Indian Classical Music - Ragas - Music Therapy - Voice Production

Recently I met my Ma'am (Guru ma Dr. Soma Singh) in Delhi, and we both enveloped ourselves in the huge, never-ending musical discussion. She is the ocean of musical knowledge and incidences. And her way of expressing how to practice or what to exactly listen to while listening classical is too sovereign and pure. There is no foreignness in her attitude while giving things.  A very unusual incidence about Kishori ji Ma'am shared with me which I really want to cherish in my blogs.  Kishori ji's last concert was in Delhi at Kamani auditorium, for which Ma'am was asked to attend by her Guru Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar.  "Guruji especially called us to inform about the concert and insist me to attend. He said you should go and take your kids too as this music, this personality, her Gayaki won't be re-arriving in this new era. one should value that." she explained her Guru's words.  Thus, there wasn't any question of not attending as Guru's com...

"I feel I have just begun. I have not learnt anything because I still don’t have command over the sur . Because sur is air, and I am made of concrete. When the perfect sur comes out of my throat, this body will disappear. I will die instantly. I pray to God that I die that way. There is nothing else to see except the beauty of nature, the eternity of one note.”                                                                                                                               -  Kishori Tai Amonkar And the soul interspersed in the air a day before, but that conviction-driven voice, flowing renditions with utter steadiness, spontaneous modulati...

When the desires penetrate the line of passion, When the plethora of hobbies are sidelined by a special one, When the sentence, "I want...." turns into "I won..." When emotions of wishes voyages to actualization Three cheers to Rahul's triumph and consummation Rahul Ajay, winner of Kids Golf World Championship 2016, illustrates my statement.  This 16-years old Hyderabadi kid has created in history recently in the mid of December in Malaysia by winning over a Malaysian guy by one stroke. Rahul defeated 50 outstanding international Golfers in three days and made his parents' overwhelming with pride. Earlier, He had been playing Golf winning numerous prices in Singapore, Thailand etc.. But this was the real victory. Life is all about mind and mind produce thoughts. When thoughts are directed towards perseverance, endurance, seeking skills, setting goals, then one is not leading a normal, easy life. That abnormality transcends him to the world of ...

Pursuing the music therapy course these days, is making me listening to every music according to that perspective. My mind subtly enters into the questioning zone while listening to any music, whether this piece is healing or not. The other evening, I was listening to Pt. Uday Bhawalkar's raga Bhimpalasi Dhrupada piece, and I felt I was captivated physically. While listening to his fast-paced rhythmic, versatile, superfluous, rendition of the Bhimpalasi notes, I was as if witnessing my brain knots unleashing my breath mollifying. I wanted to move from my place, but was totally mindful and entangled. I could feel my hormones and senses getting balanced. I stayed in that state for 20 minutes till when it got over. After which I stared at the things surrounding me; I went to the balcony and greeted all the sounds of nature. I could concentrate in the chirping and tweaking of birds clearly, (what we don't do usually). I was absolutely in the present. I gazed at the setting su...

Traditions or Gharana system play an essential role in Indian Classical music. Tradition refers to Gharanas of music or the stylization of singing. Here is how Gharanas are conceptualized: Its like a person who is known as Kaushik , sings and his style, note-treatment, raga-treatment, techniques of voice production becomes popular and liked by everyone. That style or ' gayaki ' is picked up and imitated by many musicians including his disciples, siblings and kids. When 50 people assemble to sing and share a specific common style, which is exclusive, popularized and appreciated by the masses, the style is eventually called ' Kaushik Gharana'. Though there is no Gharana as such. Moreover, Gharana are nomenclated by the places from where the musician  and their descendants belong to, such as  Agra Gharana, Delhi Gharana, Patiala, Bhindibazaar, Rampur-Seheswan, Atrauli, Gwalior, Kirana, Mewati, Jaipur. As you observe Gharana names are based on the places where the root mu...

Out of the blue, while vocalizing natural note-phrases for a long time, you are asked to sing the Re-Komal that is Re-Flat. Now that's the puzzling, tension-some era. More than 90% of my beginner students, or even amateurs get the jimjams and go wrong, out of tune, when asked to switch from natural notes to Komal . And why not? this is one of the most reasonable and possibly appropriate timings to get puzzled especially when you have started randomly without pondering over it for a few seconds. Normally, flat or komal denotes dull, faded version of the notes. Sharp or teevr denotes dominating or acute, ready to invade. Komal is the Hindi word for 'soft' and teevr refers to 't ez ' or clever. Thus, the first step is to perceive and grasp these terms clearly by imaging them as the meaning indicates. The proper sequence of the 12 notes in a chromatic scale or in the realm of 22 shrutis are:  S   re   R   ga   G  M   ma'   P   dh...

Let’s go a little deeper into the field of music, beyond just singing, listening, playing and composing. Music is much more than what we consider. At times, it can be synonymized as ‘Memory’. Recent music therapy researches have proved that indulging in any music improves memory, retention and grasp. Longer period of listening or playing music resonates the brain’s cortical and sub cortical areas and make us recall the past knowledge clearly. With reference to these researches, The valley manor care unit of Montrose recently introduced a memory care unit called ‘iPod program’ or music therapy program, where the music is heard 24 into 7. Amazing results have been noticed among the patients as explained by their attendants.   "It's therapeutic music for them," says Memory Care Specialist, Brandi Garcia. "It has therapeutic purpose and it ties those early childhood memories to the resident. So often we see these resident blossom. It's absolutely amazing...