98-524: Amr̥tavarṣiṇi is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music), created in the early nineteenth century by Muthuswami Dikshitar . It is an audava rāgam (meaning pentatonic scale) in which only five of the seven swaras (musical notes) are used. It is a janya rāgam (derived scale), fairly popular in Carnatic music. There is a belief that Amr̥tavarṣiṇi causes rain ( The name of
196-673: A raga . The features and rules of the raga (also known as the sanchaaraas of a raga) include how each note of the raga should be stressed, the scale of the raga, and so on. All varnams consist of lyrics, as well as swara passages, including a pallavi , an anupallavi , muktayi swaras , a charanam , and chittaswaras . Known for their complex structure, varnams are a fundamental form in Carnatic music. Varnams are practised as vocal exercises in multiple speeds by performers of Carnatic music, to help develop voice culture, and maintain proper pitch and control of rhythm. In Carnatic music concerts, varnams are often performed by musicians as
294-656: A tala in Indian music covers "the whole subject of musical meter". Indian music is composed and performed in a metrical framework, a structure of beats that is a tala . The tala forms the metrical structure that repeats, in a cyclical harmony, from the start to end of any particular song or dance segment, making it conceptually analogous to meters in Western music. However, talas have certain qualitative features that classical European musical meters do not. For example, some talas are much longer than any classical Western meter, such as
392-569: A tala is a major feature of the Indian tradition, and this is termed as avartan . Both raga and tala are open frameworks for creativity and allow theoretically infinite number of possibilities, however, the tradition considers 108 talas as basic. The roots of tala and music in ancient India are found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism. The earliest Indian thought combined three arts, instrumental music ( vadya ), vocal music ( gita ) and dance ( nrtta ). As these fields developed, sangita became
490-468: A distinct genre of art, in a form equivalent to contemporary music. This likely occurred before the time of Yāska (~500 BCE), since he includes these terms in his nirukta studies, one of the six Vedanga of ancient Indian tradition. Some of the ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Samaveda (~1000 BCE) are structured entirely to melodic themes, it is sections of Rigveda set to music. The Samaveda
588-511: A fixed time cycle or metre, set for a particular composition, which is built from groupings of beats. Tala s have cycles of a defined number of beats and rarely change within a song. They have specific components, which in combinations can give rise to the variety to exist (over 108), allowing different compositions to have different rhythms. Carnatic music singers usually keep the beat by moving their hands up and down in specified patterns, and using their fingers simultaneously to keep time. Tala
686-492: A framework based on 29 beats whose cycle takes about 45 seconds to complete when performed. Another sophistication in talas is the lack of "strong, weak" beat composition typical of the traditional European meter. In classical Indian traditions, the tala is not restricted to permutations of strong and weak beats, but its flexibility permits the accent of a beat to be decided by the shape of musical phrase. A tala measures musical time in Indian music. However, it does not imply
784-404: A hint of the song to be performed. Theoretically, this ought to be the easiest type of improvisation, since the rules are so few, but in fact, it takes much skill to sing a pleasing, comprehensive (in the sense of giving a "feel for the ragam") and, most importantly, original raga alapana. Niraval, usually performed by the more advanced performers, consists of singing one or two lines of text of
882-615: A long time in Sri Lanka, Carnatic music was associated with Indian immigrants, and was often derogatorily referred to as " thosai kade music" ("music from the dosa shop"), in reference to the South Indians-owned restaurants and eateries that typically played this kind of music. From the 20th century, Carnatic music gained significant popularity among certain social strata of the Sri Lankan population , who were then heavily influenced by
980-412: A non- Chatusra-nadai tala , are called nadai pallavis. In addition, pallavis are often sung in chauka kale (slowing the tala cycle by a magnitude of four times), although this trend seems to be slowing. Kāla refers to the change of tempo during a rendition of song, typically doubling up the speed. Onnaam kaalam is first speed, Erandaam kaalam is second speed and so on. Erandaam kaalam fits in twice
1078-404: A percussive instrument such as tabla is called a theka . The beats within each rhythmic cycle are called matras , and the first beat of any rhythmic cycle is called the sam . An empty beat is called khali . The subdivisions of a tala are called vibhagas or khands . In the two major systems of classical Indian music, the first count of any tala is called sam . The cyclic nature of
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#17328808097171176-574: A prominent cultural movement known as the Hindu revival. Carnatic music was thus appropriated and highly promoted during the 1920s and 1930s as a cultural and identity marker of the Colombo and Jaffna bourgeoisies, and by extension of the Sri Lankan Tamils . The place given to Carnatic music in the construction of a modern Sri Lankan Tamil identity has reached significant proportions, such as its rise in
