Lecture 2: Playing Techniques

Origins This is probably the most interesting part of the lecture series. Before looking at the playing techniques of the Carnatic flute ... thumbnail 1 summary

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Origins

This is probably the most interesting part of the lecture series. Before looking at the playing techniques of the Carnatic flute from a close-up preview, one needs to understand how the modern playing techniques evolved from the annals of history, so as to better appreciate the instrument as well as understanding the history of the musicians responsible for the evolution of these techniques.

As it is a widely known fact, Sharaba Shastri (1872 - 1904 A.D.) was the first Carnatic flautist to perform on stage & establish Carnatic the flute as a solo instrument. Hailing from the direct disciplic lineage of Saint Thyagaraja through Manamunchavadi Venkatasubbaiyar (1803- 1862 A.D.) & Muthuswami Dikshitar shisya parampara through the illustrious nadeswaram maestro, polyglot vocalist Kurainadu Ramaswami Pillai (1830 - 1925 A.D.), Shastri re-discovered & established the playing posture for the 7 musical notes that was lost in history. Even though he was blind, he was quickly recognized as a prodigy who had an uncanny sense of swara nyana (ability to grasp musical notes on the spot also known as "note wisdom"). He was also thought to have possessed "nada siddhi" or musical perfection, where reports have said that he brought rains when playing raga Amrithavarshini & attracted snakes when playing raga Punnagavarali.

His foremost student Palladam Sanjeeva Rao (1882 - 1962 A.D.) spent his life promoting the instrument, which however did not get the recognition as being able to mimic the vocal nuances of Carnatic music, which formed the backbone of Carnatic music. This prevented the instrument from being used as an accompanying medium in vocal concerts, since the vocal nuances were not heard. The fingering widely used till then was known as parallel fingering.

It took another phenomenal genius, flautist T. R. Mahalingam (1926 - 1986 A.D.) to perfect the instrument to produce the vocal nuances of Carnatic music. From shrewd observation of the fingering techniques of Nadaswaram (double-reed, metal trunk & bell mouthed trumpets) players, flute Mali as he was better known, adopted the technique to great effect. It soon gained attention as the best fingering technique for Carnatic flutes & flute Mali's name & fame grew far & wide. Though parallel fingering was completely not ignored, it still remained as a recognized technique & in fact, certain aspects got subsumed into the Carnatic flutecross-fingering technique. It is to important to note that the cross-fingering technique is only an adopted technique & not an assimilated technique from Nadaswaram music.

Musical Notes - An Introduction

Carnatic music is a very sophisticated & complex art form in the likes of which there is no parallel. Above all, it is a scientific music form. While it may seem easy to play the 7 notes from the perspective of a C major or D major scale, it has more than meets the eye. There are altogether a total note count of 16 notes in Carnatic music, 4 of which are dissonant notes which overlap & cross-over another set of 4 corresponding notes. In Hindustani music, these 4 dissonant notes are not handled & ignored. In Carnatic music, they form the basis of why the 72 melakartha raga scheme exists.

The notes (sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, saa) below define the 16-note base of Carnatic music which includes the 4 dissonant notes marked with an asterisk (*) & their equivalent notes. In most contemporary musical texts, G2, G3, N2 & N3 will be replaced by either the prefix 1 & 2 for convenience. But students should know the dissonant notes from the congruent notes.

S - Shadjam

R1 - Suddha Rishabam
R2 - Chatushruthi Rishabam
R3 - Shatshruthi Rishabam*

G1 - Suddha Ghandaram* (same as R2)
G2 - Sadharana Ghandaram (same as R3)
G3 - Antara Ghandaram

M1 - Suddha Madhyamam
M2 - Prathi Madhyamam

P - Panchamam

D1 - Suddha Dhaivatham
D2 - Chatushruthi Dhaivatham
D3 - Shatshruthi Dhaivatham*

N1 - Suddha Nishadam* (Same as D2)
N2 - Kaisika Nishadam (Same as D3)
N3 - Kaakali Nishadam

While the notes form one part of the raga in Carnatic music, the next most important part are the nuances which form the integral part of defining a raga. In Carnatic music, these nuances are called the gamakas (vocal nuances). In Hindustani music, its called meend (bending of the note). In Carnatic music, there is a universally accepted version of 10 different gamakas better known as dasavidha gamakas. Mastering these gamakas is very important to be able to interpret & play ragas well.

Rhythm - An Introduction

Rhythm is an integral part of musical notes in Carnatic music, playing rhythmic passages (advanced skill) on the flute require both apt knowledge in rhythm science & musical notes. There are in total 175 different thalas or rhythmic patterns in Carnatic music. While mastering all of these is not mandatory for the non-percussionist, it is important to understand how they are formed & applied.

This skill will become vital for creating raagam-thanam-pallavi (RTP) or refrain-improvised music which forms the crown jewel of a Carnatic music concert usually spanning from as little as 20mins to more than an hour. Occasionally RTPs are usually made with rare thalas (senior musicians) to attract attention or to show the musician's capacity in handling complicated thalas. Both ragas & thalas are given equal importance in RTPs.

Another point to take note is unlike vocalists, who visually take the rhythmic count from their hands, flautists & any other instrumentalist for that matter have to find other means of keeping count. For instrumentalists who generally use their hands to handle the instrument, normally their feet will play the role of the rhythm count keeper.

Playing the Basic Notes (Madhya & Thara Sthayi)

The postures are given below, take note the convenient notation in < > & the actual notation in ( ). Fingering that is applicable for the madhya & thara sthayi will be shown with an asterisk (*). All thara sthayi notes require hard blowing until a shrill tone is heard. A shruthi box can be used to check the notes played.

As with personal experience, other fingering techniques for other notes cannot be shown in static pictures & varies with the guru's instruction based on their performing experience & knowledge. This is the reason, why many students of music do not take the flute as a choice of instrument. For universal convenience, only the widely accepted madhya & thara sthayi fingering is covered here. The range of the thara sthayi is limited to panchamam (Pa). Kindly seek assistance from a competent guru to learn other techniques. This lecture is not designed to downplay the role of a guru, but rather to enhance the student's or connoisseur's appreciation of the techniques of basic flute playing.

Disclaimer: This pictorial demonstration only serve one to play the basic exercises or simple compositions without gamakas. In most Carnatic music compositions, gamakas are mandatory & the fingering gets very complicated when one applies them. Only the close guidance of a guru can help one to achieve this. In no way, should this pictures be treated as the exact playing technique of a note in a composition. Viewers are to take note that in a composition playing of even these well established techniques may vary because of gamakas.

*Sa

This is the 9-hole Carnatic flute, the closed fingers are the first 2 finger holes, followed by the rest until the 8th hole. The extreme left as seen is the mouth hole & is closed at the left end

*Ra (R1)

Note that the 2nd finger hole is partially closed. Again the degree of closure is subjective. Kindly check with a competent guru

*Ra (R2)

Only the 1st finger hole is closed

*Ga (G2) = <G1>

Playing G1 correctly is challenging as the degree of partial closing of the 1st hole is very subjective when playing a composition as opposed to playing the basic notes

Ga (G3) = <G2> (Madhya)

All finger holes are open. Note the playing posture. For Carnatic flute, this is the de-facto posture, whether one is left or right handed. For a change in posture, consult a competent guru

Ga (G3) = <G2> (Thara)

Only the 6th finger hole is closed. Hard blowing is required until a shrill tone is heard. Again for some flutes only the 7th hole may be closed or for some cases, totally different, please consult a competent guru

*Ma (M1)