Introduction to Carnatic Music

Introduction to Carnatic Music

A systematic learning of Carnatic music under a competent teacher enables one to sing in a disciplined manner with adherence to the laid down rules with an understanding of the concept of Carnatic music Even a prodigious talent needs the guidance of a guru (teacher) to shape and polish his genius. There are various stages of learning Carnatic music, starting from the Swaravali (Sarali Varisai) which train and tune the voice and the mind. Purandaradasa developed a system of teaching Carnatic music, starting with Sarali Varisai in Mayamalavagowlai ragam and gradually built up till Gitam. This pattern is being followed even today. Purandaradasa was the trendsetter in developing a teaching methodology for Carnatic music and is hailed as the "Father of Carnatic music".

Depending on the range and quality of the voice, the pitch is selected. The pitch is called "sruti" in Carnatic music. Clean adherence to sruti is the mark of a good singer.

Thalam in Carnatic Music

The tala system of Carnatic music is unique in the world of music. The time measures used in South Indian music are innumerable and varied and they occupy an important position in Carnatic music. Talas organise rhythm in music. All aspects of percussion are bound by a constantly repeated metr cycle of beat called tala. The talas are not just recurrent time cycles, they rather have their individual structure and influence on music. Just as a raga extolls the bhavam of the song, so does the talam, which reveals the mood of the song.

The word talam is said to be derived from the combination of the words Thandavam & Lasyam. Thandavam is the dance of Lord Siva and Lasyam is the dance of Goddess Parvathi.

Structure of Talam

Each and every talam has a structure, that is governed by the rules pertaining to it. For example, if we take the most common tala - Chatusra Jaathi Triputa Talam (Adi Talam), we can describe the process of the tala thus :
1 beat of the palm of the hand on the thigh, followed by counting three fingers, then beating the palm and turning it over, then beating the palm and turning it over If we count a number each for every beat, fingercount or turn of the palm - the number comes to eight. So the tala has eight units.

The units are called Aksharams and the Adi talam has 8 aksharams.

The first part of the tala which consists of the beating of the palm & counting is called Laghu. Here the number of units is 4 (Chatusram) and the laghu is Chatusra laghu. The Jaathi of the laghu determines the jaathi of the tala so the tala is Chatusrajaathi Adi Tala.

The next process of beat and turning the palm is called Drtham. It is done twice, so the tala has 2 drthams. Thus Chatusra Jaathi Triputa Talam(Adi) has one Chatusra Laghu and two drthams. The symbol for laghu is 1 and the number written beneath it represents the jaathi and the symbol for drtham is 0 and hence, this thalam will be represented thus 1 4 0 0Thus, from the above, we understand that a tala has laghu, drtham and these are called Angams (parts) of the tala. In some cases, there may be half of drtham, i.e., just the beat of the palm without turning it and is called Anudrtham.

List of Thalam

There are seven basic thalas :

1. Dhruva talam
2. Matya Talam
3. Rupaka Talam
4. Jampa Talam
5. Triputa Talam
6. Ata Talam
7. Eka Talam

In a tala, the drtham has two units and anudrtham (if it is part of a talam) has 1 unit and this is a constant. But the units of the laghu vary according to the jaathi.

Marga Thalam

Apart from the desi talas, there are other set of talas called "Marga Talas". These talas, in addition to the angams in the desi talas - laghu, drtham and anudrtham have other angams called Guru, Plutham, Kakapadam. The 108 talas and other groups of talas come under this group.
1 Guru - 1 beat and counting 7 fingers
1 Plutham - 1 beat, 1 krshyai & 1 sarpini
1 Kakapadam - 1 beat, 1 krshyai, 1 sarpini & 1 pathakam
1 krshyai - waving the hand towards left, it has 4 aksharams
1 sarpini - waving the hand towards right, it has 4 aksharams
1 pathakam - raising the hand vertically, has 4 aksharams

These talas are complicated and are found in very few compositions. In fact, the music of Tamils in ancient times had complicated rythm patterns like Chandha talam. Rythm was given importance. The Thiruppugazh is a classic example of the variety and complex nature of tala pattern in Carnatic music.

Gamakas

The term denotes oscillation of swaras (notes0. Carnatic music is gamaka oriented. There are two opinions on the number of gamakas (10 & 15). Some accept the no. as 10 & some 15. Some opine that the number comes to 15 due to the subdivisions within the 10 gamakas. The 10 gamakas are called Dhasavidha Gamakas.

Dhasavidha Gamakas
Aarohanam : singing the swaras in the akara brigas according to the aarohna krama of the raga. Avarohanam : singing the swaras in the akara brigas according to the avarohana krama of the raga.
The aarohana, avarohana are generally referred to as brigas.
AROHANA : is a series of notes in the ascending order of pitch.
AVAROHANA : is the descending scale of notes of a raga.

Dalu : Starting from the base Shadja and basing on the raga bhava jumping to the higher notes. e.g., sm, sp, sr

Spuritham : Repeating the same swara wice. While doing so, the second time the swara is said with force. e.g., sasariri

Kampitham : Oscillating the same swara without mixing with its preceding or succeeding note.

Aahatham : Singing the swaras in the aarohana krama, giving the stress on alternate swaras.

Prathyahatham : Singing the swaras in the avarohana krama while stressing the alternate swaras.

Thripuchcham : The swara above will join the two swaras below in the same sruthi. e.g., risasa - gariri

Aandholam : Generally associated with combination of swaras which produce swinging movement. It involves jumping in a swinging manner. e.g., Sarisapapa Sarisamama Sarisagaga

Murchchana : For delineating the character of a raga the arohana, avarohana are successively delineated in a regular ascent from a swara through seven notes and a descent back to the starting note. e.g., Sarigamapadani Rigamapadanisa Nidapamagarisa

The 15 gamakas according to the other school of thought : Thripam, Spuritham, Kampitham, Leenam, Aandholitham, Vali, Thribinnam, Kurulam, Aahatham, Ullaasitham, Plavitham, Hoompitham, Mudhritham, Naamitham, Misritham.

From my next blog onwards i'll cover the legends in carnatic music before going into other details.