An uniform pattern in Varnams - First chittaswaram and chara

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 21 Aug 2009, 08:46

This is mostly guess-work, but it may be faintly logical..

The last swara of the caraNa line has to be the not preceding the first swara of the caraNa line.. this will make it easy to repeat the caraNa a couple of times, with or without sangati-s..

e.g,

- abhogi : marubari begins on M.. jalanurA ends on a SRG, which comfortably dovetails into the Marubari
- suraTi - panthamela begins on P, I vEla is to the tune Rmm or Rpm, which again follows the above pattern..
- savEri - dAnipai is to the tune D,,mpds... the last words vela is to the tune DPMP..

i don't know some of those other varNams, but am sure the same will follow...

the first swara of the first muktAyi swaram has to be a not which can follow the last swara of the caraNa comfortably.. Very often it the next note in the scale (which is the first note of the caraNa).. It can be any other note which can succeed the last note of the caraNa, while maintaining rAga integrity, and rakti...

srinivasrgvn,
I must compliment you on this astute observation... I hadn't given it a thought, or even noticed it till I saw your post..

svkashyap · Post by **svkashyap** » 21 Aug 2009, 09:27

In a lec-dem on varnas, T.S. Satyavati said that generally the ettugade swaras of the varnas have the following pattern

1st - elongated notes (dheerga swaras)
2nd - mixture of long and short notes (hrasva and dheerga swaras)
3rd - sarva laghu (only hrasva)
4th - complex combination involving all of the above

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 21 Aug 2009, 09:49

Ah.. the secrets of melody making.. Nice. Thanks all.

The rule for the first set of swaras is well known with the dheergam spanning beat boundaries frequently, making it a bit tricky to learn. I did not know about the sarva laghu rule for the 3rd set. That is a nice contrast to the first one. Evvari bodhanavini follows all these features quite closely.

If there are 5 sets, then the 2 and 3rd sets seem to follow rule 2, like in Era nApai - thodi

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 21 Aug 2009, 11:57

For adi tala varnams in addition to the above points, we can also note the usual length of the chitta swaram

1st - usually 1 avartanam
2nd - usually 1 avartnam
3rd - 1-2 avartanams
4th - 2-4 avartnams

As keerthi has said, for any chitta swara line that joins back to the charanam it should finish on a note that meets the charanam logically/comfortably. This is just the same principle for singing kalpana swaram. For example, the Kambhoji ata tala varnam charanam which starts on the upper Sa, the chitta swarams 1, 2 & 4 finish on Dha while the third one finishes with the elegant phrase SRG (S)

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 21 Aug 2009, 12:12

Here is a discussion on the Saurashtra varnam on a similar topic : http://rasikas.org/forums/post124746.html#p124746

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 21 Aug 2009, 16:25

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 21 Aug 2009, 19:54

srinivasrgvn, I thought keerthi addressed a wider pattern found in the varnams with respect to dove-tailing. Your astute observation need not hold good in all cases to satisfy keerthi's point.

Vidya Raja's observation is appropriate to your point as well. It so happens that they are the same swara but it does not have to be as long as they are the amsa swaras of the raga. Here is why.

Putting both of their answers together you get a comprehensive answer. ( I am using abbreviations, hopefully making it precise. Hope it is not confusing )

1) You want the flexibility for C -> C -> C ( repeats of the charana line ) so it makes sense for the last swara of the Charanam (LC) to be a logical ( raga appropriate ) precedent of the first charana swara. (FC). That is, (LC, FC) needs to fit into the raga

2) Similarly you want the LC, FE1 ( first ettugada swara ) to fit the raga since you want the transition from charana to the ettugada swara.
So it makes sense and convenient for FC and FE1 to be the same so it can satisfy both cases. That is your keen observation.

3) But then (LC, FE2 ) (LC, FE3 ) (LC, FE4 ) have to satisfy that also. But it will be boring if we make FE2, FE3 and FE4 to be same as FC. Vidya raja says FC, FE1, FE2, FE3, FE4 would normally all come from the set of amsa swaras for that raga.

It just so happens that some composers pick FC and FE1 to be the same.

If a raga has quite a few amsa swaras that can dovetail with the LC, then a composer has more flexibility. Case in point are the exceptions you cite. the Adi thala varna Era Nepai in thodi where G, M, D and S are used effectively as FC and FE swaras and Vanajakshiro, adi, kalyani has N, P and R for the same purpose.