1274-411: A regular repeating accent pattern, instead its hierarchical arrangement depends on how the musical piece is supposed to be performed. A metric cycle of a tala contains a specific number of beats, which can be as short as 3 beats or as long as 128 beats. The pattern repeats, but the play of accent and empty beats are an integral part of Indian music architecture. Each tala has subunits. In other words,
1372-498: A soloist has to sound an important note of the raga there, and a North Indian classical dance composition must end there. However, melodies do not always begin on the first beat of the tala but may be offset, for example to suit the words of a composition so that the most accented word falls upon the sam . The term talli , literally 'shift', is used to describe this offset in Tamil . A composition may also start with an anacrusis on one of
1470-485: A song repeatedly, but with a series of melodic improvised elaborations. Although niraval consists of extempore melodic variations, generally, the original patterns of duration are maintained; each word in the lines of text stay set within their original place ( idam ) in the tala cycle. The lines are then also played at different levels of speed which can include double speed, triple speed, quadruple speed and even sextuple speed. The improvised elaborations are made with
1568-438: A system called the melakarta , which groups them according to the kinds of notes that they have. There are seventy-two melakarta ragas , thirty six of whose madhyama ( subdominant ) is shuddha ( perfect fourth from the tonic), the remaining thirty-six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is prati (an augmented fourth from the tonic). The ragas are grouped into sets of six, called chakras ("wheels", though actually segments in
1666-405: A total of 108 tala s. Improvisation in raga is the soul of Indian classical music – an essential aspect. " Manodharma Sangeetam " or " kalpana Sangeetam " ("music of imagination") as it is known in Carnatic music, embraces several varieties of improvisation. The main traditional forms of improvisation in Carnatic music consist of the following: An alapana, sometimes also called ragam,
1764-584: A type of musical sound that is a single note, which defines a relative (higher or lower) position of a note, rather than a defined frequency. Svara s also refer to the solfege of Carnatic music, which consist of seven notes, "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" (compare with the Hindustani sargam : sa- re -ga-ma-pa- dha -ni or Western do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti). These names are abbreviations of the longer names shadja , rishabha , gandhara , madhyama , panchama , dhaivata and nishada . Unlike other music systems, every member of
1862-537: A verse at the end of the charana , called the madhyamakāla . It is sung immediately after the charana , but at double speed. There are many composers in Carnatic music. Purandara Dasa (1484–1564) is referred to as the Pitamaha (the father or grandfather) of Carnatic music as he formulated the basic lessons in teaching Carnatic music, and in honour of his significant contribution to Carnatic music. He structured graded exercises known as Swaravalis and Alankaras , and at
1960-427: A view of outlining the raga, the tempo, and the theme of the composition. Kalpanaswaram, also known as swarakalpana, consists of improvising melodic and rhythmic passages using swaras (solfa syllables). Like niraval, kalpanaswaras are sung to end on a particular swara in the raga of the melody and at a specific place ( idam ) in the tala cycle. Kalpanaswaras have a somewhat predictable rhythmical structure;
2058-410: A way to enforce the balance between the usage of heavy (bass dominated) and light (treble) beats or more simply it can be thought of another mnemonic to keep track of the rhythmic cycle (in addition to Sam). The khali is played with a stressed syllable that can easily be picked out from the surrounding beats. Some rare talas even contain a "half-beat". For example, Dharami is an 11 1/2 beat cycle where
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#17328808097172156-577: Is counted additively in sections ( vibhag or anga ) which roughly correspond to bars or measures but may not have the same number of beats ( matra, akshara ) and may be marked by accents or rests. So the Hindustani Jhoomra tal has 14 beats, counted 3+4+3+4, which differs from Dhamar tal , also of 14 beats but counted 5+2+3+4. The spacing of the vibhag accents makes them distinct, otherwise, again, since Rupak tal consists of 7 beats, two cycles of it of would be indistinguishable from one cycle of
2254-434: Is a symmetric pentatonic scale ( audava-audava ragam in Carnatic music classification). Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms): The notes used in this scale are shadjam, antara gandharam, prati madhyamam, panchamam and kakali nishādam ) Amr̥tavarṣiṇi is considered a janya rāgam of Chitrambari ,
2352-466: Is adept enough to perform at a concert. Tala (music) Traditional A tala ( IAST tāla ) literally means a 'clap, tapping one's hand on one's arm, a musical measure'. It is the term used in Indian classical music similar to musical meter , that is any rhythmic beat or strike that measures musical time. The measure is typically established by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on thigh or
2450-436: Is at faster speeds. As stated above, the division with the sam (first strong beat) is marked with X, the khali section is marked by 0, and the remaining sections, tali are marked with numbers starting at 2. Some sources give Rupak tala as starting with khali, the only tala to do so. There are many talas in Hindustani music, some of the more popular ones are: Carnatic has a 6-beat Roopak 0 X 2 Compositions are rare in
2548-410: Is believed to be a divine art form which originated from the devas and devis ( Hindu gods and goddesses), and is venerated as symbolic of nāda brāhman . Ancient treatises also describe the connection of the origin of the svaras , or notes, to the sounds of animals and birds and man's effort to simulate these sounds through a keen sense of observation and perception. The Samaveda , which
2646-477: Is believed to have laid the foundation for Indian classical music, consists of hymns from the Rigveda , set to musical tunes which would be sung using three to seven musical notes during Vedic yajnas . The Yajurveda , which mainly consists of sacrificial formulae, mentions the veena as an accompaniment to vocal recitations. References to Indian classical music are made in many ancient texts, including epics like
2744-416: Is constantly increasing. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki ). Like Hindustani music , Carnatic music rests on two main elements: rāga , the modes or melodic formulae, and tāḷa , the rhythmic cycles. Today, Carnatic music
2842-473: Is formed with three basic parts (called anga s) which are laghu , dhrtam , and anudhrtam , though complex talas may have other parts like plutam , guru , and kaakapaadam . There are seven basic tala groups which can be formed from the laghu , dhrtam , and anudhrtam : A laghu has five variants (called jaathi s) based on the counting pattern. Five jaathis times seven tala groups gives thirty-five basic tala s, although use of other anga s results in
2940-399: Is integral to Ragam Tanam Pallavi. Originally developed for the veena, it consists of expanding the raga with syllables like tha, nam, thom, aa, nom, na, etc. Ragam, Tanam, and Pallavi are the principal long form in concerts, and is a composite form of improvisation. As the name suggests, it consists of raga alapana, tanam, and a pallavi line. Set to a slow-paced tala , the pallavi line
3038-446: Is known as tali ('clap') and is accompanied by a clap of the hands, while an "empty" ( khali ) vibhag is indicated with a sideways wave of the dominant clapping hand (usually the right) or the placing of the back of the hand upon the base hand's palm instead. But northern definitions of tala rely far more upon specific drum-strokes, known as bols , each with its own name that can be vocalized as well as written. In one common notation
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3136-426: Is often composed by the performer. Through niraval, the performer manipulates the pallavi line in complex melodic and rhythmic ways. The niraval is followed by kalpanaswarams. Tani Avartanam refers to the extended solo that is played by the percussionists in a concert, and is usually played after the main composition in a concert. The percussionist displays the full range of his skills and rhythmic imagination during
3234-412: Is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) style. Although there are stylistic differences, the basic elements of śruti (the relative musical pitch), svara (the musical sound of a single note), rāga (the mode or melodic formulae), and tala (the rhythmic cycles) form
3332-565: Is organized into two formats. One part is based on the musical meter, another by the aim of the rituals. The text is written with embedded coding, where svaras (octave note) is either shown above or within the text, or the verse is written into parvans (knot or member). These markings identify which units are to be sung in a single breath, each unit based on multiples of one eighth. The hymns of Samaveda contain melodic content, form, rhythm and metric organization. This structure is, however, not unique or limited to Samaveda . The Rigveda embeds
3430-403: Is presented by musicians in concerts or recordings, either vocally or through instruments. Carnatic music itself developed around musical works or compositions of phenomenal composers (see below). Śruti commonly refers to musical pitch. It is the approximate equivalent of a tonic (or less precisely a key) in Western music; it is the note from which all the others are derived. It is also used in
3528-443: Is the exposition of a raga or tone – a slow improvisation with no rhythm, where the raga acts as the basis of embellishment. In performing alapana, performers consider each raga as an object that has beginnings and endings and consists somehow of sequences of thought. The performer will explore the ragam and touch on its various nuances, singing in the lower octaves first, then gradually moving up to higher octaves, while giving
3626-401: Is traditionally taught according to the system formulated by Purandara Dasa . This involves sarali swaras (graded exercises), alankaras (exercises based on the seven talas), geetams or simple songs, and Swarajatis . After the student has reached a certain standard, varnams are taught and later, the student learns kritis . It typically takes several years of learning before a student
