0

More NextBlog

sathis.k2306@gmail.com Dashboard SignOut

CarnaticFlute
Home
WEDNESDAY25JULY2012

LABELS

CarnaticMusicTheory(3)

RagaMayamalavagowla

Lessons(4)
Videos(3)

ONLINETOOLS:

TanpuraforBansuri

SHAREIT
BLOGARCHIVE

2012(11)
April(3)
July(8)
Shasank
Introductiontothe
Tla
Swaras(notes)and
Ragas(scales)

rohaa:SR1G3M1PD1N3S
avarohaa:SN3D1PM1G3R1S
um2:20pm

Howtoholdyour
Venu

Nocomments:

Howtoreadnotations
inCarnaticmusic

Recommend this on Google

Varaveena
THURSDAY19JULY2012

FingeringExercise

FingeringExercise

Raga
Mayamalavagowla

sa

re

ga

ma

pa

da

ni

sa

S'

PractisethefollowingSequencesincludingtheSwarasofRagaMohana:
P.D.SR|D.SRG|

SRGP|RGPD|
GPDS'|PDS'R'|
DS'R'G'|
G'R'SD|R'S'DP|
S'DPG|DPGR|
PGRS|GRSD.|
RSD.P.|G.||

um1:23am

Nocomments:
Recommend this on Google

WEDNESDAY18JULY2012

Varaveena
Varaveena
Composition:VaraveenaComposer:
Raga:MohanaMela:Harikambhoji
Tala:ChaturasrajathirupakaType:Gitam

Arohana:SR2G 2PD2S||SRiGuPaDhiS
Avarohana:SD2PG 2R1S||SDhiPaGuRaS

|4

|4

GG

P,P,

DP

S,S,

Vara

veena

mrudu

pani

RS

DDP,

DP

GGR,

vana

ruhalo

chana

rani

GP

DSDP

DP

GGR,

suru

chiropam

bara

veni

GG

DPGR

PG

GRS,

sura

nuthakal

ya

ni

GG

GGRG

PG

P,P,

niru

pamashubha

guna

lola

GG

DPD,

DP

S,S,

nira

thajaya

prada

seela

DG

RGRS

DS

D,DP

vara

dapriya

Ranga

nayaki

GP

DSDP

DP

GGRS

va

nchitaphala

da

yaki

SR

G,G,

GR

PGR,

sara

sija

sana

janani

SR

SGRS

Jaya

jayajaya

um7:54pm

Nocomments:

Recommend this on Google

Labels:Lessons

HowtoreadnotationsinCarnaticmusic
Oftenmusicnotesconfuseuswiththepunctuationmarks,uppercaseandlowercase
letters.InthispostIhavetriedtoexplainmostcommonlyusedpunctuationmarksand
talasymbols.
Punctuationmarks:
,Acommaindicatesthespaceofoneaksharakalaornote.
Asemicolonrepresentstwoaksharakalasorspacefor2notes
Uppercaseletterse.g.Sindicatestwoaksharakalas.Inthisexample,twoshadjas.
Somewebsitesalsouseuppercasetodenoteupperoctaveswara.Notethedifference
inshadjasintheexamplebelow.
e.g.srgmpdnS
LowercasenotesJustoneaksharakalaornote
lAsimpleverticallinerepresentstheendofanangha.Beitalaghu,dhrutaoranudhruta
llDoubleverticalparallellinesindicatetheendofanavartaoftala
Ahyphenismostlyusedinvarnasjusttoindicatehowtheswarasneedtobesplitwithin
thetala.YoucanseethismostlyinGanamrudhavarnabodhini.Theyindicatewhereto
givepausewithintheboundaryofthetala.
Underlines:Underlinesindicatethattheswarasshouldbesungtogetherandfasterwithin
aparticularbeat
Wavylines:Thesearerarelyusedtoindicatethatthenotesshouldhavegamakas
Dots:Adotbelowaswaraindicatesalowernoteandadotabovetheswaraindicates
highernote.swithoutthedotdenotestheadharashadjaorbaseshadjaofourshruti.
swithadotaboveshowsuppershadja.pwithadotbelowisthelowerpbelowthe
adharashadja.

Talamarks:
X:Anmarkindicatesabeat

:Atickindicatesflippingofpalm
Numbers:Numbers1,2,3areusedtoindicatefingercounts
1.AsimpleexampleofAditala.Eachbeat/fingercounthas4swaras.Adamodigaladeis
thelyricbyThyagaraja.
X123X

PDPMGR|GgrSRG,m
PM||
AdamodiGalade

RamayyyaMaata
2.Anexampleofdeshaditala:
GP,gR|SsnP
nsRS||
Raghunaayaka!NeePaada
REF:http://www.shivkumar.org
Givenbelowisanotherexamplewiththetalanotation(couldnmakeaclearimage).This
isaDikshidarkritiinRupakaTala.Eachbeatcounts4swaras.Pleasenotethisexample
coversmostofwhatImentionedabove.

um7:39pm

Nocomments:
Recommend this on Google

Labels:CarnaticMusicTheory,Lessons

HowtoholdyourVenu

um7:30pm

Nocomments:
Recommend this on Google

Swaras(notes)andRagas(scales)
Carnaticswaras(16notes)

ShadjaS
SuddhaRishabhaR1
ChatusrutiRishabhaR2
ShatshruthiRishabaR3
SuddhaGandharaG1
SadharanaGandharaG2
AntaraGandharaG3
SuddhaMadhyamaM1
PratiMadhyamaM2
PanchamaP
SuddhaDhaivataD1
ChatusrutiDhaivataD2
ShatshruthiDhaivataD3
SuddhaNishadaN1
KaisikaNishadaN2
KakaliNishadaN3
Aarohana(ascendingScale):Sa,Re,Ga,Ma,Pa,Dha,Ni,Sa.
Avarohana(descendingScale):Sa,Ni,Dha,Pa,Ma,Ga,Re,Sa.
Thereare72parentscalesinCarnaticMusic.TheyarecalledMelakarthaRagasandare
systematicallyclassifiedinascheme.AMelakartha,alsoknownasMelaorJanakaRaga,
isasetofscalesfromwhichotherragasmaybegenerated.
RagasmustcontainthefollowingcharacteristicstobeconsideredMelakarta.
Theyaresampurnaragastheycontainallsevenswaras(notes)ofthe
octaveinbothascendinganddescendingscale
Theyarekramasampurnaragasthatisthesequenceisstrictlyascending
anddescendinginthescales,withoutanyjumpsorzigzagnotes
Theuppershadjamisincludedintheragascale(ragaslikePunnagavarali
andChenchuruttiarenotmelakartaastheyendwithnishadham)
Theascendinganddescendingscalesmusthavethesamenotes
WecanbroadlydividetheragasintoSudhamadhyamaragasandPratimadhyamaragas
basedonthemadhyamamtheyuse.
pratimadhyamamthehigherma,M2,usedinthesecond36melakartasandtheirjanyas,whichcorrespondstoF#ofthe
WesternkeyofC
shuddhamadhyamamthelowerof2ma's(M1),usedinthefirst36melakartas,whichcorrespondstoFnaturalinthe
WesternkeyofC

NowletusdetermineallpossiblecombinationsofRishabhamandGandharamina
melakartha.Thereare6possiblecombinationsofthe3Rishabhamsand3Gandharams.

