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Information About Varnams (http://carnaticmusicknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/08/informationabout-varnams.html)

Varnam is the most important lesson to gain knowledge of Bhava and Gamaka. Generally, there will be less Sahithya in Varnams. Varnams are composd with different beautiful phrases of that ragha and they care composed with the laya Bhava and Ragha Bhava. There is a lot of difference between a Krithi and a Varnam. When we see an article in a particular angle, it would be possible to see that portion of the article only. Krithis are composed in that manner. That is, one particular angle of the Ragha is taken and improvised to create life to that ragha. Varnam is different. It is like seeing that article in the hands and seeing all the angles of the article. In varnams, all the life giving phrases are combined together and that is the reason there are many beautiful phrases in varnams. Since all the lines of the varnams are entirely dfieerent, it will take time to render without book. Krithis are easy to render without book, since the structure of the krithi is based on the first line, followed by different sangathis, without changing the structure of that song. There are different types of Varnams in carnatic music. Thana Varnam, Padha Varnam, Padha Jathi Varnam, Ragha Malika Varnam. Parts of Varnam: Pallavi, Anuppallavi, Mukthayiswaram, Charanam, Charana Swaras. These Charana Swaras are also known as Ethukadaiswaras. Thana Varnam or Tharu Varnam: This is a type of varnam where Sahithayam are composed for Pallavi, Anuppallvai and Charanam. Importance is given both to Laya and Bhava in this type of varnam. Varnams are available in Aadhi Thalam, Ata Thalam, Jampai Thalam and other Thalams also. These varnams should be played in two or three Kalams to gain strength in Thalam. Since the varnams are played at the beginning of the concerts, it is very important to perform the varnam neatly. Padha Varnams are composed mainly for dance. They are artistically constructed and beautifully designed. In some Padha Varnams, there will be Jathis and these are known as Padha Jathi Varnams. Ragha Malika Varnams will have different raghas for Pallavi, Anuppallavi, Mukthayiswaram, Charanam and Charana Swaras. A detailed article with the Lakshana and structure of the varnams would be posted later.

The Facts of Swara and Sahithya

Swara and Sahithya are the two eyes of our Carnatic Music system. It is always very important to have thorough knowledge of Swara and Sahithya. Generally, all the students are taught the swaras in the beginning stage. All the first stage basic lessons have only swaras. These lessons help the vocal and instrument students to realize the positions of the swaras. After Sarali Sets, Jandai Sets, Top notes sets, Base notes sets, and Dhattu sets, the first lesson with the Sahithya starts, this is Geetham. In this lessons, students are taught the swaras first and then the Sahithya. When they start to practice the swaras and Sahithya repeatedly for many times, they start to get the knowledge of the combination of swara and sahithya. Here, there is a difference between the instrumentalists and vocalists. All the other instrument students will learn the swara and sahithya together, except the wind instrument players. They cannot do it at the sametime. First they have to play the swaras and then they have to sing the sahithya. It would be difficult for the wind instrument students to understand the relationship between the swara and sahithya, of course, in the beginning stage of learning Swara and Sahithya together. It may take a little time for them to understand. After the stage of the Geethams, all the students would start to realize the position of the Swara and Sahithya. After the Geethams, students would be taught Swarajathis. In these lessons, they would start to learn the long duration of Swara and Sahithya. This is the lesson to get fluency over Sahithya and Swara. Although the swarajathi KaMakshi Kama Koti in Bairavi is the swarajathi lesson, it would be very difficult to get the BhaVa of Bairavi in that stage. The composition is too good to understand the structure of the composition. After the above stage, the next lesson is varnam. It is the best lesson to get the realization of Swara and Sahithya. Different types of varnams are available for the students to learn. All the students would be provided with the Adhi ThaLa varnams to start with. After learning about ten Adhi ThaLa varnams, students would be taught the Ata ThaLa varnams. While rendering the varnams, students would be taught the swara and sahithya, whenever necessary, until they get perfection. This is the most important stage to get the swaragnanam, that is, the knowledge of swaras. There is a difference between listening singing Swaras and Sahitha. In swaras, there is no sahithya, whereas the swaras are hidden inside the sahithya. Therefore, all the music students should be able to know the swaras of the sahithya. After learning the above lessons, students start to learn Krithis. Here, the BhaVa is very important. There are three aspects in rendering a Krithi. The first one is to sing with perfect swarasthanas for vocal students and to know the sahithya perfectly for the instrument students. The second one is to get the meaning of the song and the real feeling of the song. This will help the students to get the BhaVa of the ragha of the song with perfection. The third one is to render with proper gamakas. Gamaka is the most important factor to get the BhaVa of the ragha. To get this, students should listen to the songs many times with complete dedication. Since our music is entirely based on Bakthi, it is very important to have the situation accordingly. At the end, the swaras and sahithya merge together to provide the best result for the performer.

Carnatic music terminology: