It has been really tricky to closely follow a film song, and then pin down the raga definition present in it to just one, or more than one raga… and to be able to determine exactly where the separation happens. The whole process of identifying ragas in film songs is very entertaining and gives a good mental exercise. But then, when it comes to open forums, several people offer multitudes of explanations as to why they think the song in question is based on a certain raga… or not. I guess I have cultivated this habit since my childhood – My parents and I would play this ‘game’ of determining which raga any song was based on, be it a classical carnatic composition, or film music. That is how I was taught association and slowly I began to identify more and more ragas on my own, and sometimes even challenged my folks on why I was right, and they weren’t… fun times! 
Initially all I knew about carnatic music and ragas and such was hearsay, and I learnt some basics from them.
After a couple years of this ‘home schooling’, I was introduced to the marvellous world of Gaanaamrutha Bodhini and other such books, when I started to play the violin. From that point my guesses were more educated, mainly because I could make the right association reinforced by the actual knowlegde of the underlying notes/swaras, which helped to a great extent.
But then sometimes, as the saying goes, when identifying ragas, Ignorance Is Bliss... Sometimes, although only about 2-3 times out of 10, knowing the swarams doesn’t really help because of several reasons. One of the biggest traps is ‘Gruha Bedham’ or Tonal shifts. Ilayaraja, and a few other composers employ this a lot to convey a change in mood, for instance, and if one is not observant enough, utter confusion is the only possible result.
Bottom line: Half Quarter-baked carnatic music enthusiasts such as myself, sometimes fall for such traps and end up arguing about the raga to no end….which, in its own right, a lot of fun!
Actually the main reason behind this post was a simple epiphany a few days back. As I was wondering about all the above, I suddenly realized that all these swara notations – Ri1, Ri2, Ga2, Ga3, etc.. must have been very recent (although a few ages ago) maths/physics based interpretations of the whole carnatic music system. This must certainly have not been the notion the Original GODS (The Sangeetha Trimurthis, and others) had in mind when composing the legendary krithis and varnams that exist even today and are being passed on from generation to generation endlessly. Otherwise we wouldn’t have ragas like Arabhi & Devagandhaari differing mostly only in their rasam or flavour …. Or even ragas like Vegavaahini & Bindhumaalini, which, to ara-gorais like me, seem overwhelmingly similar to their parent ragam Chakravaham. Wondering about all this is a quite an exothermic process, and the precipitate from this brain-sublimation is only the unescapable realization of the sheer genius of great composers like Saint Thyagaraja, Dikshadhar, Syama Sastri, Swathi Thirunal, Sivan, Annamacharya only to mention a very few.
In conclusion, I think the process of learning carnatic music, is a lifelong experience, if only one is so inclined. This may be true with any classical form of music, but I have not had the chance to explore yet. I guess, that, would have to wait for another lifetime.
Filed under: carnatic, music, musings, raga Tagged: | enjoying carnatic music, epiphany, its all about me, raga identification
Hmm… It is certainly a life long lesson in music. I started learning the violin when I was about 6 years old. The last violin lesson I had was when I was 16. But I still remember the names of ragas, let alone misidentify them. I used to think that I wasted 10 years of my life on violin when I could have better spent the time perfecting my straight drive or my doosra (neither of which I can even claim in my repertoire).
And a couple of weeks ago, I had my own epiphany. I was talking to someone who said she had learnt the bharatanatyam for over 8 years and had gone through the arangetram phase, but *hates* dancing.
I realized then that while I hated the time I spent learning the violin. I now regret that I did not pay attention. I don’t hate music and I am always humming or singing something. And I am able to catch subtle similarities like the Spiderman theme adaptation by YSR.
Makes me wonder what if. But then, I think it all evens out when I realize I have had 6 teachers in the 10 years I spent learning. And I have had breaks ranging from a few months to a year whenever there was a transition from one master to the other. And on top of all that, I have pretty much started from scratch every time I changed teachers. On a positive note, my basics are strong and the sarali and janta varisai pages in the Ganamrutha Bodhini are dog-eared and almost disintegrating while certain other pages are in mint condition
Okie.. that was so off the topic. Sorry ba!
anti –
… indha madhiri naraya peru irukanunga… including me. of course I do not wonder why I wasted my time learning music… in that I differ. i wonder why I did not go Pro with this! sigghh.. aren’t we all wondering something or the other? 
dei araigurai..ozhunga music kathukittu vandhu pesu rascal!
pb – enga kathukalamnu dhan naanum nenekaren… onakku timey kadaika maatengaradhe!
[...] you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Arun says here that learning Carnatic music is a life long experience, should one be so inclined. I think learning [...]
padikara vayasile padikalai na ipdi dhaan….
meejik la enna doubt naalum enna kelu
pk – adhu seri…ketta pochu.. aana naan once keka aaramicha niruthave maaten.. APPUDI oru aaruva kolaru! ready-a ?
If GODS like you speak thus,
whatever happens to lay-people like us ?
Having said that, R1, R2, R3 could not have been recent invention – the reason being, a ragam like gowlai or nattai employs these different Ri – notwithstanding the use of ‘regular’ Ri
So, whether it was called R1 or 2 or 3 – there existed the difference. I don’t remember the terms – but they had different names to indicate the 1s 2s and 3s of swarams.
Also, it is not arai-gorai – it is arai-kurai
you seem to speak tamil well in 5 different languages – are you genius ?
arvind – what a freakin surprise… I dont know what good deed i’ve done in which previous birth that your divine gaze has finally fallen upon this space after such a long time. OMG OMG OMG!!
{end of drama, start real comment}
I agree the differences existed, but I actually meant to say that they may not have existed as not-in-so-many-words sort of existed. Like they might not have been referred to in a way we refer to them now… To use your own example – Naattai – This used to be the Mela raagam until the formulation/invention/creation of CalaNattai which replaced Naattai as a Melakartha ragam.
I think what I am trying to say is music and the different variations in ragam, etc.. may have been more bhavam based and not particularly well defined as we know them today.
Also there are a lot of ragams which are seldom rendered in current day concerts.. Example – Mallaari – It is nothing but a “flavour” of Gambheera Naattai, only played during the mornings and especially only by Nadhaswaram players… but lesser mortals like me thought of it as two different ragas. Also I think, Dhanasri (sounds a lot like abheri) used to have D1 in the original system, but is now sung with a D2, thus making it sound more like abheri.
It is such anomalies/eccentricities that I had in mind when I wrote this post – and hence I mentioned Bindumaalini/Veghavaahini etc.
-x-x-x-
arai-gorai/arai-kurai – tom(ey)to/ tom(aa)to
-x-x-x-
and yessu, I yam geniussu.. (cue bgm **dangu-takku — dangu-takku**)
Melakartha existed 200 yrs before the trinity. Also the trinity were well educated in their forms of music. I have not much knowledge of SS. I can say MD usually puts in lot of though behind a composition, though after some point it becomes your second nature. To my knowledge Thyagaraja swami was the one who composed music out 100% devotion and did’t care much about the Music itself, at least for most parts.
What would be interesting to learn is, if you kept the drift from this blog, is the early Sangam Music Tirupugazhs or the early Arabic Music. They did not have any grammer then, still they conform to all the standards we have today. The most amazing thing, to my knowledge is the Thirupugazhs for its lyrical beauty that not only conforms but also translates to its melodic and the metric counterparts. (Thamizh words just transcends from just being words to being the sruthi and layam of the song)
Sb – machi, yen gnana kannai thirandhu vittaye da nanba!
if the melakartha system was older than the trinity, then it must have been created by super-intelligent life forms – God/Aliens/any more options?
darn, it feels right out of a Spielberg movie.
I have regretted that I haven’t learnt lessons formally from a teacher. I play the guitar (self taught) and carnatic music on it (also self-taught) at a basic level, with a lot of mistakes. What I do not regret is that I started teaching myself music – it has been a fascinating experience so far.
There are a few recordings of my carnatic guitar practice sessions on my blog. I’d be grateful if you listen and make suggestions on how I can play better.
http://philramble.wordpress.com
philramble – OMG dude! I will certainly listen to your clips over the next few days, and will let you know how awesome they are…
as for making suggestions on how you can play better… I really dont know if I am even worthy, as I myself am a lost cause….
I’ve been enjoying your posts… in recent weeks I’ve been passing around a request for help on a small mission of mine… I suppose the best way to explain would be to point you to the post…
http://vajrakrishna.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/ragas-in-rahmans-music/
I am hoping you can help me achieve this small mission, because I feel this is the correct time, when the attention of the west is upon south indian music… to set up such a thing.