it. Even these 4 were sung each time a little differently but within the steps permitted.
The raagas were sung soulfully.
It is not enough to have a sweet voice.
It is not enough to have the swar gyaan (to have the musical instinct which tells us which step to tread and which one to avoid which is what is all about this swar gyaan). It is not about the dexterity with which one can meander across the 3 octaves or 3 sets of staircases.
It is not about knowing and recalling the Lyrics right each time.
It is not about keeping perfect step with the rhythm or the beats.
It is the combination of all this something more.
It is the ability to bring the ethos of the raga.
It is the ability to touch the soul of the raga.
It is the ability to understand the lyrics and convey it in the way it is meant to be such as happy words to be sung with happiness, separation words to be sung with a tinge of sadness or melancholy, etc.
It is the ability to enjoy the raga, rhythm, lyrics all at one go within oneself.
When one is not consicous of the audience it helps a lot to enjoy that music more as you try to enjoy it yourself first. The audience will automatically be with you in this state very soon.
Music is a form of meditation.
It is a balm for any soul and sweet medicine for the mind and body.
Music is like a prayer through which one reaches God quicker.
Enjoy music and live life to the fullest, as the one who does not enjoy some form of music is certainly missing an important ingredient in life.
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
I must admit that I learnt my ragas very quickly because of Hindi film songs set to tune in each of them. How I would listen to the ever-green Sangeet Sarita on the Vividh Bharati early in the morning from 7.30am to 7.45am
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
My Music Teachers and Fusion Music
While working in projects at the IISc, Bangalore, I had the pleasure to revive learning Carnatic music over again from where I left at Hyderabad.
My music teacher was a frail Iyer Brahmin coming from quite a financially poor background. His only income was from the music classes he would conduct at the students' houses.
I was staying at the Ladies' Hostel and since men were not allowed in, he used to tutor me in the common music room (where practice sessions used to be held for all performers) where we had uninterrupted classes for some hours on weekends.
Since I had learnt both Hindustani as well as Carnatic music earlier, I thought why not brush up on my Hindustani music too if I could find myself a good teacher.
My hunt for a suitable teacher led me to many teachers and due to mismatch of either time or place all attempts fizzled out while I continued to learn Carnatic from this humble and dedicated soul.
After an year, it so happened that one of my colleagues recommended me to a Hindustani music teacher living very near our campus, so off I went in search of him. He lived in his own house and seemed quite affluent too having a regular job somewhere.
As is the practice with every teacher, I was made to sing a raga alaap, khayal and dhrut just to test my level of grasp. The teacher seemed happy and said he could teach me from the following month itself and we concluded the other aspects like fees, timing, periodicity of classes and just as I was about to take leave he mentioned that he was surprised about my interest in Hindustani music than in Carnatic as all Tamilians naturally gravitate to that form of music from quite a young age.
I had to tell him that I had learnt upto the kirtanai level at Hyderabad and was still continuing to learn from a music teacher here on such and such days of the week. He asked me to sing a kirthanai which I promptly did. He commented that I did not mix both styles together and could sing each one as it should. But what he said after this, put me in a tight spot.
The pandit was upset that I was doing injustice to both forms and started bad-mouthing people who wanted to sing both styles of music like Bhimsen Joshi and bringing bad name to both styles.
He said had he known that I was learning Carnatic he would not have entertained me at all.
Since I had a good 'feel' for Hindustani he would take me in but on the very strict condition that I should immediately stop learning Carnatic music and chuck out the other teacher once I come to him for learning!
He left me to make my choice by the following month.
I was very upset and in a confused state that day. I was thinking how I should reveal all this to my Carnatic teacher who was doing a good job, who was poor and depended partly on my tuition fees to run his family each month.
My love for Hindustani was tugging at my heart at the same time, that too after finding one quite so nearby after a long search.
I truthfully and cautiously told my Carnatic music teacher about it while asking for his opinion on what I should do about the whole thing.
What he said still remains fresh in my mind though a good 30 years have passed by since.
