1. 1. Experiencing our music
2. 2. Let me start with my nostalgia from my younger days
3. 3. Then from my fathers days
4. 4. A popular song form a Telugu movie of a few decades vintage
5. 5. All these songs rendered are in the raga Khamas
6. 6. Then what is a raga and what is Khamas?
7. 7. To understand all these let me go back to certain fundamentals, like an octave, and notes within an octave and then notes of a raga etc
8. 8. First, the concept of an octave is needed to understand music. Let me demonstrate this on a veena.
9. 9. In a veena, if the open string is plucked it gives a sound. If half its length is plucked, a higher note is heard, which is an octave higher to the previous note.
10. 10. The range between the two notes is an octave. An octave is divided into 12 musical intervals both in India and in the Western music. We call these as swara-s and are named Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da and Ni, which abbreviations of Shadjam etc and collectively go by the name sapta-swara-s (seven-notes) Actually, there are only seven names for these twelve notes
11. 11. That is, there are two varieties for Ri, Ga, Ma, Da and Ni and none for Sa and Pa. The twelve notes, then, are as below, located as successive frets on a veena. S r R g G m M P d D n N S 12 swaras of an octave
12. 12. These twelve note in piano or harmonium are as below. S r R g G m M P d D n N
13. 13. Now let us come to a raga
14. 14. A raga, may have a maximum of seven notes. There are rules for this selection, For example there should be a minimum of five, the ascent could be different from descent, and these could be zig-zag. These are the basic rules, and there are many more.
15. 15. Raga Khamas has the following notes S R G m P D n S But the ascent (Arohana) is different from the descent (avarohana).
16. 16. S m G m P D n S S R G m P D n S Arohana Avarohana The arohana does not have Rishabham, and is zig-zag The avarohana contains all seven notes and are regular This is called the scale of a raga The raga allows use of the higher Ni, once in a way.
17. 17. There are also further definitions to a raga beyond its scale. For example, Graha swaras are the notes in which a composition can start, nyasa swaras in which a phrase should end, alpanyasa swsaras, acting as commas, amasa swaras bringing out the essence of the raga, visesha prayogas, etc, etc.
18. 18. Let Charulatha Mani demonstrate the Raga Let us go beyond theory
19. 19. Now Neyveli Santhanagopalan will define the raga through a short rendering
20. 20. There is a Daru Varnam in Khamas composed by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar which we are going to enjoy.
21. 21. The composition is used as the title song for a film, Morning raga
22. 22. Who is better than the Bharata Ratna to show us the composition at its classical form?
23. 23. 3 3 3 3 () 4 3 34 3
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25. 25. | | | | |
26. 26. 33 33 4 33 4 3 4 33 3 2 4 33 3 3 3 3 ()
27. 27. 4 4 3 43 , () () () () ()
28. 28. Shobna and her troupe dance to this varnam
29. 29. Finally, relax and listen to TM Krishan
30. 30. it was an Experiencing, wasnt it?