The last and longest chittai swaram goes like this:
S' , , , , , N R' | S' N P G R S R G ||
P , , , , , S' N | P G R S R G P N ||
S' R . N R' N P G | P R , G P G R S |
R n , G R P G N | R G P N S' , , , ||
N P G P , R G P | N , G P N S' R' , ||
P N S' R' , G' N S' | N G' R' R' N , P N ||
G' R' , N S' R' P' G' | , R' S' N P N S' R' ||
S' , , P , , N P | G R S n S R G P ||
The third charanam is a longer than the first two and goes like this:
N P G R n G R n | p n p S n R S G ||
R P G N P S' N R' | n G' R' N R' N P G ||
P N S' R' G' G P N | S' R ' R G P N S' N |
G' R' S' N P R' S' N | P G R n S R G P ||
All chittai swaram sections are sandwiched between charanam. The video below shows how to play this chittai swaram starting from the charanam.
Note how G' is played starting from S'. Here is a tab of the full song for reference.
The charanam follows the muktayiswaram and it is repeated after every chittai swaram section. There are totally 4 chittai swaram sections in this varnam. The first two are in this post, the other two (longer ones) will follow.
The first part of the video shows how to play at 2nd speed, followed by a slowed down version that clearly shows the notes and all the gamakas. In addition, there is also a tab of the full song.
Carnatic notes:
Charanam
N , , , , , S' , | G' R' S' N P P G R ||
G , , G R S R , | R S n S R G , P ||
Chittai swarams
one
N , P , , , G , | , , R , S , n , ||
p , , R , , n , | , S , R , G , P ||
two
N, P G R S R , | G R S n p , R n ||
, G R n p n S R | , R G n S R G P ||
Note: See the section on Notations here for help understanding the carnatic swara notation
This section - muktayiswaram - does not have any lyrics. In vocal concerts the swaras are sung. Of course on an instrument it is not very different than playing a section that has lyrics.
The carnatic notation for the muktayiswaram:
G , R G R S R , | n S R G R R S n ||
R , n G R N S R | p n S R G , , P ||
G R S R , G P N | R G P n S R G P ||
p n S R , G P N | R G P N S' , , R' ||
R' S' N P , N G' R' | S' N , P N S' R' G' ||
P , N S' , R' G' R' | P N S' R' G' R' N R' ||
G' P' G' R' S' N S' R' | S' N P G R G P N ||
G' R' , S' N P R' S' | , N P G , R S R ||
Here is how it is played:
The first part of the video shows how to play at 2nd speed, followed by a slowed down version that clearly shows the notes and all the gamakas. In addition, there is also a tab of the full song.
The choice for which fingers to use is entirely up to you. I tend to use the first two fingers a lot for sliding and do not use the third finger very much.
The previous post covered the pallavi of the song. This post covers the next verse - the anupallavi. The notes of this verse are as follows
P G R S n S R , | G , R , S , n p |
n S R G , S G R | G P , N S' , , , ||
R' S' N P N S' R G' | S' R' G' P' G' R' S' N |
G' R' , S' N P P G | , R S n p N S R ||
Here is how it is played:
The music sheet with tab for this varnam is downloadable here - Jalajakshi Varnam tab
Jalajakshi varnam was composed by Manambuchavadi Venkata Subbaiyer in the ragam Hamsadhwani and set to Aaditalam. Hamsadhwani is a janyam of Kalyani (66th melakarta). The swara-sthanas of the ragam and sample phrases can be seen in a separate post.
The lyrics of the song are in Telugu, below is an anglicised version:
G , R , S , , , | n S R G R R S n |
S R S S n p N S| R p , n , S, R ||
G R S n S R p n | S R G P G N P , |
S' N S R' , S' N P | P G , R , S , R ||
See the section on notations to understand the notation above. The music sheet with tab for this varnam is downloadable here - Jalajakshi Varnam tab
As explained in the earlier post on hamsadhwani the notes R2, G3, and N3 can be played with gamakam. There are multiple ways to play these swaras. The video below shows these different ways, and is followed by a note-by-note demonstration of how to play the pallavi. The notes G3 and P can be played in an inter-linked way as shown in the very end of the video.
Varnams are played either in 2nd or 3rd speed. The video below shows the full pallavi played at 2nd speed with the metronome set to 70 b.p.m.
End note:
Songs in Carnatic have multiple sections - pallavi, anupallavi, charanam, muktayi swaram, chittai swaram etc. Usually these sections occur in the following order:
pallavi - first verse of of the song
anupallavi - second verse of the song
muktayi swaram - pre-composed swaras in the ragam
charanam - verse that repeats multiple times
chittai swaram - pre-composed swaras in the ragam
The pallavi, anupallavi, and charanam sections have lyrics (words). The other sections contain only swaras. There may be one or more chittai swaram sections. Each of these will be followed by the charanam verse. This post shows how to play the pallavi of this varnam. The next post is about the anupallavi.
Hamsadhwani (aka Hamsadhvani) is a symmetric pentatonic (audava-audava) ragam that uses the notes
Arohanam (ascent): S R2 G3 P N3 S’
Avarohanam (descent): S’ N3 P G3 R2 S
In western music the scale notes (swarasthanas) of Hamsadhwani correspond to the Major 7th pentatonic scale. It uses the intervals 1 2 3 5 7.
If G# were the root note (equivalent to Sa) the notes of this ragam are: G# A# C D# G G#’
Of course, one can play it with any other root note as long as the intervals are the same. But G# is a reasonable pitch that matches that of many singers (5.5 kattai) and practicing at this pitch will make transcribing from recordings easier. On the other hand playing at a higher pitch - the D above the G# (7th fret 3rd string) - sounds nicer because the lower three strings are not wound and so there is less finger noise when playing. However, that pitch is high (certainly for singing) and the thara sthayi will be even higher so it may not be appreciated by many.
In the Carnatic melakartha scheme Hamsadhwani is the janyam of Kalyani (66th melakartha). It is placed under Kalyani because in this ragam Ga may be played plain or with gamaka. Some others place it as a janyam of the Shankarabaranam (29th melakartha) - though Ga in Shankarabharanam is played plain. The discovery of this ragam is attributed to Ramaswamy Deekshitar, the father of Muthuswamy Deekshitar.
The plain notes (swara sthana) on the guitar for the ascent (arohanam) and descent(avarohanam) for three octaves (sthayi) - middle (madhya), low (mandara), and high (thara) - are shown below (Sa = G#)
The last three bars (above) shows how the arohanam and avarohanam of this ragam as played with gamakam. The gamakas for Ri and Ni are played as slides and slightly different in ascent and descent. Ri is played as Sa-Ga-Ri and Ni as Pa-Sa-Ni in the arohanam. During the descent Ni is played as Sa-Ni (sometimes Sa-Ni-Sa-Ni) and Ri as Ga-Ri-Ga-Ri. Also Ga is played as a slide or a double slide Pa-Ga or Pa-Ga-Pa-Ga.
Here is how the arohanam and avarohanam are played:
Here are some Hamsadhwani phrases transcribed from vocal records.
The notation does not capture the timing of the slides accurately, here is what it should sound like. First the simple notes, then with gamakam, followed by phrases:
