Playing canatic notes in acoustic guitar

puru00047 · Post by **puru00047** » 18 Oct 2007, 11:40

plz help..
i am havin trouble playin carnatic notes in acousitc guitar
i have decoded all swaras but i am not able to play song like 'manavyalakin','jagadananda karaka',etc esp varnams
i have been able to play sarali,janta and other similar basics though!

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 21 Oct 2007, 02:49

In cm, note continuity is important as you transition among swaras (i.e. with a single strike it is best to go through many notes/swaras that are in a phrase). So generally you need instruments with good sustain. I am not sure acoustic guitar is best fitted although it has a divine sound. To keep up the sustain you may have to strike more often and that may interfere with the smoothness of melody that CM requires.

I also think you need to basically stick to one string during many phrases and transition using slides (not bends, and of course not separate plucks). I think that is what Prasanna does.

But I am no expert. Just a amateur guitar player who gave up guitar once he realized playing CM in it was too much of a challenge compared to singing

Arun

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 17 Nov 2007, 21:52

Electric guitar is a better option.
Try the Gregg Bennett mini strat, it seems very well suited for carnatic.
(You can tune it to Pa - Sa - Pa -Sa -Pa -Sa, like the U Srinivas style mandolin).

sammukeshav · Post by **sammukeshav** » 25 Jan 2008, 03:48

actually padmashri U.shrinivas tunes his mandolin accordingly: sa, pa, sa, pa, sa. My brother goes to india to learn mandolin from shrinivas uncle every year, so i've had a chance to see the maestro's mandolin.

samrakshana

sammukeshav · Post by **sammukeshav** » 25 Jan 2008, 03:51

puru00047, i would suggest tht using numbers to memorise songs isn't going to help u so figure out which swara comes where and that way, u'll know what the swaras for da sngs r aswell.

samrakshana