3724-423: Is usually only one variant of each note present. The exceptions exist in "light" ragas, in which, for artistic effect, there may be two, one ascending (in the arohanam ) and another descending (in the avarohanam ). A raga in Carnatic music prescribes a set of rules for building a melody – very similar to the Western concept of mode . It specifies rules for movements up ( aarohanam ) and down ( avarohanam ),
3822-593: The Ramayana and the Mahabharata . The Yajnavalkya Smriti states, " vīṇāvādana tattvajñaḥ śrutijātiviśāradaḥ tālajñaścāprayāsena mokṣamārgaṃ niyacchati" (The one who is well versed in veena , one who has the knowledge of srutis and one who is adept in tala, attains liberation ( moksha ) without doubt"). Contemporray Carnatic music is based on musical concepts (including svara , raga , and tala ) that were described in detail in several ancient works, particularly
3920-430: The divya prabandham , thevaram and ugabhoga are often performed similarly, however, these forms can also have a set melody and rhythm like the devaranama , javali , padam , thillana and thiruppugazh forms. The most common and significant forms in Carnatic music are the varnam and the kriti (or kirtanam ). Varnams are short metric pieces which encapsulate the main features and requirements of
4018-579: The Amr̥tavarṣiṇi . Amritavarshini's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam , yields 1 popular pentatonic rāgam, Karnataka Shuddha Saveri . Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. For more details and illustration of this concept refer Graha bhedam on Amr̥tavarṣiṇi . Carnatic music Traditional Carnatic music or Karnataka Sangita (known as Karnāṭaka saṃgīta or Karnāṭaka saṅgītam in
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4116-531: The Bharata 's Natya Shastra and Cilappatikaram by Ilango Adigal . Owing to Persian and Islamic influences in North India from the 12th century onwards, Indian classical music began to diverge into two distinct styles — Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Commentaries and other works, such as Sharngadeva 's Sangita Ratnakara , further elaborated on the musical concepts found in Indian classical music. By
4214-596: The Chapu (four talas), Chanda (108 talas) and Melakarta (72 talas). The Suladi Sapta Tāla system (35 talas) is used here, according to which there are seven families of tāla. A tāla from this system cannot exist without reference to one of five jatis , differentiated by the length in beats of the laghu. Thus, with all the possible combinations of tala types and laghu lengths, there are 5 x 7 = 35 talas having lengths ranging from 3 (Tisra-jati Eka tala) to 29 (sankeerna jati dhruva tala) aksharas. The seven tala families and
4312-589: The Dravidian languages ) is a system of music commonly associated with South India , including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , Kerala , Tamil Nadu and portions of east and south Telangana and southern Odisha . It is one of three main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu texts and traditions, particularly the Samaveda . (The other two are Hindustani music and Odissi music .) The main emphasis in Carnatic music
4410-545: The Gana also implied singing. The Vedic Sanskrit musical tradition had spread widely in the Indian subcontinent, and according to Rowell, the ancient Tamil classics make it "abundantly clear that a cultivated musical tradition existed in South India as early as the last few pre-Christian centuries". The classic Sanskrit text Natya Shastra is at the foundation of the numerous classical music and dance of India. Before Natyashastra
4508-472: The Maratha rulers of Tanjore . Some of the royalty of the kingdoms of Mysore and Travancore were themselves noted composers and proficient in playing musical instruments, such as the veena , rudra veena , violin , ghatam , venu , mridangam , nadaswaram , and swarabat . Some famous court-musicians proficient in music were Veene Sheshanna (1852–1926) and Veene Subbanna (1861–1939), among others. During
4606-811: The Trinity of Carnatic music include Sripadaraja , Vyasatirtha , Kanakadasa , Vadiraja Tirtha , Arunachala Kavi , Annamacharya , Narayana Theertha , Vijaya Dasa , Jagannatha Dasa , Gopala Dasa , Bhadrachala Ramadas , Sadasiva Brahmendra and Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi . Other composers are Swathi Thirunal , Gopalakrishna Bharathi , Neelakanta Sivan , Patnam Subramania Iyer , Mysore Vasudevachar , Koteeswara Iyer , Muthiah Bhagavathar , Subramania Bharathiyar , Kalyani Varadarajan , M. Balamuralikrishna and Papanasam Sivan . The compositions of these composers are rendered frequently by artists of today. Composers of Carnatic music were often inspired by religious devotion and were usually scholars proficient in one or more of
4704-503: The Yadava dynasty in Maharashtra , mentions and discusses ragas and talas . He identifies seven tala families, then subdivides them into rhythmic ratios, presenting a methodology for improvisation and composition that continues to inspire modern era Indian musicians. Sangitaratnakara is one of the most complete historic medieval era Hindu treatises on this subject that has survived into
