THE BRIEF ABOUT CARNATIC MUSIC

 

                           IMPORTANT ELEMENT

                              OF CARNATIC MUSIC

                                 ERUTI : ERUTI COMMONLY REFERS TO MUSICAL PITCH. IT IS THE APPROXIMATE EQUIVALENT OF A TOXIC (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 IN TWENTY-TWO (ALTHOUGH OVER THE YEARS, SEVERAL OF THEN HAVE CONVERGED). IN THIS SENSE, WHILE SRUTI IS DETERMINED BY AUDITORY PERCEPTION, IT IS ALSO AN EXPRESSION IN THE LISTENER'S MIND.

                          SWARNA : SWARA REFERS TO A TYPE OF MUSICAL SOUND THAT IS A SINGLE NOTE, WHICH DEFINE A RELATIVE (HIGHER OR LOWER) POSITION OF A NOTE, RATHER THAN A DEFINED FREQUENCY. SWARAS ALSO REFER TO THE SOLFEGE OF CARNATIC MUSIC, WHICH CONSISTS 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 ABBRAEVIATIONS OF THE LONGER NAMES SHADJA, RISHABHA, GANDHARA, MADHYAMA, PANCHAMA, DHAIVATA AND NISHADA. UNLIKE OTHER MUSIC SYSTEMS, EVERY MEMBER OF THE SOLGEGE (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 7MADHYAMA (THE SUBDOMINANT) WHICH HAS TWO FORMS. A 7TH CENTURY STONE INSCRIPTION IN KUDUMIYAN MALAI IN TAMILNADU 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 ONE PRESENT. THE EXCEPTIONS EXISTS 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 : A RAGA IN CARNATIC MUSIC PRESCRIBES A SET OF RULES FOR BUILDING A MELODY - VERY SIMILAR TO THE WESTERN CONCEPT OF MODE. IT SPECIFIES RULES FOR MOVEMENTS UP (AAROHANAM), AND DOWN (AVAROHANAM), THE SCALE OF 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 WILL 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. HTERE ARE SEVENTY-TWO MELAKARTA RAGAS, THIRTY SIX OF WHOSE MADHYAMA (SUBDOMINANT) IS SADHARANA ( SUBDOMINANT) IS PRATI (AN AUGMENTED FOURTH FROM THE TONIC) THE RAGAS ARE GROUPED INTO SETS OF SIX, CALLED CHAKRAS, (WHEELS, THOUGH ACTUALLY SEGMETNS 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.

                       TALA SYSTEM : TALA REFERS TO THE BEAT SET FOR A PARTICULAR COMPOSITION (A MEASURE TO TIME) TALAS HAVE CYLES 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.

               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 AMUDHRTAM, 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 AMUDHRTAM, 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  JAASTHIS 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 RAGAS IS REQUIRED.

                         RAGA 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, 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 RAGA ALAPANA.

                         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. NIRAVAL COMES OUT OR MANODHARMA SANGEETHA, WHERE THE SELECTED LINE IS REPEATED WITHIN THE TALA TIMING TO BRING OUT THE BEAUTY OF BOTH THE RAAGA, AND THE LINE OR COMPOSITION BEING RENDERED.

                      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 SWARNA PATTERN SHOULD ADHERE TO THE ORIGINAL RAGA'S PATTERN, WHICH IS CALLED AS AAROHARAM-AVAROHANAM.

                 THANAM : THIS FORM OF IMPROVISATION WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE VEENA AND CONSISTS OF EXPANDING THE RAGA WITH SYLLABUS LIKE THA, NAM, THOM, AA, NOM, NA, ETC.

                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.