Voice Care

Dos and Don’ts

• Practicing early in the morning, soon after waking up may not suit everyone. Give sufficient time for your voice to settle down and even out. Warm water gargling immediately after waking up would help. Leave your voice chords moist before you start the first practice for the day.

• Do not practice at very high pitch (Shruthi) when the sun is right above your head (that’s between 12 pm and 4 pm). If your pitch is five and half, it will do good to stick to five (say half a pitch lower than yours) at this time of the day. This would avoid wear and tear.

• Every practice session should start with a varnam preferably. Varnams are structured so as to exercise the voice from all possible angles.

• Learn to modulate the voice. Do not sing with the maximum voice beyond upper sthayi rishabham. Soften the voice to reduce the stress on the vocal chord. This doesn’t mean you bring in false voice. Using false voice may help in effortless singing but wouldn’t really be very effective. Know the difference between singing with open voice and singing loudly and the difference between singing with a false voice and singing softly.

• Proper physical posture is essential for good voice production. Some voice types would get strained with 2-3 hours of practice whereas others can go up to 5-6 hours in one stretch. It is important that you understand the nature of your voice and its limitations. If the posture and the singing technique followed are acceptable, at the end of the practice session, the abdominal muscles should get strained and not the voice chords. This could be a self check (Nabhi hruth khanta rasana-Origin of voice is from the abdomen).

• Nasal touch is required for a proper alignment with Shruthi, but nasal twang shouldn’t inhabit your voice completely. Open mouth singing helps reduce the nasal twang.

• Diet plays an important role in maintaining one’s voice health. Drinking warm water helps. Hot tea, clove in honey, ginger and pepper milk do wonders and soften the voice. Avoid road-side food, oily food, soft drinks and cold items.

• Avoid overuse of the voice- don’t scream, talk softly, have limited talks, last and the most important being “Get rid of the fear of falling sick!” Have a strong mind and a committed soul.

Thodi

Hanumathodi, more popularly known as thodi is the 8th melakartha in the 72 Melakartha scheme. Thodi is a soothing melody, profound and delightful. It is the second raga in the second chakra – Netra. Just like all melakartha ragas, Thodi is also a sampoorna raga.

Arohana : S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S

Avarohana : S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S

Thodi is generally used to convey Karuna and Bhakthi. This is a  Raga which brings out supreme melody. Majestic vibrations, and the meandering of the gamakams, laden with full bhavam characterize the melodic identity of thodi. The notes G2 and D1 constitute the nuclei of the melodic network of thodi. As a Raga with tremendous scope for elaboration, the raga enjoys the pride of a place in every concert and lends itself to all types of songs and compositions.

Thodi Sitaramayya, a gifted  musician in  the court of King Saraboji, is said to have  sung this raga continuously for eight days, which  earned him the title thodi Sitaramayya.  He developed the Alapana progressively in the prescribed manner,  culminating in a grand pallavi rendition.  A marvelous feat indeed.  Sometimes he used to pledge the thodi raga  (his property) for borrowing money, promising not to sing thodi until the money is completely repaid.

Thodi claims to have a large number of janya ragas. Walter Kaufman’s, “Ragas of South India” describes 43 janyas of thodi whereas Lakshman Ragde’s, “Ultimate Index” lists more than 100. Some of the famous ones are, Asaveri, Bhupalam, Dhanyasi and Punnagavarali which will all be discussed in detail in the coming blog posts.

Every composer has enriched thodi raga with his or her contribution to the flood of compositions.  Among the trinity, Thyagaraja has composed a staggering number of 32 krithis,  Dikshitar has 8, and Shyama Sastri has 4.  Besides the trinity, Svati tirunal has 14, and Papanasham shivan has composed 19 songs in thodi.