4802-480: The ghatam , kanjira , morsing , venu flute, veena , and chitraveena . The greatest concentration of Carnatic musicians is to be found in the city of Chennai . Various Carnatic music festivals are held throughout India and abroad, including the Madras Music Season , which has been considered to be one of the world's largest cultural events. Like all art forms in Indian culture , Indian classical music
4900-453: The pulse ; Chauka (one stroke per beat), Vilamba (two strokes per beat), Madhyama (four strokes per beat), Drut (eight strokes per beat) and lastly Adi-drut (16 strokes per beat). Indian classical music, both northern and southern , have theoretically developed since ancient times numerous tala , though in practice some talas are very common, and some are rare. Carnatic music uses various classification systems of tālas such as
4998-467: The rāgam is derived from the Sanskrit words Amrita: meaning Nectar and Varshini: meaning one who causes a shower or rain, and hence the association with rain ), and that the Carnatic composer Muthuswami Dikshitar brought rain at Ettayapuram , Tamil Nadu, India by singing his composition, Aanandaamrutakarshini amrutavarshini . Amr̥tavarṣiṇi is a rāgam that does not contain rishabham and dhaivatam . It
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#17328808097175096-509: The sam is denoted by an 'X' and the khali , which is always the first beat of a particular vibhag , denoted by '0' (zero). A tala does not have a fixed tempo ( laya ) and can be played at different speeds. In Hindustani classical music a typical recital of a raga falls into two or three parts categorized by the quickening tempo of the music; Vilambit (delayed, i.e., slow), Madhya (medium tempo) and Drut (fast). Carnatic music adds an extra slow and fast category, categorised by divisions of
5194-441: The scale of which notes should figure more and which notes should be used more sparingly, which notes may be sung with gamaka (ornamentation), which phrases should be used or avoided, and so on. In effect, it is a series of obligatory musical events which must be observed, either absolutely or with a particular frequency. In Carnatic music, the sampoorna ragas (those with all seven notes in their scales) are classified into
5292-432: The tala system between them continues to have more common features than differences. Tala in the Indian tradition embraces the time dimension of music, the means by which musical rhythm and form were guided and expressed. While a tala carries the musical meter, it does not necessarily imply a regularly recurring pattern. In the major classical Indian music traditions, the beats are hierarchically arranged based on how
5390-559: The 108 lengthy anga talas. They are mostly used in performing the Pallavi of Ragam Thanam Pallavis . Some examples of anga talas are: Sarabhanandana tala Simhanandana tala : It is the longest tala. Another type of tala is the chhanda tala . These are talas set to the lyrics of the Thirupugazh by the Tamil composer Arunagirinathar . He is said to have written 16,000 hymns each in
5488-515: The 16th and 17th centuries, there was a clear demarcation between Carnatic and Hindustani music; Carnatic music remained relatively unaffected by Persian and Arabic influences. It was at this time that Carnatic music flourished in Vijayanagara , while the Vijayanagara Empire reached its greatest extent. Purandara Dasa , who is known as the "father ( pitamaha ) of Carnatic music", formulated
5586-546: The 18th century, South Indian immigrant communities abroad increased, especially in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka . Communities such as the Nattukottai Chettiars participate in the extension of the Carnatic cultural scene abroad, thanks to their rich patronage activity. Carnatic music artists therefore perform abroad among South Indian communities who request their coming, in order to enliven local community life. For
5684-432: The 66th Melakarta rāgam, although it can be derived from other melakarta rāgams, such as Kalyani , Gamanashrama or Vishwambari , by dropping both rishabham and dhaivatam . There is another scale that has the same name but is less practiced in current performances. This scale is associated with the 39th melakarta Jhalavarali . Amr̥tavarṣiṇi rāgam lends itself for extensive elaboration and exploration due to
5782-436: The Carnatic music repertoire. The performance of the Sanskrit sloka , Tamil viruttam , Kannada Ugabhoga and Telugu padyamu or sisapadya forms are particularly unique. Though these forms consist of lyric-based verses , musicians improvise raga phrases in free rhythm, like an alapana , so both the sound value, and the meaning of the text, guide the musician through elaborate melodic improvisations. Forms such as
5880-474: The Indian use of oral tradition for transmitting vast amounts of Vedic literature. Deeply and systematically embedded structure and meters may have enabled the ancient Indians a means to detect and correct any errors of memory or oral transmission from one person or generation to the next. According to Michael Witzel , The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that
5978-701: The North and Karnataka (later called Carnatic) in the South. The term "Karnataka" music originated from the Vijayanagara Empire, historically known as the Karnataka Empire. The British later influenced the change in name to "Carnatic" music, and the term is only about 150–200 years old. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Carnatic music was mainly patronised by the local kings of the Kingdom of Mysore , Kingdom of Travancore , and
