Popular terms in Karnatak Music 2

Gamaka: Gamakas can be described simply as ornaments to music. The gentle shake and vibration given to a swara to make it more appealing. It has been derived from the Samskrit word “Gam” which means movement.Every raga has particular swara or swaras that can be sung with gamaka. Gamaka differs from one artist to other depending on their creativity. When gamaka is given to a swara, it will naturally touch the frequency of nearby notes.However gamaka given to wrong swara can change the raga itself.

Gruha-Nyasa-Amsha swaras: All these terms are used popularly in Manodharma sangita. “Gru” means to get hold of something. Gruha swaras are used while starting a sangati of raga alapana or swarakapana. Nyasa swaras are the swaras with which raga is ended. It is also the swara where you can expand and work around. Amsha swara is the key note/swara of a raga brings out the raga bhava (also known as chayal) which means the raga’s essence/mood.

Vaadi-Samvaadi-Anuvaadi-Vivaadi swaras: Vaadi swraas are the king swaras of a raga. Other swaras are supplementary to this swara. Usually the amsha swaras are vaadi swaras. The role of Samvaadi to Vaadi is that of a minister to king.e.g. R-D, S-P,S-M, G-N are few combination of samvaadi swaras. There are usually a difference of 8 to 12 swaras between a vaadi and samvaadi combo.Vivaadi swaras differ from Vaadi swaras just by 1 or 2 notes. Swaras which do not fall under any of the above is anuvaadi.

Popular terms in Karnatak Music

Swara: A musical sound with single frequency. Populary known as a Note. Karnatak music has 7 adhara( fundamental)swaras:

Shadja (S )

Rishaba (R )

Gandhara (G )

Madhyama (M )

Panchama (P )

Dhaivada (D )

Nishada (N )

These swaras can further be classified into 16: Shadja (S ), Shuddha Rishaba (R1), Shatushruthi Rishaba (R2 ), Chatshruthi Rishaba (R3), Shuddha Gandhara (G1) ,Sadharana Gandhara (G2) , Antara Gandhara (G3), Suddha Madhyama (M1), Prathi Madhyama (M2), Panchama (P ), Suddha Daivada (D ),Shatushruthi Daivada (D2), Chatshruti Daivada (D3), Suddha Nishada (N1), Kaisiki Nishada ( N2), Kakali Nishada (N3). Each of these swaras have a particular frequency. However the frequencies of following swaras are same: G1=R2, G2=R3, Ni=D2, N2=D3. Considering this overlap, there are 12 distinct notes in Karnatak music.

Shruti: Popularly known as the drone in western music. It is the range within which music is sung/played. In Karnatak music Shruti is decided by three notes- Lower Shadja, Panchama , Upper Shadja .

Aroha (Ascending) & Avaroha (Descending): It is the ascending and descending scale or boundary for singing a particular Raga. It shows the distinct notes in a particular raga.

Manodharma & Kalpita Sangita: Kalpita Sangita is singing the composition created by someone. It is just the presentation of someone else’s creativity. Manodharma is simply the dharma of one’s mind or presenting the creativity of of one’s own mind and enhancing the beauty of a composition. It involves neraval, kalpana swaram, raga alapana, sangatis, etc. An ideal concert will have more of manodharma sangita and less of Kalpita Sangita. Manodharma depends mainly on the mod and creative senses of the presenter.

Alapana-Nerval-Swarakalpana: The term Raga means color, affection, delicate feeling of one’s mind,etc. Alapana is derived from Sanskrit word “lup” which means “to express”. Expressing a raga by expanding it is called raga alapana or alapti. Neraval is a scholarly rendition of a portion of the lyric. Simply put it is Sahitya Vinyasa meaning expanding the lyrics. Singing a portion of lyric within the limitation of tala  and bringin out the beauty of raga is neraval. Swarakalpana is singing swaras fluently and spontaneously to a certain portion of the lyric. Kalpana Swaras should bring out the essence of the raga and krithi. One should have a good arithmetic knowledge to sing swarakalpana because it involves creativity within the limits of the tala.Initial training in manodharma sangita starts with kalpana swara, alapana and then neraval. Initial lessons in swarajathi, varnas will help manodharma sangita to a great extent.

Sangathi: Sangathi is simply adding beauty to an existing line. Sangathis are different ways of singing a particular line to bring out the beauty of a raga. Sangathis are said to have been introduced by Saint Thyagaraja . First sangathi is singing a line plain. Adding a sangathi means singing the line is different ways within the raga and tala limit. A sangati can also be sung in different speed withing the tala limit. Sangathis are lesser in Dikshithar and Shyama Shastri krithis as compared to Thyagaraja’s compositions.

Melakarta chart

Till date Carnatic music scholars are not sure how many ragas are there in Karnatak music. Practically there are about 40 ragas which have been sung most frequently.

Janya & janaka ragas:

Janaka/Melakarta ragas are the mother ragas which have all the 7 swaras. Janya ragas are born out of Janaka ragas which may or may not contain all the 7 swaras.

A raga is defined by its aarohanam (ஆரோஹணம்) and avarohanam( அவரோஹணம்) which is nothing but the boundary of the raga from its lowest to highest swara/note.

E.g. Mohanam is defined as:

Aa : Sa Ri Ga Pa Dha Sa (Lowest to highest swara)
Ava: Sa Dha Pa Ga Ri Sa (Highest to lowest swara)

It is not necessary that aarohanam and avarohanam needs to have uniform swaras.

The 72 Melakarta ragas have been numbered based on a table called Katabayadi suthram/கடபயாதி ஸாங்கியை named after the first syllable in each row.