He said he could see my devotion to learn Hindustani music.
He could understand my predicament about the difficult choice I had to make between the two.
Then he was graciously willing to stop coming over if that would please the new Hindustani music master. I was choking.
Here was a poor man struggling to make both ends meet with music tuitions as his only source of earnings.
An old man his age could hardly go hunting for students to teach. He was willing to visit far off places to teach to make an earning.
Yet he was such a gracious man, ready to sacrifice his own opportunity and give way.
It was not easy either for me to decide which one to give up.
After that month got over, while paying my tuition fees, I asked him to continue teaching me as long as I was in Bangalore and two hoots to people with such attitude about any music other than theirs.
Coming to think of it all, I was not a professional stage performer since I was working fulltime on a job.
I have performed on the stage whenever there was an occassion to showcase what I knew.
All I needed was to keep practising both styles, if possible.
This incident left a big mark on my thinking. I had the greatest respect for my dignified and kind Carnatic music teacher because he was a better human being.
These are modern days where we find many musicians from north, south, east, west ready to come together to make music by mixing different forms with ease and absolutely no hang ups whatsoever. These are days of fusion (and more confusion) music.
More on music in my next blog.
Mahalakshmi.
My music teacher was a frail Iyer Brahmin coming from quite a financially poor background. His only income was from the music classes he would conduct at the students' houses.
I was staying at the Ladies' Hostel and since men were not allowed in, he used to tutor me in the common music room (where practice sessions used to be held for all performers) where we had uninterrupted classes for some hours on weekends.
Since I had learnt both Hindustani as well as Carnatic music earlier, I thought why not brush up on my Hindustani music too if I could find myself a good teacher.
My hunt for a suitable teacher led me to many teachers and due to mismatch of either time or place all attempts fizzled out while I continued to learn Carnatic from this humble and dedicated soul.
After an year, it so happened that one of my colleagues recommended me to a Hindustani music teacher living very near our campus, so off I went in search of him. He lived in his own house and seemed quite affluent too having a regular job somewhere.
As is the practice with every teacher, I was made to sing a raga alaap, khayal and dhrut just to test my level of grasp. The teacher seemed happy and said he could teach me from the following month itself and we concluded the other aspects like fees, timing, periodicity of classes and just as I was about to take leave he mentioned that he was surprised about my interest in Hindustani music than in Carnatic as all Tamilians naturally gravitate to that form of music from quite a young age.
I had to tell him that I had learnt upto the kirtanai level at Hyderabad and was still continuing to learn from a music teacher here on such and such days of the week. He asked me to sing a kirthanai which I promptly did. He commented that I did not mix both styles together and could sing each one as it should. But what he said after this, put me in a tight spot.
The pandit was upset that I was doing injustice to both forms and started bad-mouthing people who wanted to sing both styles of music like Bhimsen Joshi and bringing bad name to both styles.
He said had he known that I was learning Carnatic he would not have entertained me at all.
Since I had a good 'feel' for Hindustani he would take me in but on the very strict condition that I should immediately stop learning Carnatic music and chuck out the other teacher once I come to him for learning!
He left me to make my choice by the following month.
I was very upset and in a confused state that day. I was thinking how I should reveal all this to my Carnatic teacher who was doing a good job, who was poor and depended partly on my tuition fees to run his family each month.
My love for Hindustani was tugging at my heart at the same time, that too after finding one quite so nearby after a long search.
I truthfully and cautiously told my Carnatic music teacher about it while asking for his opinion on what I should do about the whole thing.
What he said still remains fresh in my mind though a good 30 years have passed by since.
He said he could see my devotion to learn Hindustani music.
He could understand my predicament about the difficult choice I had to make between the two.
Then he was graciously willing to stop coming over if that would please the new Hindustani music master. I was choking.
Here was a poor man struggling to make both ends meet with music tuitions as his only source of earnings.
An old man his age could hardly go hunting for students to teach. He was willing to visit far off places to teach to make an earning.