I will not be able to list out all the compositions in this powerful raga, but here are the links to some of my favorites 🙂

Thodi Varnam – Era Napai by Nityashree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw7pt9z3wY0&feature=related

Thodi alapana byUnnikrishnan – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx3qk1WnfpI

Kamalambike – Muthuswami Dikshithar krithi by Vansundra Rajagopal – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKJzuDGxAVg

Sri Gati Neevani – Thyagaraja krithi by Lalgudi Jayaraman (3rd Song) – http://www.musicindiaonline.com/list_albums/i/11-Classical_Carnatic_Instrumental/543-Thodi/#/album/11-Classical_Carnatic_Instrumental/4190-Collectors_Choice_-_Live_Concert_1967_Vol_1/

Thaye Yashoda by Sudha Ragunathan (2nd Song) – http://www.musicindiaonline.com/list_albums/i/10-Classical_Carnatic_Vocal/543-Thodi/#/album/10-Classical_Carnatic_Vocal/12697-Alaipaayuthe_Kannaa/

Thaye Yashoda from film Morning Raga (fusion) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0NIWMFE0EQ

Gangai Karai Mananadi – Film song from Varusham 16 (Tamil Film) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWbufNGA3Jg

These compositions might have given you the hang of this divine yet commanding raga. I will discuss the janya ragas in the following posts ! 🙂

Fun Fact – Thodi in Carnatic music, is different from Thodi (Thaat) of Hindustani music. The equivalent of the Hindustani raga Thodi in Carnatic music is Shubapantuvarali (which is the 45^th Melakarta Raga). The equivalent of Carnatic Thodi in Hindustani is the Bhairavi thaat.

Senavati

With Tanarupi, we have completed learning about the first 6 melakartha ragas which are collectively termed as the Indu Chakra. As we have seen before, ragas from the same Chakra have the same set of notes in the first tetra-chord, poorvanga. Below is an overview of the ragas in the Indu Chakra.

Kanakangi         –  S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1 S

Ratnangi            –  S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2 S

Ganamurthi     –  S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3 S

Vanaspati         –  S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S

Manavati          –  S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3 S

Tanarupi          –  S R1 G1 M1 P D3 N3 S

I hope the pattern in deriving the arohana and the avarohana by just changing the daivatham and nishadham is clear. 🙂

The next raga which we are going to see belongs to the next chakra. In this chakra, the poorvanga consists of the suddha rishabam and the sadharana gandharam. (S R1 G2 M1)

Senavati is the first raga in this chakra and the 7th Melakartha raga. The arohana and the avarohana of Senavati are :

Arohana – S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N1 S

Avarohana – S N1 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S

Senavati has a few minor Janya ragas namely, Bhogi, Chittakarshani, Navarasa Mala and Sindhu Gowri. These are all very rare ragas and not many songs are composed in these.

This video gives a general idea of the Raga – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ3g3LGCbdY

This is a link to an excellent fusion composition in Senavati – http://www.musicindiaonline.com/#/search/clips/global!q=senavati (Please listen to it in max volume ! )

Hope you enjoyed reading about Senavati ! The next Raga we will be discussing is a very famous and challenging one and one of my favorite ragas. Not only do many artists take it up as a main raga in their performance, this raga has also influenced the film industry a lot. Stay tuned to find out more ! 🙂

Fun Fact : Senavati is called Senagrani in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music!

Thanarupi

Thanarupi is the 6th Melakartha Raga in the 72 Melakartha scheme.

Arohana – S R1 G1 M1 P D3 N3 S1

Avarohana – S N3 D3 P M1 G1 R1 S

The notes used in this scale are shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, shatsruthi dhaivatham andkakali nishadham. As it is a melakarta rāgam, by definition it is a sampoorna raga.

One very interesting fact about Thanarupi is that it does not have any janya ragas associated with it.