LetitbenotedthattheRagaformathastobeinascendingorderoffrequencies.
RishabhamhasalowerfrequencythanGandharam.Multiplyingwiththeearlierdivision
weget12uniquecombinationsofSRGM.ThesearereferredtoasChakras.
EachchakrawillaccomodateauniquecombinationofDaivatamandNishadam.
RepeatingthesameRishabhamGandharamexperimentwithDaivatamand
Nishadam,weget6uniquecombinations.Eachchakraaccomodates6unique
combinationsofSRGMPDN.Wehave6*12i.e.72Melakartharagasinall.Referto
thechartgivenbelowforaclearerviewofthisconcept.
The72Melakarthaschartedaccordingtothesystematicclassification

Theabovegivenchartfollowsthenotationsequencegiveninthetableofthe16

swarasthanas.ThechakrasarenamedtomaintainthesequenceoftheRishbham
Gandharamcombinationsinthefollowingmanner
ThefirstchakraisnamedInduwhichmeansmoonowingtothefactthatthe
earthhasonlyonemoon.
ThesecondchakraiscalledNetraowingtothefactthatwehavetwoeyes.
Thethirdchakraisnamedagniduetheexistenceof3agnisaccordingtoour
scriptures(namelyfire,lightningandsunlight).
ThefourthchakraiscalledVedaastheVedasarefour.
ThefifthchakraiscalledBaanaowingtothe5arrowsusedbyKamadeva.
ThesixthchakraiscalledRutuastherearesixseasonsinnature.
TheseventhchakraiscalledRishiaftertheSaptarshis.
TheeightchakraisknownasVasuaftertheeightsonsofGanga.
TheninthchakraisknownasBrahmaduetotheexistenceofninebrahmas
ThetenthchakraiscalledDisiduetothe10directions.
TheeleventhchakraiscalledRudraafterthe11Rudras.
ThetwelfthchakraiscalledAdityaafterthe12Adityas.
Thenamesofthechakrasareordainedusingthenumericalsignificanceofthoseterms.
Translation:na(),nya()anda()si.e.vowelsrepresentzero.The(nine)integers
arerepresentedbyconsonantgroupbeginningwithka,a,pa,ya.Inaconjunct
consonant,thelastoftheconsonantsalonewillcount.Aconsonantwithoutvowelistobe
ignored.
Explanation
Theassignmentofletterstothenumeralsareasperthefollowingarrangement.
1

ka

kha

ga

gha

nga

ca

cha

ja

jha

nya

ha a

ha

ta tha

da

dha

na

pha

bha

ba

pa

ya ra

la va

ma

ha

sa

ha

sha

Consonantshavenumeralsassignedaspertheabovetable.Forexample,
ba()isalwaysthree3whereas5canberepresentedbyeithernga()or
a()orma()orha().
Allstandalonevowelslikea()and()areassignedtozero0.
Incaseofaconjuct,consonantsattachedtoanonvowelwillnotbe
valueless.Forexample,kya()isformedbyk(
)+ya()+a().The
onlyconsonantstandingwithavowelisya().Sothecorresponding
numeralforkya()willbe1.
ThereisnowayofrepresentingDecimalseparatorinthesystem.
IndiansusedtheHinduArabicnumeralsystemfornumbering,traditionally
writteninincreasingplacevaluesfromlefttoright.Thisisaspertherule
aknmvmatogati()whichmeansnumbersgo

fromlefttoright.