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#17328808097176076-465: The South Indian system (Carnatic), a full tala is a group of seven suladi talas . These are cyclic ( avartana ), with three parts ( anga ) traditionally written down with laghu , drutam and anudrutam symbols. Each tala is divided in two ways to perfect the musical performance, one is called kala (kind) and the other gati (pulse). Each repeated cycle of a tala is called an avartan . This
6174-422: The Vedic hymns. The music traditions of the North and South India, particularly the raga and tala systems, were not considered as distinct until about the 16th century. There on, during the tumultuous period of Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. The tala system of the north is called Hindustaani , while the south is called Carnaatic . However,
6272-444: The conventional representation) grouped according to the supertonic and mediant scale degrees. There is a system known as the katapayadi sankhya to determine the names of melakarta raga s. Raga s may be divided into two classes: janaka raga s (i.e. melakarta or parent ragas) and janya raga s (descendant ragas of a particular janaka raga). Janya ragas are themselves subclassified into various categories. Tala refers to
6370-445: The curricula of most Jaffna colleges, where it gradually replaced from the mid-1930s the teaching of Western classical music , or its high esteem among the upper social classes of Colombo and Jaffna, where the learning of Carnatic music among young women is expected as a sign of good education. Many people have travelled to India for improving their skills, and the flow of students to India from Sri Lanka or of Sri Lankan Tamil origin
6468-491: The evolution of Carnatic music. Most Carnatic compositions are in Telugu and Sanskrit. Carnatic music is usually performed by a small ensemble of musicians, consisting of a principal performer (usually a vocalist), a melodic accompaniment (usually a violin ), a rhythm accompaniment (usually a mridangam ), and a tambura , which acts as a drone throughout the performance. Other typical instruments used in performances may include
6566-423: The final "Ka" only occupies half the time of the other beats. This tala's sixth beat does not have a played syllable – in western terms it is a rest. Some talas, for example Dhamaar, Ektaal, Jhoomra and Chautala, lend themselves better to slow and medium tempos. Others flourish at faster speeds, like Jhaptal or Rupak talas. Trital or Teental is one of the most popular, since it is as aesthetic at slower tempos as it
6664-435: The five following jatis. Each tala family has a default jati associated with it; the tala name mentioned without qualification refers to the default jati . For example, one cycle of khanda-jati rupaka tala comprises a two-beat dhrutam followed by a five-beat laghu . The cycle is thus seven aksharas long. Chaturasra nadai khanda-jati Rupaka tala has seven aksharam, each of which is four matras long; each avartana of
6762-460: The foundation of improvisation and composition in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. Although improvisation plays an important role, Carnatic music is mainly sung through compositions, especially the kriti (or kirtanam) – a form developed between the 14th and 20th centuries by composers such as Purandara Dasa , and the Trinity of Carnatic music . Carnatic music is also usually taught and learned through compositions. Telugu language predominates in
6860-419: The fundamental pattern of cyclical beats. The tala as the time cycle, and the raga as the melodic framework, are the two foundational elements of classical Indian music. The raga gives an artist the ingredients palette to build the melody from sounds, while the tala provides her with a creative framework for rhythmic improvisation using time. The basic rhythmic phrase of a tala when rendered on
6958-494: The idiophone in the form of "small bronze cymbals" were used for tala . Almost the entire chapter of Natyashastra on idiophones, by Bharata, is a theoretical treatise on the system of tala . Time keeping with idiophones was considered a separate function than that of percussion (membranophones), in the early Indian thought on music theory. The early 13th century Sanskrit text Sangitaratnakara (literally 'Ocean of Music and Dance'), by Śārṅgadeva patronized by King Sighana of
7056-487: The languages Kannada , Malayalam , Sanskrit , Tamil , or Telugu . They usually included a signature, called a mudra , in their compositions. For example, all songs by Tyāgarāja (who composed in Sanskrit and Telugu) have the word Tyagaraja in them, all songs by Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar (who composed in Sanskrit and Maṇipravāl̥am) have the words Guruguha in them; songs by Śyāma Śāstri (who composed in Sanskrit and Telugu) have
7154-420: The larger cyclic tala pattern has embedded smaller cyclic patterns, and both of these rhythmic patterns provide the musician and the audience to experience the play of harmonious and discordant patterns at two planes. A musician can choose to intentionally challenge a pattern at the subunit level by contradicting the tala , explore the pattern in exciting ways, then bring the music and audience experience back to
