Pitch
In carnatic music pitch is not absolute - meaning it is not separated into categories like soprano, alto, tenor, baritone etc. A vocalist can choose to sing in a pitch that he/she is comfortable with to represent the note Sa (madhya sthayi). This is the singer's adhara shadja and will be one of the standard notes (C-D-E-G-G-A-B or sharps/flats). The other notes in the ragam are intervals relative to the Sa. The pitch one octave above madhya sthayi is thara sthayi and one below is mandara sthayi.Kattai is a term used to quantify the level of the pitch.The western music "middle C" is the equivalent of 1st kattai - on guitar this is 3rd fret A-string. Every note after that (ignoring sharps and flats) represents the next kattai. So G above middle-C is 5 kattai and G# is 5.5 kattai. Many singers sing at pitches between 5-6 kattai so this is a useful pitch to practice playing on the guitar. It will make transcribing from vocal recordings much easier. The exercises/notes on this blog usually place Sa at D (2 kattai) or G# (5.5 kattai).
Svara Sthana
Carnatic ragas as well as music is taught in solfege form where the following sounds represent the notes - Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni. The pitch interval of Ri, Ga, Ma, Dha, and Ni relative to Sa may change depending on the ragam. The note Pa is always at a fixed interval (5th) from Sa. Here is an example of how to sing the arohanam and avarohanam of a ragam from shivkumar.org.
Modern carnatic music svara sthanas are the same 12 notes heard in western music - C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B. It is important to understand that these are svara sthanas, or plain notes, and the svaras in a ragam maybe combinations of these notes. There are 12 svara sthanas but they are referred to using 16 names, because some of them have more than one name. The table below shows the the svara sthana names, their notation in carnatic, and equivalent western note (placing Sa as G#).
| Western Note | Name | Notation |
|---|---|---|
| G# | shadjamam | S |
| A | shuddha rishabham | R1 |
| A# | chatusruthi rishabham | R2 |
| shuddha gandharam | G1 | |
| B | shatsruthi rishabham | R3 |
| sadharana gandharam | G2 | |
| C | antara gandharam | G3 |
| C# | madhyamam | M1 |
| D | prati madhyamam | M2 |
| D# | panchamam | P |
| E | shuddha dhaivatham | D1 |
| F | chatusruthi dhaivatham | D2 |
| shuddha nishadham | N1 | |
| F# | shatsruthi dhaivatham | D3 |
| kaisiki nishadham | N2 | |
| G | kakali nishadham | N3 |
Since R2 and G1 refer to the same svara sthana there can be no ragam that has both these notes in its notation. The same applies to any other notes that have more than one name.
Notation
The notation used in this blog is not consistent with what may be found in carnatic books primarily because its easier to write them this way in ASCII. In books, thara sthayi notes have a dot on top of them, mandara sthayi notes have a dot below, and madhya sthayi notes are just plain letters. In this blog the following notation is used.
- Notes in madhya sthayi are written as S R G M P D N
- Notes in thara sthayi are written as S' R' G' M' P' D' N'
- Notes in mandara sthayi are written as s r g m p d n
Most carnatic songs fit within three octaves and so these symbols are sufficient to write notation for almost all songs.
The comma symbol is used if a note has to be sustained for an additional beat. So
The comma symbol is used if a note has to be sustained for an additional beat. So
"S ," means pick S on first beat and hold the note for another beat.
Talam
Miscellaneous
Sliding: Practice slides with fingers 1, 2, and 3 (pointer, middle, and ring fingers). Sliding with the little finger is hard to control. If you can, thats good but not worth fretting over if you cannot. Try and slide with the minimum amount of pressure necessary to hold the string down. I find this helps in sustaining the sound.Amplifier settings: Sweet clean or slightly overdriven tone. Avoid any harsh distortion. Slight reverb could add some nice colour.
Terminology
svara - fundamental sound in carnatic. May be a plain note, a slur, or a combination of notes
svara sthana - plain notes of a ragam
ragam or raga - scale (for the lack of a better description)
arohanam - ascending svaras in a ragam
avarohanam - descending svaras in a ragam
sthayi - Pitch
madhya sthayi - the middle pitch
thara sthayi - higher by one octave
mandara sthayi - lower by one octave
ati thara sthayi - higher by two octaves
anu mandara sthayi - lower by two octaves
kattai - this is the "unit" of pitch
shruti - the smallest perceivable interval of sound
melakartha system - a system for organising ragas
sampurna ragam - a ragam that has 7 notes
audava ragam - a ragam that has 5 notes
audava-audava ragam - a ragam that has 5 notes in ascent and descent
melakartha system - a system for organising ragas
sampurna ragam - a ragam that has 7 notes
audava ragam - a ragam that has 5 notes
audava-audava ragam - a ragam that has 5 notes in ascent and descent
Articles, Publications, and Videos
- East meets West: Western Instruments in Carnatic Music - 2010
- The Guitar and Carnatic Music - R. Prasanna 1999
- Thaalam - M. Ramanathan
- A Karnatic Music Primer - P. Sriram
- Renegade Fiddler - A western violinist's journey through Carnatic
- Kala pramanam - Voices of Tomorrow 2012, Carnatic Music Lecture by Vidushi Smt. Vedavalli (in Tamizh)
- Introduction to the 12 Notes - Prince Rama Varma
- Lecture on Mayamalavagowla - Prince Rama Varma
- Gamakas - Voices of Tomorrow 2013, Carnatic Music Lecture by Vidushi Smt. Suguna Varadachari (in Tamizh)
- Workshop on Gamakas - One two and three
