i am an instrument player learning flute.now i started learning varnas but my sister told me that to learn varnas first in vocal and then only we can get a good knowldge of them in instrument.but what my problem is sruthi. i am not under standing what is the sruthi range of males.my sister can sing at high ranges but as it is for me it is getting diffcult so please hlep me in knowing about this sruthi range for males
thank you all,
range of sruthi for men
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poornashadjam
- Posts: 45
- Joined: 18 Oct 2008, 22:57
Mr ananth krishna
The male sruthi ranges between 0.5 (arai Kattai) till about 2.5 . Normally voice breaks for a boy entering the adolescent stage . It will take some time for the voice to settle during this stage.
It will help if you can try out the sruthi ranges 2.5 , then 2 and then 1.5 and then 1 . in that order and see which sruthi you are comfortable in reaching the tarastayi Gaandharam and Mandra Panchamam. That should be your natural sruthi. A good teacher in music should help you in this easily.
Regards
The male sruthi ranges between 0.5 (arai Kattai) till about 2.5 . Normally voice breaks for a boy entering the adolescent stage . It will take some time for the voice to settle during this stage.
It will help if you can try out the sruthi ranges 2.5 , then 2 and then 1.5 and then 1 . in that order and see which sruthi you are comfortable in reaching the tarastayi Gaandharam and Mandra Panchamam. That should be your natural sruthi. A good teacher in music should help you in this easily.
Regards
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ananth krishna
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- Joined: 01 Nov 2008, 16:37
one should be able to reach ati tAra shadjam. Going beyond that is superhuman (due to physiological limits) !-
vasanthakokilam
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poornashadjam
- Posts: 45
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Mr Ananth Krishna . Sruthi is the pitch . The higher is the number in the scale , the higher the pitch . Certainly a pitch of 1 is less than a pitch of 5 or 6. The voice of men is always at a lower pitch , barring a few exceptions.
In case you are by mistake referring a sruthi to a stayi , that is very well clarified by Mr cmlover. There is a madhya stayi , below that a mandra stayi and tara stayi above the madhya stayi.
s r g m p d n s r g m p d n s r g m p d n
mandra madhya tara - stayis .
Once you are comfortable with your sruthi, you can see how far above and below the madyama stayi your voice can accommodate .
Sridhar
In case you are by mistake referring a sruthi to a stayi , that is very well clarified by Mr cmlover. There is a madhya stayi , below that a mandra stayi and tara stayi above the madhya stayi.
s r g m p d n s r g m p d n s r g m p d n
mandra madhya tara - stayis .
Once you are comfortable with your sruthi, you can see how far above and below the madyama stayi your voice can accommodate .
Sridhar
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sramaswamy
- Posts: 366
- Joined: 24 May 2006, 22:29
Now that this thread has started, I thought it might be a good time for me to pop in a personal question. Earlier, I hesitated about hogging the thread with personal questions. Thanks in advance for any piece of advice here.poornashadjam wrote:Mr ananth krishna
The male sruthi ranges between 0.5 (arai Kattai) till about 2.5 . Normally voice breaks for a boy entering the adolescent stage . It will take some time for the voice to settle during this stage.
Regards
I had some useful discussions on this topic under this thread starting from this posting - (http://rasikas.org/forums/post93695.html#p93695)
(thanks to arunk who analysed my recordings and to ramakriya and vk as well),
I am middle-aged male and I am singing at G - 1 octave below the 5 kattai. The setting does not even in the exist in the sruthi boxes. I set it to 5 kattai and sing using that as my upper Sa. It is very convenient in class as my lady teacher sings at 5 kattai and it is easy to learn. But that is not the only reason. I also found that I am most comfortable in this sruthi - I am able to sing from Mandara Pa to tarasthayi Pa in this sruthi.
My question is it good to continue at this G or should I put in more effort and try to move upwards. I do not find anyone singing at this low sruthi. With some effort, I think I can move my sruthi up to sruthi "A" or maybe "B", However, I am not as comfortable as singing at G. I have asked my teacher and few others. None of them are very sure as to what to do. And if someone is playing mrudangam accompaniment to this sruthi, can they set to 5 kattai and will it sound ok?
Thanks in advance.
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swaroopmv
- Posts: 7
- Joined: 01 May 2008, 23:50
sramaswamy,
I have the same kind of voice. 2-3 years ago, I'd sing at G#. But with practice (reaching one higher swara at a time - don't move to the next note until you are completely comfortable with the previous one. It will take a few months.), I've been able to shift to A# now without losing my lower range. But because I play the flute primarily, I haven't put much effort since then on this front. There is no issue with mrudangam/ violin accompaniment for this sruti - a normal 5 mrudangam sounds fine. Only, they'll ask you twice or thrice if you're sure that that is your sruti!
Couple of senior musicians advised me to sing at whatever sruti I am comfortable in.
But you should talk to some senior musicians (and sing before them) before deciding.
Swaroop
I have the same kind of voice. 2-3 years ago, I'd sing at G#. But with practice (reaching one higher swara at a time - don't move to the next note until you are completely comfortable with the previous one. It will take a few months.), I've been able to shift to A# now without losing my lower range. But because I play the flute primarily, I haven't put much effort since then on this front. There is no issue with mrudangam/ violin accompaniment for this sruti - a normal 5 mrudangam sounds fine. Only, they'll ask you twice or thrice if you're sure that that is your sruti!
Couple of senior musicians advised me to sing at whatever sruti I am comfortable in.
But you should talk to some senior musicians (and sing before them) before deciding.
