Yes, I have neglected this blog for a long time. I almost forgot that it existed, until my English teacher reminded me (Thank you ma'am) that it was still alive. Now that it is the summer, I have decided to post on this blog as much as possible. Considering that I get only four real days of summer vacation - school ended on 20th and summer classes start on 25th, - it will be very hard.
Anyway, no better way to celebrate the end of an important school year than to go for a music concert. The music concert was one of the best I had ever been to. It made me use the one word in my vocabulary (not that my vocabulary is great) that I had never in my life even thought about using on music: AWESOME. It has been almost three years since I have practised music without someone nagging me to, but this concert made me want to practise music again (I'm sorry I forgot to mention, it was classical). Mr Ragavan Manian was the genius singer, who had also experimented with an electric guitar while singing Carnatic music.
The concert was about getting to know about the relationship between two ragas, how one was extracted or derived from the other, the small differences between them, the many similarities, and how taking out one note from a raga changed it into another one. Actually, that's what I understood. (I sincerely hope there was nothing more that I missed, as I was getting sleepier). Mr Ragavan Manian also gave the audience a brief introduction of the ragas, the song, the composer, and his intentions while composing it.
By the way for those of you who don't know what a raga is, I think it is a group of specific notes put together, from which songs can be composed. In the ragas each note has a specific curve (the actual word is gamakam - but the word processor underlines in red), which beautifully leads to the next note, and is based on the notes before or after. Some notes can be flat, or sharp. Sometimes, notes are borrowed from other ragas, and are called borrowed notes (the actual word is Bhashanga - but the word processor underlines in red). So sometimes there can be two types of the same note in the same raga. Mr Ragavan Manian also told us about how ragas could be divided on the basis of the middle note. As my music teacher had explained to me many times before, there were two types of middle notes the actual word is madhyama - but it just had to be one of those words the word processor underlines in red). One of them was really flat and sharp (and I found it unpleasant and out of tune too), and the other one was very calm (hard to explain), with two types of gamakams: a shallow one and a long one, which depended on what the next note was.
If you are very confused with all that I have written, it is mostly because I am not as good as Mr Ragavan Manian at explaining the intricacies of Carnatic music; or maybe you just don't know Carnatic music as well as I do.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself when the violinist played the exact notes that had just been sung, like copying them (you would know if you went to a music concert), and when the guitar had been bought into play. Who said South Indian music couldn't collaborate with Western instruments? Mr Ragavan Manian had melodiously played a few notes on the electric guitar, which I thought was replacing his singing in the middle. The violin and the mridangam had also sounded amazing with the electric guitar. During the initial stages of the Brindāvani raga, Mr Ragavan also played a few notes on his flute and my only thought at that time - one who can play different types of musical instruments = musical genius.
The concert was arranged to render songs in pairs. Mr Ragavan explained the two ragas in each pair, how they relate to each other, how one can be derived from another, and then sang two songs in those ragas. So I should say all RAGAS of the songs where in pairs. By the last pair of ragas was sung, I was really tired, and my brain couldn't function properly enough to understand, but I continued to enjoy the music. This concert was one of the best ones that I had attended in my life, and I recommend these type of concerts to all: classical music concert performed by a genius singer with mixing in Westernized instruments and amazing mridangam and violin.
Now that I think of it, these concerts seem to be rare, and I must be blessed to attend one.
Note: I have not been posting on my blog because (yes, I will admit it) I have been writing short stories for pre teenagers. Don't tell anybody.
Anyway, no better way to celebrate the end of an important school year than to go for a music concert. The music concert was one of the best I had ever been to. It made me use the one word in my vocabulary (not that my vocabulary is great) that I had never in my life even thought about using on music: AWESOME. It has been almost three years since I have practised music without someone nagging me to, but this concert made me want to practise music again (I'm sorry I forgot to mention, it was classical). Mr Ragavan Manian was the genius singer, who had also experimented with an electric guitar while singing Carnatic music.
The concert was about getting to know about the relationship between two ragas, how one was extracted or derived from the other, the small differences between them, the many similarities, and how taking out one note from a raga changed it into another one. Actually, that's what I understood. (I sincerely hope there was nothing more that I missed, as I was getting sleepier). Mr Ragavan Manian also gave the audience a brief introduction of the ragas, the song, the composer, and his intentions while composing it.
By the way for those of you who don't know what a raga is, I think it is a group of specific notes put together, from which songs can be composed. In the ragas each note has a specific curve (the actual word is gamakam - but the word processor underlines in red), which beautifully leads to the next note, and is based on the notes before or after. Some notes can be flat, or sharp. Sometimes, notes are borrowed from other ragas, and are called borrowed notes (the actual word is Bhashanga - but the word processor underlines in red). So sometimes there can be two types of the same note in the same raga. Mr Ragavan Manian also told us about how ragas could be divided on the basis of the middle note. As my music teacher had explained to me many times before, there were two types of middle notes the actual word is madhyama - but it just had to be one of those words the word processor underlines in red). One of them was really flat and sharp (and I found it unpleasant and out of tune too), and the other one was very calm (hard to explain), with two types of gamakams: a shallow one and a long one, which depended on what the next note was.
If you are very confused with all that I have written, it is mostly because I am not as good as Mr Ragavan Manian at explaining the intricacies of Carnatic music; or maybe you just don't know Carnatic music as well as I do.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself when the violinist played the exact notes that had just been sung, like copying them (you would know if you went to a music concert), and when the guitar had been bought into play. Who said South Indian music couldn't collaborate with Western instruments? Mr Ragavan Manian had melodiously played a few notes on the electric guitar, which I thought was replacing his singing in the middle. The violin and the mridangam had also sounded amazing with the electric guitar. During the initial stages of the Brindāvani raga, Mr Ragavan also played a few notes on his flute and my only thought at that time - one who can play different types of musical instruments = musical genius.
The concert was arranged to render songs in pairs. Mr Ragavan explained the two ragas in each pair, how they relate to each other, how one can be derived from another, and then sang two songs in those ragas. So I should say all RAGAS of the songs where in pairs. By the last pair of ragas was sung, I was really tired, and my brain couldn't function properly enough to understand, but I continued to enjoy the music. This concert was one of the best ones that I had attended in my life, and I recommend these type of concerts to all: classical music concert performed by a genius singer with mixing in Westernized instruments and amazing mridangam and violin.
Now that I think of it, these concerts seem to be rare, and I must be blessed to attend one.
Note: I have not been posting on my blog because (yes, I will admit it) I have been writing short stories for pre teenagers. Don't tell anybody.
Nicely written - Ashok
ReplyDeletethank you :)
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