Yet he was such a gracious man, ready to sacrifice his own opportunity and give way.
It was not easy either for me to decide which one to give up.
After that month got over, while paying my tuition fees, I asked him to continue teaching me as long as I was in Bangalore and two hoots to people with such attitude about any music other than theirs.
Coming to think of it all, I was not a professional stage performer since I was working fulltime on a job.
I have performed on the stage whenever there was an occassion to showcase what I knew.
All I needed was to keep practising both styles, if possible.
This incident left a big mark on my thinking. I had the greatest respect for my dignified and kind Carnatic music teacher because he was a better human being.
These are modern days where we find many musicians from north, south, east, west ready to come together to make music by mixing different forms with ease and absolutely no hang ups whatsoever. These are days of fusion (and more confusion) music.
More on music in my next blog.
Mahalakshmi.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Attitude
Attitude.
Attitude can make or mar a person's life.
Attitude differs from age to age in a single person's life.
Attitude shows how comfortable one is with oneself.
Confidence, self-respect, regard for others' feelings, etc., are all off-shoots of our attitude towards incidents and events which occur in our lives day in and day out.
I have been visiting a lot of star hotels this past one and half years on one project work or the other. I have refused to dye my hair as I am truly afraid it might affect my scalp, eyes, skin over a period of time. I would rather people see me with grey hair than allowing myself to suffer from any of these ailments if they occur due to my dying the hair. This is my attitude towards this thought. So I am confident and carry myself off without giving it a second thought. Though people did comment about my grey hair and wanted to help me out with suggesting the best and harmless hair dyes yet I firmly refused to give in. Now after a while I see people around me accept me as I am - grey hair and all.
One thought used to cross my mind about sporting the natural hair. I see many men who hold high positions yet they never had any kind of make-up or dye on to make themselves more presentable. Their work speaks for them. Ladies or gents - we dont have to make differentiations. Ladies too do not need any kind of make up. It is sufficient that they appear neat and tidy and in their natural glory. The men appared really smart with grey hair and no make up whatsoever.
Our work, our kind words, our helping nature, our concern and prayers for others, should be our make up as these are the gems which make us shine and glow inside-out in this lifetime.
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Attitude can make or mar a person's life.
Attitude differs from age to age in a single person's life.
Attitude shows how comfortable one is with oneself.
Confidence, self-respect, regard for others' feelings, etc., are all off-shoots of our attitude towards incidents and events which occur in our lives day in and day out.
I have been visiting a lot of star hotels this past one and half years on one project work or the other. I have refused to dye my hair as I am truly afraid it might affect my scalp, eyes, skin over a period of time. I would rather people see me with grey hair than allowing myself to suffer from any of these ailments if they occur due to my dying the hair. This is my attitude towards this thought. So I am confident and carry myself off without giving it a second thought. Though people did comment about my grey hair and wanted to help me out with suggesting the best and harmless hair dyes yet I firmly refused to give in. Now after a while I see people around me accept me as I am - grey hair and all.
One thought used to cross my mind about sporting the natural hair. I see many men who hold high positions yet they never had any kind of make-up or dye on to make themselves more presentable. Their work speaks for them. Ladies or gents - we dont have to make differentiations. Ladies too do not need any kind of make up. It is sufficient that they appear neat and tidy and in their natural glory. The men appared really smart with grey hair and no make up whatsoever.
Our work, our kind words, our helping nature, our concern and prayers for others, should be our make up as these are the gems which make us shine and glow inside-out in this lifetime.
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Rabindranath Tagore
Since I picked up reading the newspaper everyday quite young, I had to graduate to reading short stories, novels, articles, sooner than later.
Short stories by Rabindranath Tagore was available in our school library and so were the volumes of the Arabian Nights and other Fairy Tale books.
I was the only girl in school to have finished reading all the English books on the shelves! My English teacher who was a delicate darling used to love me for it. I used to shy away from her open praises in front of the entire class though I liked it deep inside my heart.
