Alankarams 3

Continuing from the previous post on alankarams, here are three more exercises - the last set.

Exercise 6: Misra Jathi Jhumpa Thalam

Dhruva Talam = L A D

Misra Jathi = laghu is 7 beats

Dhrutam is 2 beats
Anudhrutam is 1 beat

Total number of beats in a cycle = 7 + 1 + 2 = 10

S R G S R S R | G | M , ||

R G M R G R G | M | P , ||

G M P G M G M | P | D , ||

M P D M P M P | D | N , ||

P D N P D P D | N | S' , ||

S' N D S' N S' N | D | P , ||

N D P N D N D | P | M , ||

D P M D P D P | M | G , ||

P M G P M P M | G | R , ||

M G R M G M G | R | S , ||

Exercise 7: Thisra Jathi Triputa Thalam

Triputa Talam = L D D

Thisra Jathi = laghu is 3 beats

Dhrutam is 2 beats

Total number of beats in a cycle = 3 + 2 + 2 = 7

S R G | S R | G M ||

R G M | R G | M P ||

G M P | G M | P D ||

M P D | M P | D N ||

P D N | P D | N S' ||

S' N D | S' N | D P ||

N D P | N D | P M ||

D P M | D P | M G ||

P M G | P M | G R ||

M G R | M G | R S ||

Exercise 8: Khanda Jathi Ata Thalam

Ata Talam = L L D D

Khanda Jathi = laghu is 5 beats

Dhrutam is 2 beats

Total number of beats in a cycle = 5 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 14

S R , G , | S , R G , | M , | M , ||
R G , M , | R , G M , | P , | P , ||
G M , P , | G , M P , | D , | D , ||
M P , D , | M , P D , | N , | N , ||
P D , N , | P , D N , | S' , | S' , ||
S' N , D , | S' , N D , | P , | P , ||
N D , P , | N , D P , | M , | M , ||
D P , M , | D , P M , | G , | G , ||
P M , G , | P , M G , | R , | R , ||
M G , R , | M , G R , | S , | S , ||

Remember the symbol "," means the previous note it held for 1 more beat.

Alankarams 2

Continuation of Alankarams from the previous post. These three are in Chaturasra Jathi. See post on talams for a more detailed explanation on how to find the number of beats per cycle.

Guidelines:

• For now, practice these exercises in Mayamalavagowla
• Practice with slides and plain picking
• Always practice with a metronome
• All exercises should be first practised at 1st speed (tempo 60-70 bpm), followed by 2nd speed and 3rd speed. Third speed is hard, skip it for now and come back later if you cannot play at that speed cleanly.
• Practice the exercises in all three octaves

Exercise 3: Chaturasra Jathi Dhruva Thalam

Dhruva Talam = L D L L

Chaturasra Jathi = laghu is 4 beats

Dhrutam is 2 beats

Total number of beats in a cycle = 4 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 14

S R G M | G R | S R G R | S R G M ||

R G M P | M G | R G M G | R G M P ||

G M P D | P M | G M P M | G M P D ||

M P D N | D P | M P D P | M P D N ||

P D N S' | N D | P D N D | P D N S' ||

S' N D P | D N | S' N D N | S N D P ||

N D P M | P D | N D P D | N D P M ||

D P M G | M P | D P M P | D P M G ||

P M G R | G M | P M G M | P M G R ||

M G R S | R G | M G R G | M G R S ||

Exercise 4: Chaturasra Jathi Matya Thalam

Dhruva Talam = L D L 

Chaturasra Jathi = laghu is 4 beats

Dhrutam is 2 beats

Total number of beats in a cycle = 4 + 2 + 4 = 10

S R G R | S R | S R G M ||

R G M G | R G | R G M P ||

G M P M | G M | G M P D ||

M P D P | M P | M P D N ||

P D N D | P D | P D N S' ||

S' N D N | S' N | S' N D P ||

N D P D | N D | N D P M ||

D P M P | D P | D P M G ||

P M G M | P M | P M G R ||

M G R G | M G | M G R S ||

Exercise 5: Chaturasra Jathi Rupaka Thalam

Dhruva Talam = D L 

Chaturasra Jathi = laghu is 4 beats

Dhrutam is 2 beats

Total number of beats in a cycle = 2 + 4 = 6

S R | S R G M ||

R G | R G M P ||

G M | G M P D ||

M P | M P D N ||

P D | P D N S' ||

S' N | S N D P ||

N D | N D P M ||

D P | D P M G ||

P M | P M G R |

M G | M G R S ||

Alankarams 1

Alankarams are exercises that illustrate the different talams. The previous post on talam explained the patterns and how they are named. This post, lists the first set of alankarams starting from what I think is the the simplest/easiest to the hardest. The order may be different from beginner books