As Thanarupi is a very rare raga, not many songs are composed in it.  Below is the link where you can find two songs which will give you a feel to this Raga. The first song is composed by Balamuralikrishna and it includes an alapana. The second one is a very powerful instrumental piece.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/#/search/clips/global!q=thanarupi&genre=0

You can also listen to Vadivel Muruga, a very beautiful composition by N.S.Chidambaram. It is the 4th song in this album – http://music.napster.com/tanjore-s.kalyanaraman-music/album/thanarupi—s.subbulakshmi–and–k.gowri—tribute-to-tanjore-s.-kalyanaraman/13175800

Other notable compositions are –

• Chidambara natarajamurthim by Muthuswami Dikshithar
• Va velava va by Koteeswara Iyer

Hope you enjoyed listening to the songs ! 🙂

Fun Fact : In Muthuswami Dikshithar school of Carnatic music, Thanarupi is called Tanukeerti!

Manavati

So far we have seen the first 4 Melakartha Rags and some of their main janya ragas. The fifth Melakartha Raga is Manavati. This raga is not a very famous one and only a few compositions are well known. The scale of this raga is as follows –

Arohana – S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3 S

Avarohana – S N3 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

Manavati has a few minor janya ragas (derived scales) associated with it. Out of these, Manoranjani is the most famous. Some of the popular compositions in Manavati are Evarito ne delpudu by Thyagaraja, Nijabaktim by Kooteswar Iyer and Sri Hanumantham by Balamuralikrishna (http://www.muzigle.com/#!track/41110).

Here is a link to a video of a  song in Manavati which brings out the beauty of this rare raga – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgklBdphZY0&playnext=1&list=PL2B93A8FBC18FFE10&index=28

Manoranjani

As stated earlier, Manoranjani is one of the famous janya ragas of Manavati. It is an extremely rare and beautiful raga. The scale of Manoranjani is –

Arohana – S R1 M1 P D2 N3 S

Avarohana – S N3 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

As you can see, the avarohana has all the swaras whereas the arohana does not contain the gandgaram.If you are looking forward to improvise Indian music, then the Raga Manoranjani can be an excellent choice.

The Raga Manoranjani is mainly used in Western music (Reggae, Jazz, blues, Pop, and many others) because of its very special quality, which is that it doesn’t have a minor nor major third (and so it is said to belong to the group of ‘ambigous;’ scales). This quality makes the Raga Manoranjani an excellent option when you want to play chord that does not contain a third, like suspended chords.

Here is a wonderful video which is a tribute to this raga – – http://wn.com/manoranjani_a_raga_tribute_to_manoranjani

In the next post i will discuss the next melakartha raga, Tanarupi !

Fun Fact : In Muthuswami Dikshithar school of Carnatic music, the 5^th melakarta is Manoranjani !

Vanaspati

Vanaspati is the fourth Melakarta Raga in the 72 Melakarta scheme. It belongs to the first Chakra in the Melakarta system just like the Ragas discussed earlier. Its arohana-avarohana structure is as follows.

Arohana – S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S

Avarohana – S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

Similar to all the Melakartas, Vanapati is also a Sampoorna Raga (it has all the swaras).  Rasāli is one of the better known of few janya ragams (derived sclaes) associated with Vanaspati. There are several famous compositions in this Raga out of which the most famous ones are, Pariyachakama composed by Tyagaraja (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HsEpx4ycqk) and Brihadamba composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar. This is a link to a beautiful instrumental piece in this raga –   http://www.musicindiaonline.com/#/search/clips/global!q=Vanaspati+

Rasāli

Rasāli, as mentioned above is one of the famous Janya ragas of Vanaspati. Its scale is given below.

Arohana – S R1 M1 P D2 N2 S

Avarohana – S D2 P M1 R1 S

As you can see it is not a symmetric raga and hence is classified as a Vakra Raga. The first three songs in the given link are beautiful compositions in this Raga.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/#/search/clips/global!q=Rasali

Hope you enjoyed learning about Vanaspati and Rasali !

Fun Fact : In the Muthuswami Dikshitar school of music, this raga is called Bhānumati.