Now,

1.Pick out a melakartha raga from the list below E.g. Nattabhairavi
2.Refer  the index value of its first two syllables in the above table. For Nattabhairavi – 0 for Na and 2 for ‘tta’
3. Now interchange the numbers assigned to the syllables. It is 20 in this case; hence the raga’s number is 20!

Melakartha Raga Index:

1 Kanakangi
2 Ratnangi
3 Ganamoorti
4 Vanaspati
5 Manavati
6 Tanarupi
7 Senavati
8 Hanumatodi
9 Dhenuka
10 Natakapriya
11 Kokilapriya
12 Roopavati
13 Gayakapriya
14 Vakulabharanam
15 Mayamalavagowla
16 Chakravakam
17 Sooryakantam
18 Hatakambari
19 Jhankaradhwani
20 Nattabhairavi
21 Keeravani
22 Kharaharapriya
23 Gourimanohari
24 Varunapriya
25 Mararanjani
26 Charukesi
27 Sarasangi
28 Harikambhoji
29 Dheerasankarabharanam
30 Naganandini
31 Yagapriya
32 Ragavardhini
33 Gangeyabhusani
34 Vagadheeswari
35 Sulini
36 Chalanata
37 Salagam
38 Jalarnavam
39 Jhalavarali
40 Navaneetam
41 Pavani
42 Raghupriya
43 Gavambodhi
44 Bhavapriya
45 Subhapantuvarali
46 Shadvidhamargini
47 Suvarnangi
48 Divyamani
49 Dhavalambari
50 Namanarayani
51 Kamavardhini
52 Ramapriya
53 Gamanasrama
54 Viswambhari
55 Syamalangi
56 Shanmukhapriya
57 Simhendramadhyamam
58 Hemavati
59 Dharmavati
60 Neetimati
61 Kantamani
62 Rishabhapriya
63 Latangi
64 Vachaspati
65 Mechakalyani
66 Chitrambhari
67 Sucharitra
68 Jyotiswarupini
69 Dhatuvardhini
70 Nasikabhusani
71 Kosalam

72 Rasikapriya

Melakartha ragas

It is interesting to note how the 72 melakarta/mother ragas are formed in Karnatak music. Except Sa and Pa other 5 swaras have variants. Madhyama has 2 variants and other 4 swaras have 3 variants each. The following table shows how they are sung in ascending order (order of lowest note to highest). Notes with same position have the same tone e.g. Chathusruthi Rishaba and Shuddha Gandhara sound the same. So put together we have 12 notes.

Position	Swara	Short name	Notation	Mnemonic
1	Shadja	Sa	S	sa
2	Shuddha Rishabha	Ri	R1	ra
3	Chathusruthi Rishabha	Ri	R2	ri
3	Shuddha Gandhara	Ga	G1	ga
4	Shatsruthi Rishabha	Ri	R3	ru
4	Sadharana Gandhara	Ga	G2	gi
5	Anthara Gandhara	Ga	G3	gu
6	Shuddha Madhyama	Ma	M1	ma
7	Prati Madhyama	Ma	M2	mi
8	Panchama	Pa	P	pa
9	Shuddha Dhaivatha	Dha	D1	dha
10	Chathusruthi Dhaivatha	Dha	D2	dhi
10	Shuddha Nishadha	Ni	N1	na
11	Shatsruthi Dhaivatha	Dha	D3	dhu
11	Kaisiki Nishadha	Ni	N2	ni
12	Kakali Nishadha	Ni	N3	nu

*Source:Wikipedia

A Prelude

 

India is known for its cultural heritage.Music , dance and other fine art forms have been in our culture since the time of Vedas. We have been pioneers in art forms much before the time when other parts of the world picked up. Earliest available treatise on music and dance is Natyashastra by Bharatamuni. Though its focus is on Natya/Dance as the name indicates, music is also added supplementary in the book. 

Indian music is broadly classified into two forms -Hindustani music which evolved out of influenced from Persian and Islamic music and practised predominantly in North India . Carnatic music which is the other one, practised in South India evolved out of ancient Hindu traditions.

History says that not only did we encourage art forms within the country, we are also known for accommodating musicians from neighboring countries. Carnatic music was mainly patronized by the local kings of the Kingdom of Mysore and Kingdom of Travancore in the 18th through 20th centuries. The royalty of the kingdoms of Mysore and Travancore were noted composers and proficient in playing musical instruments.

Any art form is inspired by nature. It is an expression of one’s feelings. Carnatic music, one of the complex musical systems in the world, is one such art form inspired by sounds of nature. Sapta (7) swaras – S R G M P D N which form the basis of Carnatic music has been derived from the cry of various animals as follows:

Shadja (S)- Peacock

Rishaba (R)- skylark

Gandhara (G ) – Goat

Madhyama (M ) – Heron

Panchama (P ) –Cuckoo

Dhaivata (D )- Horse

Nishada ( N ) – Elephant

Scientifically it is said that the frequency, intensity and pitch of an animal’s cry matches the sound of swara to a  certain extent depending on the mood of the animal. For example G is said to resemble the cry of goat. Gandhara is said to evoke Karuna rasa; certainly when we listen to goat’s bleat, it evokes pity. We can say that there is a thin line of logic to this theory though it has not been proved all times.

This ancient music has travelled various centuries and has sustained over ages because of its strong fundamentals. Musicians of each decade has tried to retain its purest form through their best effort.Even today the six week-long music season held in Chennai every December, has been described as the world’s largest cultural event.

References: ‘Theory of music’  by Musiclogist Vidushi Vasanthamadhavi, Wikipedia