Guidelines:

• For now, practice these exercises in Mayamalavagowlai
• Practice the exercises with slides and by just plain picking
• Ideally all exercises should be first practiced at 1st speed (tempo 60-70 BPM) - meaning one note per beat. Followed by 2nd speed (2 notes per beat) and 3rd speed (4 notes per beat this will be hard). 
• Practice the  exercises in all three octaves
• Third speed is hard to sing or play on an instrument. So it would be ok to skip that initially and get back to it later, after you have more experience (of course purists will disagree).

Exercise 1: Chathurasra Jathi Eka Thalam

Eka Talam = L

Chaturasra = laghu is 4 beats

Total number of beats in a cycle = 4

S R G M || R G M P || G M P D || M P D N || P D N S' ||
S' N D P || N D P M || D P M G || P M G R || M G R S ||

Remember the notes that are underlined have to be played with continuous slides. So for S R G M pick S and slide to R G M and P

Exercise 2: Sankeerna Jathi Eka Thalam

Eka talam = L

Sankeerna = laghu is 9 beats

Total number of beats in cycle = 9

S , R , G , M P D || R , G , M , P D N || G , M , P , D N S' ||

S' , N , D , P M G || N , D , P , M G R || D , P , M , G R S ||

Remember the symbol "," means the previous note it held for 1 more beat. So the notation S , is to pick S on a beat and hold note for one more beat.

This alankaram is difficult to play at 2nd and 3rd speed because the cycle is an odd number (9) and in alternate cycles the notes will fall off beat. 

Talas - rhythm patterns

Almost all music is played to some form of repetitive rhythmic beat. In western music there are different ways to describe these patterns (time signatures - 4/4, 3/4 etc). In carnatic, a rhythmic pattern is called thalam (aka tala).

The fundamental unit of time is called akshara kala (aka aksharam). All forms of tala are some fixed number of aksharas. There are 6 distinct groups (tala anga) of aksharas and these groups are combined to form talas. There are 7 talas and each is described as a combination of tala angas.

Tala Angas

There are 6 angas and for the first three, there is a prescribed way for vocalists to keep track of the beats using the palm and fingers of the right hand. The names of the angas and the way to track them is as described below.

Their names are:

anudhrutham - one beat with a duration of one aksharam.  Action: Down beat of the hand, palm facing down

dhrutham - two aksharas. Action: Two down beats of the hand. First palm down, then palm facing up.

laghu - This is an interesting anga that has variable number of beats. For now it is 4 aksharas. Action: First beat with hand (palm down), followed by three finger counts (little, ring, and middle - in that order)

guru - eight aksharas

plutham - 12 aksharas

kaka padham - 16 aksharas

Jathi

The laghu alone has variable number of aksharas. These variants are called jathi and there are 5 of them.

1. thisra jathi laghu - three aksharas
2. chathurasra jathi laghu - four aksharas
3. khanda jathi laghu - five aksharas
4. misra jathi laghu - seven aksharas
5. sankeerna jathi laghu - nine aksharas

Usually just plain laghu with no qualifiers refers to chathurasra jathi laugh.

Tala

There are 7 talas in carnatic music and each of them is a combination of a few angas. To describe  them concisely I have used the following abbreviations

A = anudhrutham, D = dhrutam, L = laghu

1. dhruva talam - Consists of the following four angas : L D L L
2. matya talam - L D L
3. rupaka talam - D L 
4. jhampa talam - L A D
5. thriputa talam - L D D
6. ata talam - L L D D
7. eka talam - L

In any composition the talam will be stated as something like "chathurasra jathi rupaka talam". So how many aksharas in that cycle?

The basic talam is rupaka which has one dhrutham (D) and one laghu (L). The laghu variant is chathurasra jathi which means it has four aksharas. So this talam  (D L) has 2 + 4 = 6 aksharas.

Though multiple combinations of jathi and talam are possible not all are widely used. Some common talams are

• chaturasra jathi triputa talam (aka Adi thalam)
• chaturasra jathi rupaka talam
• thisra jathi thriputa talam
• khanda jathi ata talam

Geetham: Sree Gana Natha

Geethams are simple songs that are usually taught after students have gone through the basic exercises and have reasonable voice control. They are not intended as performing pieces but as additional training to understand/appreciate the respective ragam.