7252-408: The last beats of the previous cycle of the tala , called ateeta eduppu in Tamil. The tāla is indicated visually by using a series of rhythmic hand gestures called kriyas that correspond to the angas or 'limbs', or vibhag of the tāla . These movements define the tala in Carnatic music, and in the Hindustani tradition too, when learning and reciting the tala , the first beat of any vibhag
7350-404: The late 19th century, the city of Madras (now known as Chennai) emerged as the locus for Carnatic music. With the dissolution of the erstwhile princely states and the Indian independence movement reaching its conclusion in 1947, Carnatic music went through a radical shift in patronage into an art of the masses with ticketed performances organised by private institutions called sabhās . From
7448-468: The modern era, that relates to the structure, technique and reasoning behind ragas and talas . The centrality and significance of Tala to music in ancient and early medieval India is also expressed in numerous temple reliefs , in both Hinduism and Jainism, such as through the carving of musicians with cymbals at the fifth century Pavaya temple sculpture near Gwalior , and the Ellora Caves . In
7546-530: The music piece is to be performed. The most widely used tala in the South Indian system is Adi tala . In the North Indian system, the most common tala is teental . Tala has other contextual meanings in ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. For example, it means trochee in Sanskrit prosody . Tāla ( ताळ ) is a Sanskrit word, which means 'being established'. According to David Nelson, an ethnomusicology scholar specializing in Carnatic music,
7644-714: The musical element itself. This poses a special challenge for the musicians because rendering this music does not involve just playing or singing the correct musical notes; the musicians are expected to understand what was conveyed by the composer in various languages, and sing musical phrases that act to create the effect that was intended by the composer in his/her composition. There are many types/forms of compositions. Geethams and swarajatis (which have their own peculiar composition structures) are principally meant to serve as basic learning exercises. Compositions more commonly associated with Indian classical dance and Indian devotional music have also been increasingly used in
7742-453: The musical meter too, without the kind of elaboration found in the Samaveda . For example, the Gayatri mantra contains three metric lines of exactly eight syllables, with an embedded ternary rhythm. According to Lewis Rowell, a professor of music specializing in classical Indian music, the need and impulse to develop mathematically precise musical meters in the Vedic era may have been driven by
7840-423: The musician's interpretation. A Carnatic composition really has two elements, one being the musical element, the other being what is conveyed in the composition. It is probably because of this fact that most Carnatic music compositions are composed for singing. In addition to the rich musical experience, each composition brings out the knowledge and personality of the composer, and hence the words are as important as
7938-540: The number of aksharas for each of the 35 talas are; In practice, only a few talas have compositions set to them. The most common tala is Chaturasra-nadai Chaturasra-jaati Triputa tala , also called Adi tala ( Adi meaning primordial in Sanskrit). Nadai is a term which means subdivision of beats. Many kritis and around half of the varnams are set to this tala . Other common talas include: There are six main angas/strokes in talas; Each tala can incorporate one of
8036-426: The number of aksharaas (notes) into the same beat, thus doubling the tempo. Sometimes, Kāla is also used similar to Layā, for example Madhyama Kālam or Chowka Kālam. Talas have a vocalised and therefore recordable form wherein individual beats are expressed as phonetic representations of various strokes played upon the tabla. Various Gharanas (literally 'Houses' which can be inferred to be "styles" – basically styles of
8134-470: The opening item – acting as a warm up for the musicians, and as a means of grabbing the attention of the audience. Carnatic songs (kritis) are varied in structure and style, but generally consist of three units: This kind of song is called a keerthanam or a kriti . There are other possible structures for a kriti , which may in addition include swara passages named chittaswara . A chittaswara consists only of notes, and has no words. Still others have
8232-438: The other hand, verbally, striking of small cymbals , or a percussion instrument in the Indian subcontinental traditions. Along with raga which forms the fabric of a melodic structure, the tala forms the life cycle and thereby constitutes one of the two foundational elements of Indian music. Tala is an ancient music concept traceable to Vedic era texts of Hinduism , such as the Samaveda and methods for singing
8330-604: The recital speed. These were mudras (finger and palm postures) and jatis (finger counts of the beat), a system at the foundation of talas . The chants in the Vedic recital text, associated with rituals, are presented to be measured in matras and its multiples in the invariant ratio of 1:2:3. This system is also the basis of every tala . In the ancient traditions of Hinduism, two musical genre appeared, namely Gandharva (formal, composed, ceremonial music) and Gana (informal, improvised, entertainment music). The Gandharva music also implied celestial, divine associations, while