Due to such motivation, I used to score the highest in English. It was also easy to understand and write something on the other subjects which were taught in English. So passing was never a problem in any of the exams I would attempt!!
Coming back to Tagore's short stories.
I just loved them all. They were all so sensitive. Full of human feelings which are part of all our lives. They have moved me to tears many times. I still remember getting immersed in reading the story of a dumb girl who has large beautiful eyes. Her only companion, the cow seemed to understand her feelings so much better than all those human beings who would pass snide remarks against her handicap. But she was lucky that her husband-to-be understood her and wanted to marry her only in the end. This one had a happy ending but not all were with similar endings.
I have read and re-read his short stories and novels many times even before reaching my teens.
How I used to enjoy reading the 1001 stories the shehzadi narrated to the king to escape the death sentence.
Then there were those wonderful Aesop's fables too.
I would make a list of all of Tagore's writings and then search for the ones I may have missed reading in the school library. This led me to nearby lending libraries in search of his books. Then I began reading other books too. Very early on, it had become such a habit that I could not sleep without reading at least one magazine or some book on any subject, besides the daily newspaper. I had everything to gain so no complaints!
Mahalakshmi
Short stories by Rabindranath Tagore was available in our school library and so were the volumes of the Arabian Nights and other Fairy Tale books.
I was the only girl in school to have finished reading all the English books on the shelves! My English teacher who was a delicate darling used to love me for it. I used to shy away from her open praises in front of the entire class though I liked it deep inside my heart.
Due to such motivation, I used to score the highest in English. It was also easy to understand and write something on the other subjects which were taught in English. So passing was never a problem in any of the exams I would attempt!!
Coming back to Tagore's short stories.
I just loved them all. They were all so sensitive. Full of human feelings which are part of all our lives. They have moved me to tears many times. I still remember getting immersed in reading the story of a dumb girl who has large beautiful eyes. Her only companion, the cow seemed to understand her feelings so much better than all those human beings who would pass snide remarks against her handicap. But she was lucky that her husband-to-be understood her and wanted to marry her only in the end. This one had a happy ending but not all were with similar endings.
I have read and re-read his short stories and novels many times even before reaching my teens.
How I used to enjoy reading the 1001 stories the shehzadi narrated to the king to escape the death sentence.
Then there were those wonderful Aesop's fables too.
I would make a list of all of Tagore's writings and then search for the ones I may have missed reading in the school library. This led me to nearby lending libraries in search of his books. Then I began reading other books too. Very early on, it had become such a habit that I could not sleep without reading at least one magazine or some book on any subject, besides the daily newspaper. I had everything to gain so no complaints!
Mahalakshmi
Monday, August 2, 2010
Bouncing Back to Normalcy
I was afraid for my mother to go out after that incident and asked her to tell us whenever she wanted to go for an outing.
When my sister from America spoke and gave mother a different perspective about the need to go out on walks everyday as usual but to be more careful indeed has helped us all tide over anxiety. My mother herself got a boost. She started going out and enjoying her walks once again with a new confidence about herself.
Coming to think of it all, how long can another keep protecting the other from such incidents. We have to learn to be on our own as much as possible or at least until we are able to manage it on our own.
I love this new way of looking at a problem. Instead of being scared and keeping away from such incidents, we can calmly collect ourselves and go about our routines almost normally. That is life and living for all of us.
Enjoy your freedom and independence.
Mahalakshmi.
When my sister from America spoke and gave mother a different perspective about the need to go out on walks everyday as usual but to be more careful indeed has helped us all tide over anxiety. My mother herself got a boost. She started going out and enjoying her walks once again with a new confidence about herself.
Coming to think of it all, how long can another keep protecting the other from such incidents. We have to learn to be on our own as much as possible or at least until we are able to manage it on our own.
I love this new way of looking at a problem. Instead of being scared and keeping away from such incidents, we can calmly collect ourselves and go about our routines almost normally. That is life and living for all of us.
Enjoy your freedom and independence.
Mahalakshmi.
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