The first geetham that is usually taught is Sree gana natha in ragam Malahari. It is an asymmetric scale and a janya of Mayamalavagowlai (15th melakarta). The notes of the ragam are

Arohanam: S R1 M1 P D1 S'
Avarohanam: S' D1 P M1 G3 R1 S

So it uses all the notes in Mayamalavagowlai other than N3 but the arohanam has 5 notes (skips G3) and avarohanam has 6 notes.

Its a pretty simple song with the same combination of notes repeating frequently - learning the notes of first three lines is sufficient to play the entire song.

Sree gana natha

composer: Purandaradasa

M    P | D    S'   S'   R'   || R'     S' | D  P  M   P ||

Sree -   Ga  na   na tha  || sin  dhu  -   ra var na ||

R  M | P   D M  P || D  P | M  G   R  S ||

ka ru   na sa ga ra || ka ri  va dha -  na

S R | M ,  G    R || S  R | G  R  S  ,  ||

lam  bo - dha ra || la ku  mi ka ra - ||

R   M | P  D M  P    || D  P   | M G  R    S  ||

am  -  | ba -  su tha  || a  ma   ra vi  nu tha ||

S    R | M ,  G    R || S  R |  G  R  S  ,  ||

lam -   bo - dha ra || la ku   mi ka ra - ||

M    P   | D   S' S' R'   || R'  S' | D P M  P   ||

Sid dha  cha -  ra na   || ga na  se - vi  tha ||

R    M  | P  D  M P   || D   P | M  G   R   S  ||

Sid dhi | vi na ya ka || the - | na mo na mo ||

(repeat lines in blue)

M  P   | D S'  S'   R' || R'  S' | D  P M  P   ||

Sa ka   la  vi dya -   || -  dhi  pu  -  ji tha ||

R  M | P   D  M    P    || D   P | M  G   R  S   ||

Sa -    rvo -  ttha ma || the   - | na mo na mo ||

(repeat lines in blue)

----

The tab and notation for the song is below. Here Sa = D. The notation below shows the simple way to play the song by just picking notes.

Here is what it sounds like:



Usually geethams are taught to be sung/played plain - without gamakam. However, they can be used as a method to learn gamakas. The audio clip below demonstrates how to play this song with gamakam and slides. I have played each line or the song in two octaves just as a variation.





In this ragam the notes R1 G3 D1 can be played with gamakam. But those notes can be played plain as well. the tab below shows one way to play this song.




This video demonstrates how to play gamakas for the notes R1, G3 and D1. In the tab, none of the R1s in the song are played with gamakam. This is merely because it is difficult to do so with S as the open string and R as first fret.

Carnatic Basics: Jantai Varisaigal

The second set of exercises are jantai varisai. For me, these exercises were the hardest of the lot -  certainly more difficult to play on the guitar than either swaravali or dhattu varisai. Start by trying to play it on 1st speed and move to 2nd only after practicing at 1st speed for a few months.

All jantai exercises have to played with two notes per beat - this is the first speed. Second speed is at 4 notes per beat and so on. In this exercise, whenever a note repeats like S S or R R the second note has to be played in a special way - and on guitar I feel there are three such special ways.

First method: One pick only
Play the first note of the pair plain (pick)
For the second note quickly slide your finger to the previous note of the ragam and back to the first note.

For example, playing S S would involve picking the S then sliding to N and back to S

Second Method: Two picks
Play the first note of the pair plain (pick)
For the second note quickly move (not slide) your finger to the previous note of the ragam, (second) pick and slide back to the first note.

Methods 1-2 are hard to play at higher speeds. So at 2nd or third speed reaching for the previous note in the ragam may not be feasible. So play from the previous semi-tone instead.

Third method: This method also uses two picks and leans on notes outside of the ragam. But its really passing through them and they are hardly heard. This is how jantai is played n the veena.

Play the first note of the pair plain (pick)
For the second note pick the previous semi-tone (may not be a note in the raga, but that is ok) and quickly hammer on to the first note.

Why three methods ? To my ears the second method sounds more like voice when singing Jantai varisai. But the first method is smoother and is like what voice sounds when singing a song. The third is how jantai is played on veena. I like the first two better but all three sound authentic and choosing one (or mixing it up) is really upto individual taste.