Carnaticmusic
MelakartachartasperKaapaydi
system
ThemelakartaragasoftheCarnaticmusicisnamedsothatthefirsttwo
syllablesofthenamewillgiveitsnumber.Thissystemissometimescalled
theKatapayadisankhya.TheSwaras'Sa'and'Pa'arefixed,andhereis
howtogettheotherswarasfromthemelakartanumber.
1. Melakartas1through36haveMa1andthosefrom37through72haveMa2.
2. Theothernotesarederivedbynotingthe(integralpartofthe)quotientand
remainderwhenonelessthanthemelakartanumberisdividedby6.
3. 'Ri'and'Ga'positions:theragawillhave:
Ri1andGa1ifthequotientis0
Ri1andGa2ifthequotientis1
Ri1andGa3ifthequotientis2
Ri2andGa2ifthequotientis3
Ri2andGa3ifthequotientis4
Ri3andGa3ifthequotientis5
4. 'Da'and'Ni'positions:theragawillhave:
Da1andNi1ifremainderis0
Da1andNi2ifremainderis1
Da1andNi3ifremainderis2
Da2andNi2ifremainderis3
Da2andNi3ifremainderis4
Da3andNi3ifremainderis5
SeeswarasinCarnaticmusicfordetailsonabovenotation.
Examples
RagaDheerasankarabharanam
Thekatapayadischemeassociatesdha 9andra 2,hencetheraga'smelakarta
numberis29(92reversed).Now29 36,henceDheerasankarabharanamhasMa1.
Divide28(1lessthan29)by6,thequotientis4andtheremainder4.Therefore,thisraga
hasRi2,Ga3(quotientis4)andDa2,Ni3(remainderis4).Therefore,thisraga'sscaleis
SaRi2Ga3Ma1PaDa2Ni3SA.
RagaMechaKalyani
FromthecodingschemeMa

5,Cha

6.Hencetheraga'smelakartanumberis65

(56reversed).65isgreaterthan36.SoMechaKalyanihasMa2.Sincetheraga's
numberisgreaterthan36subtract36fromit.6536=29.28(1lessthan29)dividedby
6:quotient=4,remainder=4.Ri2Ga3occurs.Da2Ni3occurs.SoMechaKalyanihasthe
notesSaRi2Ga3Ma2PaDa2Ni3SA.
ExceptionforSimhendramadhyamam
Youcanseethat,aspertheabovecalculationweshouldgetSa 7,Ha 8giving
thenumber87insteadof57forSimhendramadhyamam.ThisshouldbeideallySa 7,
Ma 5givingthenumber57.Soitisbelievedthatthenameshouldbewrittenas
Sihmendramadhymam(AsinthecaseofBrahmanainSanskrit).
Recommendedwebsitesforfurtherreading&listening:
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Hindu_Music.htm
http://www.karnatik.com
http://www.carnatica.net
http://www.carnatica.net/composermain.htm
http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/music/
http://www.carnaticcorner.com/about.html
http://www.sangeethapriya.org/
http://www.itcsra.org
um7:28pm

Nocomments:
Recommend this on Google

Labels:CarnaticMusicTheory,Lessons

IntroductiontotheTla
Thetermtlaliterallymeansrhythm.Talaisthemeasureoftimeinmusic.Itsetsthetime
limitwithinwhichaparticularnoteistoberendered.BasicexercisesinCarnaticmusic
aredoneindifferentspeedstogetagripovertala.
Taalangas:Therearesixcomponents/anghastotala.
1.Anudhruta:Justataponlap(1beat).ThesignisU
2.Dhruta:Atapfollowedbyflippingthepalm.ThesignisO
3.Laghu:1beatandcountingfingers.ThesignisI
Laghuisbasedonthejaatioftala.Thefollowingarethe5jaatis:
S.No Jaathi

No.ofcounts

Jathi

Trisra

Takita

Chaturashra

Takadhimi

Khanda

TakaTaKita

Mishra

TakitaTakadhimi

Sankeerna

TakadhimiTaka
TaKiTa

Dependingonthejaati,laghuisfixedandfingersarecounted.E.g.Tisrajaatihas3
counts.Solaghuhas1beatfollowedby2fingercounts.Chaturashrajaatihas4
counts.Laghuwillhave1beatand3fingercounts.
Suladitalas:Thereare7Talasdhruva,matya,rupaka,triputa,jhampa,ataandeka
talaand5jaathisasexplainedinmypreviouspost.Applying5jaathisto7talaswillgive
totally35talasinthefollowingmanner.Theyarecalledsuladitalas.
TisrajaathiDhruvaTala
Tisrajaathimatyatala
Tisrajaathitriputatala..etc