Swaroop
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poornashadjam
- Posts: 45
- Joined: 18 Oct 2008, 22:57
In one of his Voive training sessions , Sri TVG has once said that ' Anyone who can speak can sing and can be trained to sing' . That is true. Though it is possible by practise to set our voice perform in any sruthi , it is not advisable to go against the nature. Please sing / practise only in that sruthi in which you are comfortable.
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knshashikiran
- Posts: 12
- Joined: 17 May 2006, 00:22
Dear Friends
This is an interesting topic. My few cents on this topic. Yes usually we don't find most men singing in G or G sharp in the lower octave. And not many these days sing in D sharp or E in the normal register. But the entire pitch concept is based on the comfort zone of the range of a singer as rightly pointed out by Poornashadjam. However, in general the pitch for most men in Carnatic is between C and D. But yes M.D.Ramanathan has sung a few concerts in G sharp. The speaking voice texture also matters. Some may already possess a baritone voice and some may have a tenor kind of voice. The madhya sthayi has to be powerful. The range will increase with practise in mandra and tara sthayi. As long as we can cover about 14-16 notes clearly in all registers it is reasonably good. But however, with conscious effort we can work 20 + notes too. Once you have control, then the ahdara shadja is only convinience. So, singing in G sharp or B or C should be possible. However, it is advisable to practise and even listen to the tambura as long as you can in the pitch that you feel you want to sing. Meditation on the notes will make you feel the life in these notes and take you to the levels of satisfaction that cannot be explained. When even for a few seconds you hit a note perfectly or listen to someone doing that you feel a special energy. The true power of these regular frequencies is what makes the notes glitter and shine, like what Tyagaraja has mentioned in his Shobillu saptaswara. Best lessons on voice cultute have been told by this great composer himself in his several compositions on Music and its understanding. However, several learned forumites have already mentioned very good points in this thread. But I feel Saptaswara meditation is worth trying for all, a perfect start to a great day. Gives you more satisfaction than singing an intricate RTP, if you can merge your voice in perfect sruti unison.
This is an interesting topic. My few cents on this topic. Yes usually we don't find most men singing in G or G sharp in the lower octave. And not many these days sing in D sharp or E in the normal register. But the entire pitch concept is based on the comfort zone of the range of a singer as rightly pointed out by Poornashadjam. However, in general the pitch for most men in Carnatic is between C and D. But yes M.D.Ramanathan has sung a few concerts in G sharp. The speaking voice texture also matters. Some may already possess a baritone voice and some may have a tenor kind of voice. The madhya sthayi has to be powerful. The range will increase with practise in mandra and tara sthayi. As long as we can cover about 14-16 notes clearly in all registers it is reasonably good. But however, with conscious effort we can work 20 + notes too. Once you have control, then the ahdara shadja is only convinience. So, singing in G sharp or B or C should be possible. However, it is advisable to practise and even listen to the tambura as long as you can in the pitch that you feel you want to sing. Meditation on the notes will make you feel the life in these notes and take you to the levels of satisfaction that cannot be explained. When even for a few seconds you hit a note perfectly or listen to someone doing that you feel a special energy. The true power of these regular frequencies is what makes the notes glitter and shine, like what Tyagaraja has mentioned in his Shobillu saptaswara. Best lessons on voice cultute have been told by this great composer himself in his several compositions on Music and its understanding. However, several learned forumites have already mentioned very good points in this thread. But I feel Saptaswara meditation is worth trying for all, a perfect start to a great day. Gives you more satisfaction than singing an intricate RTP, if you can merge your voice in perfect sruti unison.
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vasanthakokilam
- Posts: 10958
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01
Shashikiran: Thanks very much. Very well said. This is something a lot of rasikas can try, even if they do not want to learn to sing songs. One can graduate slowly from 1) Just sa 2) sa and SA 3) sa pa SA and then as a bonus 4) sa ga pa SA and 5) Sa ga ma pa SA. Merging perfectly on each of these swaras, especially on Ga or Ma is a great experience indeed. Highly recommended.Gives you more satisfaction than singing an intricate RTP, if you can merge your voice in perfect sruti unison.
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sramaswamy
- Posts: 366
- Joined: 24 May 2006, 22:29
swaroopmv: I am happy to know that I have company. Poornashadjam: Thank you for your valuable suggestions. It gives me reassurance to continue practicing. Of course, at my age, the singing is purely for relaxation and personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Sometimes I have wondered that if I had started at young age, I could have been more proficient. But then I convince myself that I might not get the same thrill that I am getting now learning from basics at this age.
Shashikiran: Special thanks to you for your input. It is nice of you to have taken the time to answer - that too during the peak music season. I can fully endorse your view about getting that special feeling when you perfectly merge with the tones of sruthi box. I have been through your book - Carnatic Fun-task-tic! - and it is pretty good. Of course, it requires lot of practice and efforts to go through what is listed in the book.
You mentioned that there are couple of concerts in which MDR sang at G# sruthi. What is the sruthi at which he sings normally? There are some controversial articles complaining about MDR not singing in his natural voice. I do not agree with that at all. To me, what matters is that all the swaras are sung correctly in their relative frequency.
Shashikiran: Special thanks to you for your input. It is nice of you to have taken the time to answer - that too during the peak music season. I can fully endorse your view about getting that special feeling when you perfectly merge with the tones of sruthi box. I have been through your book - Carnatic Fun-task-tic! - and it is pretty good. Of course, it requires lot of practice and efforts to go through what is listed in the book.
You mentioned that there are couple of concerts in which MDR sang at G# sruthi. What is the sruthi at which he sings normally? There are some controversial articles complaining about MDR not singing in his natural voice. I do not agree with that at all. To me, what matters is that all the swaras are sung correctly in their relative frequency.