Ganamurthi

Ganamurthi is the third melakartha in the 72 Melakartha scheme.

Arohanam : S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3 S

Avarohanam : S N3 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S

The notes used in this scale are shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, shuddha dhaivatham, kakali nishadham. Just like the other ragas Ganamurthi too has its own janya ragas. Ganamurthi, though a sampoorna raga, is very rare and not many compositions are famous in this raga. Ganamoorthe sri krishna by Thyagaraja is a popular composition sung in concerts, set to Ganamurti. Here is the link to Nityashree Mahadevan’s rendition of this raga. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX5MKCE-B8U.

The janya ragas of Ganamurthi are also not so famous and not many compositions are sung during concerts in these ragas.

In the next post i will be discussing the next Melakartha namely Vanaspathi. 🙂

Fun Fact – Ganamurthi is called Gānasāmavarāḷi in Muthuswami Dikshithar school of Carnatic music

Ratnangi

Ratnangi is the second Melakartha raga (Right after Kanakangi).

Arohanam : S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2 S

Avarohanam : S N2 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S

The scale uses the notes shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, shuddha dhaivatham and kaisiki nishadham. Just like most of the Melakartha ragas, Ratnangi also has its own janya ragas out of which Revati is the most famous.

Some of the famous compositions in Ratnangi are Sri Dakshinamurthim by Muthuswami Dikshitar and Kalasavardhijam by Thyagaraja.

Here is the link to 2 pieces in this Raga . http://www.musicindiaonline.com/artist/topsongs/10-Classical_Carnatic_Vocal/28-Ramanathan_MD/#/search/clips/global!q=rathnangi&genre=0

As I mentioned earlier, Revati is the most famous Janya raga of Ratnangi.

Revati

Revati is an audava rāgam (it has only 5 notes). In Hindustani Music a raga that closely resembles Revati is Bairagi  Bhairav. Revati is a symmetric rāgam that does not contain gāndhāram or dhaivatam.

Arohanam : S R1 M1 P N2 S

Avarohanam  : S N2 P M1 R1 S

One famous kritis in this raga are Nanati badhuku by Annamacharya. Lalgudi Jayaraman has composed a thillana in this ragam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35RmPI_TTK4). Another very famous song in this raga is bo shambo shiva shambo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0ASl2W8tE&feature=related). One very famous tamil film song in this ragam is Sangeetha Jathi Mulai (starting raga is revati) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou7sJKydipA.

Fun Fact: Ratnangi is called  Phenadhyuti in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music. 🙂

Ragam Kanakangi

Kanakangi is the first melakartha in the 72 melakartha scheme.

Arohanam : S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1 S

Avarohanam : S N1 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S

It is a sampoorna raga (The raga has all the swaras in it).  It is the first raga in the chakra Indu. It has many janya ragas of which the most popular ones are Karnātaka shuddha sāveri and Lavangi.

Sri Gananatham Bhajamyaham is a very famous composition in this ragam. This song is composed by Sri Thyagaraja (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv8MZnIOW8w).  Another famous composition is Dikshitar’s Kanakambari.

The famous song Mohanam Enum from the tamil movie Sindubharavi is composed in this ragam  – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd8_rwlUWCE .

Here is a link to a fusion by famous Veena player E. Gayathri.  http://www.musicindiaonline.com/list_albums/i/10-Classical_Carnatic_Vocal/455-Aadi/29?q=#/search/clips/global!q=kanakangi&do=Search (Song’s name is Something special).

Karnataka Shuddha Saveri

This raga is a janya raga of Kanakangi.