Then,
ChaturashrajaathiDhruvatala
ChaturashrajaathiMatyatala,.etc
Sameappliesforrestofjaathisviz.Kanda,MishraandSankeerna.
1
TisraJaathiDhruva
2
TisraJaathiMatya
3
TisraJaathiRupaka
4
TisraJaathiTriputa
5
TisraJaathiJhampa
6
TisraJaathiAta
7
TisraJaathiEka
ChaturashraJaathi
8
Dhruva
ChaturashraJaathi
9
Matya
ChaturashraJaathi
10
Rupaka
ChaturashraJaathi
11
Triputa
ChaturashraJaathi
12
Jhampa
13
ChaturashraJaathiAta
14
ChaturashraJaathiEka
15
KandaJaathiDhruva
16
KandaJaathiMatya
17
KandaJaathiRupaka
18
KandaJaathiTriputa
19
KandaJaathiJhampa
20
KandaJaathiAta
21
KandaJaathiEka
22
MishraJaathiDhruva
23
MishraJaathiMatya
24
MishraJaathiRupaka
25
MishraJaathiTriputa
26
MishraJaathiJhampa
27
MishraJaathiAta
28
MishraJaathiEka
SankeernaJaathi
29
Dhruva
SankeernaJaathi
30
Matya
SankeernaJaathi
31
Rupaka
SankeernaJaathi
32
Triputa
SankeernaJaathi
33
Jhampa
34
SankeernaJaathiAta
35
SankeernaJaathiEka
SriPurandaradasahascomposedalankaras,Swaravalis,Gitas,etcinthesetalas.
FollowingtablechartsoutsymbolsofTalaanghasandthe7talaswiththeirrespective
formats.

Tala
Angha
Symbol Description
Laghu
I
Onebeatandfingercounts
Dhrutam O
Onebeatandflippingpalm

Anudrutam
Tala
Dhruva
Matya
Rupaka
Triputa
Jhampa
Ata
Eka

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

U
Onebeat
Format
IOII
IOI
OI
IOO
IUO
IIOO
I

Asdiscussedearlier,laghuisbasedonjaati.AKanda(5count)jaathiekatalawillhave1
beat and 4 finger counts as Eka tala just has Laghu (refer table above) Tisra jaathi
RupakaTalawillhave1beatandflipfollowedbyabeatand2fingercounts.
LaghuisfurtherbrokendownanddenotedasXforthebeatand1,2,3forthefinger
countbasedonjaathi.Dhrutamisagain denoted as X for the beat and a tick mark for
flippingofpalm.Example:Chaturashrajaathirupakatalaisdenotedas:
XV(ReadVasticksymbol)

X123

SR

SRGM

ChaturashrajaathiTriputatalaispopularyknownasAdiTala.
Avarta: One of the frequently used terminology in Carnatic music. An avarta is one
complete cycle with all anghas of tala. E.g. Adi tala has one laghu and two dhruthas
4+2+2=8counts,otherwisethenumberofaksharas/notesinaditalais8.Infirstspeed
itis8,secondspeedwillhave16notesandthirdspeedwillhave32notesinoneavarta.
aftereachangha(viz.laghu,dhruta,anudhruta), a vertical line l is drawn to indicate the
endofanangha.Twoparallellinesaredrawntoindicatetheendofavartall.
DeshadiTala:ManyofSriThyagarajascompositionsareindeshaditala.Thisconsists
ofonenishabdakriya(Kriyameansaction.Nishabdakriyaissilentaction)Thelyrics start
after three aksharas in nishabdakriya E.g. Brovabarama in Bahudari,Bantureethikolu in
Hamsanadham are examples of Deshadi.The lyrics start after two aksharas in
sashabdakriya.
um7:55am

1comment:
Recommend this on Google

Labels:CarnaticMusicTheory,Lessons

Home

OlderPosts

Subscribeto:Posts(Atom)

PictureWindowtemplate.PoweredbyBlogger.