8428-466: The related Dhamar tal . However the most common Hindustani tala , Teental , is a regularly-divisible cycle of four measures of four beats each. The first beat of any tala , called sam (pronounced as the English word 'sum' and meaning even or equal) is always the most important and heavily emphasised. It is the point of resolution in the rhythm where the percussionist's and soloist's phrases culminate:
8526-537: The same art with cultivated traditional variances) also have their own preferences. For example, the Kirana Gharana uses Ektaal more frequently for Vilambit Khayal while the Jaipur Gharana uses Trital. Players from the Jaipur Gharana are also known to use Ada Trital, a variation of Trital for transitioning from Vilambit to Drut laya. The khali vibhag has no beats on the bayan, i.e. no bass beats this can be seen as
8624-586: The same time, introduced the Raga Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learnt by beginners. He also composed Gitas (simple songs) for novice students. The contemporaries Tyagaraja (1767– 1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar , (1776–1835) and Syama Sastri , (1762–1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music because of the quality of Syama Sastri's compositions, the varieties of compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar, and Tyagaraja's prolific output in composing kritis . Prominent composers prior to
8722-408: The sense of graded pitches in an octave . While there are an infinite number of sounds falling within a scale (or raga) in Carnatic music, the number that can be distinguished by auditory perception is twenty-two (although over the years, several of them have converged). In this sense, while sruti is determined by auditory perception, it is also an expression in the listener's mind. Svara refers to
8820-546: The solfege (called a swara ) has three variants. The exceptions are the drone notes, shadja and panchama (also known as the tonic and the dominant ), which have only one form; and madhyama (the subdominant ), which has two forms. A 7th century stone inscription in Kudumiyan Malai in Tamil Nadu shows vowel changes to solfege symbols with ra, ri, ru etc. to denote the higher quarter-tones. In one scale, or raga , there
8918-409: The solo, which may take from two to twenty minutes. In contrast to Hindustani music of the northern part of India, Carnatic music is taught and learned through compositions, which encode many intricate musical details, also providing scope for free improvisation. Nearly every rendition of a Carnatic music composition is different and unique as it embodies elements of the composer's vision, as well as
9016-418: The swaras are sung to end on the samam (the first beat of the rhythmical cycle). The swaras can also be sung at the same speed or double the speed of the melody that is being sung, though some artists sing triple-speed phrases too. Kalpanaswaram is the most elementary type of improvisation, usually taught before any other form of improvisation. Tanam is one of the most important forms of improvisation, and
9114-470: The symmetric and pentatonic scale. It has many compositions in both classical music and film music. Here are some popular kritis and film music composed in Amr̥tavarṣiṇi . The most popular composition in Amritavarshini Ragam is the kriti Anandamrita Karshini by Dikshitar Muthuswami_Dikshitar In addition to these, Anni Mantramuli Inde Avahinchenu of Annamacharya has been set to music in
9212-510: The system that is commonly used for the teaching of Carnatic music. Venkatamakhin invented and authored the formula for the melakarta system of raga classification in his Sanskrit work, the Chaturdandi Prakasika (1660 AD). Govindacharya is known for expanding the melakarta system into the sampurna raga scheme – the system that is in common use today. By the 16th century, Indian classical music split into two styles: Hindustani in
9310-449: The tala is 4 x 7 = 28 matras long. For Misra nadai Khanda-jati Rupaka tala, it would be 7 x 7 = 49 matra. The number of maatras in an akshara is called the nadai . This number can be three, four, five, seven or nine, and take the same name as the jatis. The default nadai is Chatusram : Sometimes, pallavis are sung as part of a Ragam Thanam Pallavi exposition in some of the rarer, more complicated talas ; such pallavis, if sung in
9408-589: The words Ś yāma Kr̥ṣṇa in them; all songs by Purandaradasa (who composed in Kannada and Sanskrit) have the words Purandara Vitthala ; while Gopalakrishna Bharathi (who composed in Tamil) used the signature Gopalakrishnan in his compositions. Papanasam Sivan, who has been hailed as the Tamil Tyagaraja of Carnatic music, composed in Tamil and Sanskrit, and used the signature Ramadasan in his compositions. Carnatic music
9506-525: Was finalized, the ancient Indian traditions had classified musical instruments into four groups based on their acoustic principle (how they work, rather than the material they are made of). These four categories are accepted as given and are four separate chapters in the Natyashastra , one each on stringed instruments (chordophones), hollow instruments (aerophones), solid instruments (idiophones), and covered instruments (membranophones). Of these, states Rowell,
9604-450: Was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording .... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. The Samaveda also included a system of chironomy , or hand signals to set
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