Why do CM musicians struggle with Sruti alignment?

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thenpaanan
Posts: 635
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:45

Re: Why do CM musicians struggle with Sruti alignment?

Post by thenpaanan »

msakella wrote: 16 Dec 2021, 07:52 To tell the fact, at this old age of 84 years, as per my very long experience as a musician, Mridangist,Vocalist, Violinist, regular fulltime teacher, examiner, performer and author of five music books along with notations and pre-recorded CDs, sensitivity must also be adjudged basing upon its percentage, as average-sensitive at 40%, good-sensitive at 50%, better-sensitive at 80%, best-sensitive at 100% and above 100% Super-sensitive.

For example, I was (in 2001) a Top-ranking Violinist as per the AIR gradation (presently I am only “0” having left – not Violin – but practice at this old age, but always ready – not to teach – but only to initiate kids without even touching the violin or singing making them play even a mini-concert hardly within two years). If that top-rank in 2001 was at average-sensitive of 40% the Great MSG’s also was Top-rank but at Super-sensitive level of above 100%. If one thinks of all the things of our life on these lines we may be able to adjudge others justifiably. In the same manner, the same thing applies even to Shruti-sensitivity also if you are sensible enough. amsharma/msakella
Sharma garu

I have heard that sometimes the singer and violinist have a slightly different meaning of what it means to be "in shruti". One famous singer told me that violinists of certain schools (meaning that it is not personal but training) always tune to a pitch which is a hair lower than the true one. And he found it very irritating he told me, to have to sing without losing his own alignment.

I wanted to ask you if you have had this experience that a singer or other instrumentalist has a slightly different understanding of what it means to be "in sruthi" and if so was this discussed? I find that typically we don't discuss this point and we assume that everyone is automatically aligned on the concert platform.

One time I felt that the violin was slightly sharp and in spite of repeated requests the violinist did not tune it down, and after a point took umbrage that I was implying that he did not know how to tune. I did not want to have an open argument on the stage so just went along. It always left me wondering who was right (and now I wonder if there is even such a thing as "right").

There is also the fundamental problem that instruments like voice, violin, flute, veena, and mridangam have drastically different frequency spectra, and we are only aligning the major (meaning loudest) vibrating modes of these instruments. There are many other frequencies (some harmonic, some not) that come along as part of the instrument that cannot be separately tuned. Sometimes these other frequencies make it sound like the instruments are not aligned because those harmonics are very loud. In some concerts I feel that the violinist or mridangist sounds to be on a distinctly different sruthi from the singer and I always wonder if it is just me or others are hearing it too.

-T

msakella
Posts: 2127
Joined: 30 Sep 2006, 21:16

Re: Why do CM musicians struggle with Sruti alignment?

Post by msakella »

Dear brother-member, thenpaanan,

Mainly this problem of Shruti alignment has on different frequencies depending upon the individual’s level of sensitivity.

Even though me too had a very long life of Violin accompanist, after my retirement, only by the grace of the Almighty, I could, very sadly, find that (including myself) we all music-teachers are truly not teachers at all but very successful cheaters. Having found this I felt very very sad that me too also was among this very bad lot and realised to leave this music profession as an artiste but to serve this music field only in making our kids knowledgeable and since then only by God’s grace I have been able to do this with thumping success. That’s why I always work along with this teaching or learning perspective only which is highly beneficial in logically, properly, quickly, efficiently and successfully shaping our kids and thus I cannot devote my time in thinking or discussing other aspects of our music. In this process only I have found that the music-teacher who restricts his role into less than 5% but efficiently and successfully initiates the kid work and learn for more than 95% on his/her own is the true teacher and been following the same method since 2001. If you visit the thread ‘Beginners Q & A – Learning Area’ and go through the 700+ posts in it you can understand what I have been doing all along these 20 years.

In respect of this Shruti alignment, I sincerely feel that from the very first day of learning better to keep our kids away from these electronic Shruti or Tampura boxes which are prone to one kind of dissonance or the other and train them in the method I have been following and furnished all the details in the above thread. If you study them well and implement them in respect of your students you can fully understand the actual difficulties of our kids facing in this respect. amsharma/msakella

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Why do CM musicians struggle with Sruti alignment?

Post by RSR »

about p-198
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kana kana is in varaaLi. Error due to lapse. in concentration. ..regretted

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