Arohanam : S R1 M1 P D1 S

Avarohanam : S D1 P M1 R1 S

Karnataka Shuddha Saveri is a symmetric rāgam that does not contain gandharam or nishādham. A very famous composition in this ragam is Ekamresha Nayike by Dikshithar which can be found in this link under Muthuswami Dikshitar vol 2 – http://www.musicindiaonline.com/list_albums/i/10-Classical_Carnatic_Vocal/455-Aadi/29?q=#/list_albums/i/10-Classical_Carnatic_Vocal/455-Aadi/29!q=

Fun Fact: Kanakangi is called Kanakambari in Muthuswami Dikshitar school !

Sabha Gana continued…

Padam

This musical form was perfected in 17th century. In the earlier days, the term padawas used to denote any devotional song, but now it stands for a particular form of music rendered at a very slow pace. The lyrics are highly romantic in nature. Telugu padams are usually in praise of Krishna, whereas Tamil padams are in praise of Subramanya.Structure: The Padam, like a kriti, has three sections: Pallavi, Anupallavi and one or more Charanams. Sometimes, the Anupallavi is used as the starting point. Languages used: Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. Popular composers: Kshetrajna (known as the Father of the modern Padam), Sarangapani (Telugu), Ghanam Krishnayyar and Subbarama Iyer (Tamil) and Swati Tirunal (Telugu and Malayalam). Examples: Payyeda (Nadanamakriya), Ninnujoochi (Punnagavarali) etc. of Kshetrajna, Oddupettudu (Anandabhairavi) of Sarangapani, Yarukkahilum (Begada), Yaarpoi (Todi), etc of Ghanam Krishnayyar. Purpose: Padams are beautiful, scholarly compositions in weighty, classical ragas. Though they belong to the dance repertoire, they are often sung in concerts because of the high musical content. The emotional aspects in a Padam make it a perfect piece for the dancer to do Abhinaya (facial expression of emotions).

Javali

The Javali is a lighter composition compared to the Padam, which evolved in the 19th century. The word Javali is derived from the word Javadi, which means lewd poetry in Kannada. The lyrics are simple, colloquial and deal with emotions like infidelity and jealousy.Structure: There are three sections – Pallavi, Anupallavi and one or more Charanams having the same tune. They are generally set in light ragas, like Kapi, Khamas, Behag, etc. Languages used: Telugu or Kannada. Popular composers: Dharmapuri Subbarayar, Patnam Subramanya Iyer, Pattabhiramayya, Swati Tirunal and Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar. Examples: Adineepai (Yamankalyani), Marubari (Khamas), Vanipondu (Kanada) etc. Purpose: Javalis deal with human relationships and are sometimes sensuous and erotic in content. The tunes are light and catchy, making them very popular. Javalis are performed in the second half of music and a dance concert.

Tillana

Melattur Virabhadrayya was the first person to compose the Tillanas. The Royal-composer, Swati Tirunal and several other post-trinity composers composed this form of music in the 19th century. The Tillana derives its name from the syllables, ti – la – na. Tillanas can be compared to Taranas of Hindustani Music.Structure: The tillana also consists of three sections: Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam. The Pallavi and Anupallavi usually comprise swaras and jatis (rhythmic syllables), while the Charanam comprises lyrics followed by passages of swara and jatis. Various syllables like nadru, deem, dirana, etc. are employed. These syllables have no particular meaning. Tillanas are set in common talas like Adi, Roopaka, Misra or Chapu, etc. There is also a Tillana in Simhanandana tala.Types: (1) Those sung in music concerts – These are fast-paced and the emphasis is on the raga. (2) Those performed in dance concerts – These are medium-paced and the jatis are woven into the composition to allow the dancer to exhibit variations in footwork. Languages used: Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit. Popular composers: Swati Tirunal, Patnam Subramanya Iyer, Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar. In modern times, we have composers like Lalgudi Jayaraman, M Balamuralikrishna and Chitravina Ravikiran. Examples: Dirana tanadeemta (Jhunjooti), Tanom tanata (Paras), Takatajanu (Mohanakalyani) Purpose: Tillanas are short and lively compositions that give a fitting finale to a concert, be it music or dance.