Laali Laali - Carnatic Classical - Vocal by Smt M Sasirani, Visakhapatnam.

Smt M Sasirani presents CARNATIC CLASSICAL - VOCAL
Title: Laali Laali(Thyagaraja Utsava Sampradaaya Keerthana)
Raagam: Harikambhoji Raagam
Taalam: Aadi Taalam

The origin of Carnatic Classical Music:-
The origin of Carnatic music or the South Indian classical music can be traced back to the age of vedas . Bharata's Natya Sastra , from around the 5th century A.D. , and Saranga Deva's Sangita Ratnakara , from the early13th century A.D. , are considered the to be the earliest recorded documents available on the theory and performance of Indian classical music . The history of Carnatic music is incomplete without stating about the contributions made by the saints Sri Purandharadasaru ( 15th century A.D.) , Sri Thyagaraja , Sri Shyama Sastri ( all of 18th century A.D.) , who left an enduring legacy of compositions. This tradition has a rich heritage and is perfectly attuned with Indian culture and religion. Carnatic classical music is based on a 22 scale note (swaras) on contrary to the earlier 12 note scale that is used in the western classical music. But in all its practical aspects and purposes, not more than 16 notes are generally used. A unique combination of these notes , or swara as they are said to evolves separate ragas. The features and the constraints of a raga will be clearly defined in the arrangement of the notes in its arohanam ( ascending notes ) and avarohanam ( descending notes ). Thus , in Carnatic classical music , the raga connotes a mood or a route in which the music is supposed to travel. . Different combinations of the notes gives rise to different raga . Thus, there are thousands of unique ragas as per theory though very few of them are being used for performances in the present days. Gamaka is the most important feature of the ragaa. The gamaka refers to the modulation of the frequency of a particular swara and the speed with which the musician performs a set of swaras or notes is also an important feature. Both these help to improve the appeal of the composition that is rendered . Western music is often based on a pattern of flat notes, on the contrary, here , the swaras are performed using various modulations . Another very important aspect of the Carnatic music is the thalam or the rhythm. The thalam is the rhythm of the piece that is being performed . Today, there exists more than hundred thalams , but here also, very few of them are in use . The most popular thalam have three , four , five, seven or eight beats in them.

The Melakarta Ragams
The Melakarta Ragams refers to the basic 72 Janaka (parent) ragams for all of the infinite number of other ragams in Carnatic Music. All of these ragams have seven notes saptaswaras, that is that they have all seven swaras which are- Sa, Ree, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni, and Sa. The system is further divided into two sets of 36 ragams each - The first set with the first Ma and the second with a sharper Ma . This is very similar to the Western concept of scales and the circle of flats.

Sapta Talas
This system of talams is the rythmic basis for Carnatic music. It is based on 7 core talas whcih use only 3 of the 6 possible components of an Indian talam - Anudrutam, Drutam, Laghu, Guru, Plutam, and Kakapadam. The Seven Talams are Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata, and Eka Talams. Using these sapta talas all of the 150 Carnatic talams can be derived.


Thankyou.
Best Regards,
V Seetha Ramaiah,
Keyboard Artiste.