Notes and Beats

Raag Saraswati is a beautiful melody that comes to Hindustani music from Carnatak Music. The “Jati” is Audav –Shadav i.e. Five Swaras in the aroha (ascent) and six Swaras in the avaroh (decent). Gandhar and Nishad are not taken in Aroh and Gandhar is not taken in Avroh .The dialogue between Pancham and Rishab is very pleasing. They are Vadi and Sanvadi swars respectively. It is a sweet coincidence that an artist specially blessed by Saraswasti Maa is singing Raag Saraswati. Deeply emotive artistic communication and profundity are signatures of Sanhita Nandi 's Raga development .As the aesthetic beauty of colourful flowers of notes in the garden of this raga are carefully caressed; a holistic feeling of the Raaga Bhava emerges. One tends to get lost in the ocean of divine musical experience .True to the Kairana legacy; the musical sonority is loved and protected beyond life. Raaga Saraswati becomes a medium to connect with Maa Saraswati.

Pandit K G Ginde used to say that Raag Yaman is the king of all Raagas . In Indian classical music one rarely finds a Raag like Yaman that lets a performer take so much liberty with it. In short, it maintains its identity even when it is being handled by amateur singers . If you are blessed with a good range of voice, and you have acquired sonority and control over rhythm, it’s difficult to go wrong with Yaman. If you know how to take Pa –Re coupling and have a good sense of  movement across Ni and Ga the raga shows itself easily. Begin the Kalyan celebration by garlanding mandra nishad with beautiful colourful flowers of Mandra swaras. Enjoy the nectar of Yamanic Gandhar and Madhyam with a bit of rest on Pancham. Keep Dhaivat at bay and gently enter the antara after a leisurely development on Nishad . And lo! The edifice of Yaman is erected. You may or may not want to cross the orbital of ordinariness, and you can still enjoy Yaman. Staying comfortably within our limitations...

Ustad Amir Khan always stressed upon being a thinking musician. He was of the opinion that a musician must constantly reflect upon, and evaluate the wide world of possibilities through which he has to articulate his musical feelings. However he was not in favour of purely intellectual and mechanical development of Raagas. He shunned layakari of the pronounced nature that we see today. He said “Mere Gane mein Laykari bilkool Na ke barabar hoti hai .” One can do Layakaris, alan karas with amazing mathematical abilities but in what way can it convey the feelings embedded in the raga? Is it not merely a play of medium? Is it not acrobatics for which the best place to be is in a circus and not in a Baithak? In his performances and melody development, Khan Saheb went much beyond merely intellectual calculations. He was a master of “Merukhanda Paddati” but his aalaps never sound like permutations and combinations of 4, 5 or 6 swaras. They arrive loaded with his emotional intensity and ferve...

The world of poetry is fortunate to have a basic expectation set from the readers clearly .Any poem that is written and read should make sense and should provide deeper meanings and insights into life .If this expectation was not set, poets with some mastery over words and grammar would have created a whole lot of tongue twisters and funny sounding phrases with rhymes. The musical world is not so fortunate, since the messages given by musicians through their music cannot always be concretely interpreted; they can take the liberty of revelling in the play of elements and create an illusory structure that is devoid of any real emotive content. For past couple of days, I have been listening to a beautiful series on Western classical music. “The Classical Classroom” In each of the episode a famous piece /composer is taken and a renowned musician explains it. The explanation is so detailed that every musical phrase is explained for its structure, composition and content. The messages ...

An artist's state of mind and his nature is a key deciding factor about the quality of art he creates. This is true with any form of art including classical music . If a classical musician is jovial, lighthearted and playful he is more inclined towards “Layakari (Rhythmic variations). He tends to get over the development of Raagas soon and rides more on higher tempo. He dances, rocks and sways in a brilliant display of musical gymnastics that he puts up. He  flaunts his mastery over the medium with much pomp and pride . The Tanaas flow at 4 times, 8 times; 16 times the base tempo and enthralls the audience. He adds another day of excitement in their lives. But if he is thoughtful, meditative and profound his art gets manifested in a very different way .His heart is like a vast ocean of feelings whose expression can be endless. He prefers slow evolutionary Badhat .Poignant and moving alap in slow tempo brings out the essence of the mood of the raga. He surrenders to Sur and...

Music can connect people like nothing else can. Even people who are together,momentarily for a very impersonal and non-emotional task. Frisking. Yes Frisking. I witnessed an interesting incident at the security check on Mumbai airport today. Just after my security check was over, the passenger behind me stood in front of the guard. He started humming the timeless melody "Na tum hume Jano.” That brought out the musical self of the guard out and he started singing too. The duet was audible to almost every one standing around. The guard and the passenger looked at each other and gained senses only after the first stanza was over. The onlookers were  enjoying the scene. As I was collecting my Laptop I couldn't help saying "Bahot Khoob  !! Kya baat hai !! ".Life is what we make of it .The guest was checked and he disappeared in the crowd of strangers gifting a small memorable moment to all those who could be a part of this simple pleasure.