Importance of repititive notes/swaras- Sri Purandara Theory

At this stage, any student would be familiar with the basic swaras of Maayamalavagowla raga and would have familiarized with the taala(Adi taala consisting of 8 beats).

An improvisation is adopted ,where Sri Purandara adopts to twinning of beats and notes. Each note when repeated twice,will provide a different effect ,when compared to the same elongated swara. For instance, : SS will be more rigorous than S,  . 

S, would indicate subtlety SS would appear more vivid. SS should be presented as S,RS which includes bending of each note towards the next note. 

Although both consume the same time on the taala. Each beat in the taala is also repeated twice. This procedure of singing different patterns of swaras in various speeds , will add more strength and rigor to the voice/instrument, which would inturn produce more polished effects on singing. This is one of most important aspect in voice culture techniques.

All these vocal exercises is being experimented in a Sampoorna raga (Raga which has all 7 swaras) ,which gives the learner, freedom to navigate through different swara patterns,which is a boon gifted by Sri Purandara. We often tend to overlook his contributions as learners and teachers of Carnatic music.

If there is a syllabus which is instituting the Saptha swaras and parallely aiming at culturing ones' voice, Sri Purandara Dasaru scores over as the Sangeetha Pitamaha.

Sri Purandara Theory

Carnatic music has been an established form of art (more than 500 years old) with a concrete syllabus for beginners ,solely because of the analytical thinking of Sri Purandara Daasaru ,widely known as the Father of Carnatic Music. His approach towards learning Indian classical music has become an area of research in today's world. 

While we look into the depth of Sri Purandara's understanding of Saptha swaras ,it is crystal clear that he was selective about 1 raga which acted upon as a base for further learning.

 

 The Era of Purandara(15th Century) ,which was not introduced to the structural classification of ragas.

The set syllabus pattern has withstood numerous waves for about 6 centuries. Be it the exposure to western classical in the British era, Mughal influence on Indian music,Carnatic music has stood intact.

We will have a deeper insight into the world of Sri Purandara ,who is looked upon as "Sangeetha Pitaamaha"and also as the composer of 4,75,000 compositions,which binds together to form "Purandaropanishad".

Through these blog series , the reader will be able to appreciate the contributions of Sri Purandara who has depicted himself as a musicologist through various compositional forms. 

Part 1- Learning Carnatic.

Part 2- Importance of repetitive notes(Janti Swaras)

Part 3- Need forPractice and devotion in music

Part 3- Taala and time(Graphical analysis)

Part 4 - Beginner's Raaga(Graphical analysis of Mayamalavagowla and Kharaharapriya)

Part 5 -  Sri Purandara Dasaru as a Guru

PS : This is my humble attempt to bring out the best from the kannada book "Purandara Dasaru Sangeetha Pitamahare" written by my Guru Vid. Dr. RK Padmanabha Sir.