The jantai sound is a type of gamaka called spuritham  and I believe it is unique to Carnatic and not heard in other genres. When practicing these exercises it is easy to overdo practice and strain your shoulder muscles. The slide (second note) for jantai come from the shoulder. So take frequent breaks and do not play at higher speeds till you are able to play at 60 or 70 bpm (of course always practice with a metronome).

Exercise 1:

S S R R G G M M | P P D D | N N S' S' ||
S' S' N N D D P P | M M G G | R R S S ||

Here is what is sounds like: (Note S = D)

Carnatic Basics: Dhattu Varisaigal

The third in the series of exercises is the Dhattu Varisai. There are just two exercises and the notation below shows how to play them with slides. Practice them plain as well. Like the first two exercises, these have to be practised in all three octaves.


Exercise 1:

S R S G | R G | R M || S M G R | S R | G M ||
R G R M | G M | G P || R P M G | R G | M P ||
G M G P | M P | M D || G D P M | G M | P D ||
M P M D | P D | P N || M N D P | M P | D N ||
P D P N | D N | D S' || P S' N D | P D | N S' ||
S' N S D | N D | N P || S ' P D N | S N | D P ||
N D N P | D P | D M || N M P D | N D | P M ||
D P D M | P M | P G || D G M P | D P | M G ||
P M P G | M G | M R || P R G M | P M | G R ||
M G M R | G R | G S || M S R G | M G | R S ||

Exercise 2:

S M G M | R G | S R || S G R G | S R | G M ||
R P M P | G M | R G || R M G M | R G | M P ||
G D P D | M P | G M || G P M P | G M | P D ||
M N D N | P D | M P || M D P D | M P | D N ||
P S' N S' | D N | P D || P N D N | P D | N S' ||
S' P D P | N D | S' N || S' D N D | S' N | D P ||
N M P M | D P | N D || N P D P | N D | P M ||
D G M G | P M | D P || D M P M | D P | M G ||
P R G R | M G | P M || P G M G | P M | G R ||
M S R S | G R | M G || M R G R | M G | R S ||

Though they seem tedious, these exercises are very important. Practicing regularly will help you find and play notes in the ragam easily. All three exercises are not restricted to Mayamalavagowla and can be practiced on other ragams. When learning new ragams I highly recommend practicing at least the Swaravali and Dhattu varisaigal.

Carnatic Basics: Swaravali Varisaigal

The last post covered the first exercise of playing the arohanam and avarohanam of Mayamalavagowla. This post goes over the remaining swaravali varisaigal.

For these exercises play every notes for the duration of 1 beat unless specified otherwise.

Some exercises require sliding across multiple notes (even the full scale). The sound of the note will start to die out when sliding multiple notes at slow speeds. But with practice the sustain will improve.  The focus of these exercises is two fold - to be able to play patterns and to familiarise your fingers with the raga scale.

Exercise 2:

Play the following notes by picking each note. Use D as the note for Sa.

S  R S  R | S R | G M ||
S  R G M | P D | N S' ||
S' N S' N | S' N | D P ||
S' N D P | M G | R S ||

This exercise should be done over all of the positions from the previous post.

Carnatic Basics: Mayamalavagowla Notes

Carnatic music pedagogy formulated by Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) is still in use more or less unchanged. Almost all teachers will start off new students with a standard set of exercises and there are several books available on the subject. Much of the information in these "basics" posts are covered in such books. For these exercises I used an old book titled "Ganamrutha Bodhini" by Shri A. S. Panchapakesa Iyer  and only made small modifications that I felt would suit playing on guitar.

The first set of basic exercises are called swaravali varisaigal and are usually taught in ragam Mayamalavagowla - the 15th melakartha ragam.

Arohanam : S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S'
Avarohanam : S' N1 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S

The intervals of notes in this ragam are:

S	R1	G3	M1	P	D1	N3	S'
1	2b	3	4	5	6b	7	8

The first swaravali varisai exercise is to just play the plain notes of the ragam in all three sthyai. On guitar the same note can be played in multiple places on the neck and it would be useful to know how to play the ragam across the neck as well. The exercises in this post show how to play the notes of  Mayamalavagowla in different octaves and different positions. The suggested strategy is to start with a metronome at 60 b.p.m. for each exercise and increase tempo gradually.

Examples in these posts will use either D or G# as the root note (adhara shadja). This post uses Sa = D (kattai 2) which is ok for an instrument but vocalists will learn at a higher pitch.

Tuning: For these exercises detune the 6th string of the guitar from E to D (i.e. dropped D tuning). This is done to get Sa at the low octave.