bAlabrundam

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Jan 2007, 06:01

Not all of SSI's students are mere clones!

http://www.kutcheribuzz.com/features/in ... arajan.asp

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Jan 2007, 09:15

The more I read about this remarkable woman, the more I admire her. A true student, teacher, guide and hope for the future of CM...

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 27 Jan 2007, 10:50

My favourites when it comes to group singing. Their rendition of Kamalambha krithis is sublime

kaapi · Post by **kaapi** » 28 Jan 2007, 17:17

In the year 1969 or 1970 during one of the morning seesions at MA SSI observed that CM teachers can consider changing over to sankarabaranam from mayA mALavagowlai for the sarali varisai etc and also start the classes with simple geethams like shakti sahita gaNapathim. He said that sankarabaranam would be easier for the children to sing that MMGowlai and even HM teachers start with bilaval. Starting with geethams will sustain the young learner's interest and varisais can be taught later as they are only vocal excercises.
He drew a lot of flak for this.
It is nice to see one of his disciples putting his thoughts into practice.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 28 Jan 2007, 18:15

kaapi wrote:Semmangudi-He said that sankarabaranam would be easier for the children to sing that MMGowlai and even HM teachers start with bilaval.

So what if HM teachers teach bilAval first? We teach CM, Not HM or WM. I dont understand why everyone is flogging CM for not being like HM. "They have SrutiSuddha, we dont", "They elaborate a rAga leisurely for an hour and a half. Our musicians hurry up with birkas", "They give so much importance to voice culture. Our musicians dont".

Why the heck should CM be like HM! Why dont HM teachers start teching beginers lessons in MMG? Why dont they enunciate sAhitya clearly like CM musicians without chewing, mangling, inordinately stretching and swallowing it up. Why dont they show tALa properly and give more importance to it? Why dont they sing more of God and bhakti instead of singing on mundane erotic themes? Why dont they sing more of dEvaranAmas, dIkShitar kRtis and other songs in SI languages just like CM musicians sing bhajans. Do you see anyone flogging HM for not being like CM.

There is no need for CM to catch the tail of HM, ape it or ride piggy-back. HM and HM musicians are not perfect in everyway that CM musicians have to mimic it. Lets take CM for what it is and aprreciate it and lobve it. There is a lot that we can do in CM with CM without haing to resort to cheap mimicry.

Starting with geethams will sustain the young learner's interest and varisais can be taught later as they are only vocal excercises.

Some merit here. Yes, a mixture of beginning lessons and songs is a good approach. They donthave to be gItes, but just simple songs. Completely leaving out saraLe varase etc beats the purpose however. For one to understand and assiilate the concept of Sruti and tALa, these are a must.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 28 Jan 2007, 18:18

Seeta Rajan wrote:Is your teaching method different?

I do not start the learning exercises in the raga Mayamalavagowla as in the traditional system. I teach the basic exercises in pentatonic scale ragas like, Mohanam, Gambhira nattai. I do this because they have bright and plain notes and the beginner can sing in a full voice. I don't think that the gandhara of Mayamalavagowla can be explained to a beginner well.

Pray how is the gAndhAra of MMG different from that of SankarAbharaNa or mOhana? And why should it be "Explained" to a beginner?

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 28 Jan 2007, 21:09

drshrikaanth wrote:Completely leaving out saraLe varase etc beats the purpose however. For one to understand and assiilate the concept of Sruti and tALa, these are a must.

I wonder if the tala aspect (particularly multiple speeds + the alankaras) can be understated at the beginning, whether it will help the sruthi part (at the beginniung). It is a significant complex variable to the equation at the beginning. Cant leave it out completely of course but the faster speeds and complex talas can come a bit later.

In terms of which raga at the beginning: My gut-feel (and personal experience) is that R1, D1 (and in some sense N3) are tougher at the beginning as all are 1 semi-tone from the overly dominant sadja/ pancama. Based on that sankarabharanam would be better than MMG. But then harikAmbhOji would be perfect

!

I also wonder if sankarabharanam may be more attractive to beginners as it has a livelier feel than MMG. All those varisais, alankaras, and even the beginning malahari gItams do have an overwhelmingly solemn feel - not sure how it is on kids.

(having said all that, despite all this, the system does work fine and does churn out gems.)

Arun

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 29 Jan 2007, 00:12

drshrikaanth wrote:Some merit here. Yes, a mixture of beginning lessons and songs is a good approach. They donthave to be gItes, but just simple songs. Completely leaving out saraLe varase etc beats the purpose however. For one to understand and assiilate the concept of Sruti and tALa, these are a must.

My kid's teacher is following this method. In between the regular saraLe, janTi, alankAra, gIte etc she is teaching simple dEvaranAmas, tyAgarAj's simple EkadhAtu/dvidhAtu kritis, note swaras etc, and IMO that helps in interest retention in kids.

-Ramakriya

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 29 Jan 2007, 02:08

My mother has always taught like this:)

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 29 Jan 2007, 17:11

drshrikaanth wrote:There is no need for CM to catch the tail of HM, ape it or ride piggy-back. HM and HM musicians are not perfect in everyway that CM musicians have to mimic it. Lets take CM for what it is and aprreciate it and lobve it. There is a lot that we can do in CM with CM without haing to resort to cheap mimicry.

true to every word. the HM-CM comparison is unwarranted. take it as such and enjoy. each has its own merits and demerits. no logic in comparing them. apples are apples and oranges are oranges.

teaching gItams in between varisais, well my guru did not teach me any gItams till the end of alankArams, she did not teach any kriti (be it small or big) till we had learnt enough varNams. I dont think she had a dearth of students. Not many of her students have left or felt bored and dropped out from music classes. i personally feel that this is more to do with individual guru's methods of teaching and how he/she treats and brings out the talent in their disciples. I dont wish to say anything offensive at any of the gurus here, but i just tell this as a personal opinion and comment.

Music · Post by **Music** » 29 Jan 2007, 20:15

Mayamalavagowla for beginners has a big plus point in CM as opposed to Shankaabharanam - you can sing it without gamakas. If the initial exercises are learnt in Shankaabharanam without the gamakams it would not sound like CM, would be more like HM or WM.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 29 Jan 2007, 20:32

mmgowla is best suited for sruti assessment. and whenver the sruti is doubtful it is better to sing songs in mmgowla or allied ragas. this is my experience.