Sunday, August 24, 2008

Swara

Swara refers to a kind of musical sound that is a sole note, which defines a relative location of a note, rather than a distinct frequency. Swaras too refer to the solfege of Carnatic music, which consist of seven notes, "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" . These names are abbreviation of the longer names shadja, rishabha, gandhara. madhyama, panchama, dhaivata and nishada. Unlike other music system, every part of the solfege has three variant. The exceptions are the drone notes, shadja and panchama , which contain only one form; and madhyama , which has two form. A 7th century stone writing in Kudumiyan Malai in Tamil Nadu shows vowel change to solfege secret code with ra, ri, ru etc. to signify the higher quarter-tones. In one scale, or ragam, there is regularly only one variant of each note here. The exceptions live in "light" ragas, in which, for artistic effect, there may be two, one rising and another downward.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Sruti

Sruti generally refers to musical pitch. It is the near equivalent of a tonic in Western harmony; it is the message from which all the others are derivative. It is also used in the logic of grade pitches in an octave. While there is a countless number of sound falling within a size in Carnatic music, the quantity that can be notable by auditory perception is twenty-two. In this sense, while shruti is resolute by auditory observation, it is also an appearance in the listener's mind.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Carnatic Music

Carnatic music also spelled Karnatak music or Karnatik music is known as one of the Indian classical music. Its classical institution is from the south part of India such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.


The main emphasis of the Carnatic music is on choral music. Carnatic music consist of two main elements ie,raga, the modes or melody, and tala, the rhythmic cycles.


Important elements of Carnatic music :

  • Sruti
  • Swara
  • Raga system
  • Tala system
  • Improvisation




Sunday, August 3, 2008

Yoga

Yoga is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, focusing on meditation as a trail to self-knowledge and freedom. Yoga is seen as a means to mutually physiological and spiritual mastery. Outside India, Yoga has become mainly related with the practice of asanas of Hatha Yoga, although it has influenced the whole dharmic religions family and other spiritual practices throughout the world.

5,000 year old carvings from the Indus Valley Civilization represent a figure that archaeologists think represents a yogi sitting in meditation posture. The sitting in a conventional cross-legged yoga pose with its hands resting on its knees. The explorer of the seal, archaeologist Sir John Marshall, named the figure Shiva Pashupati.

A seal from the Indus Valley Civilization, The first known written reference to yoga is in the Rig Veda, likely by the western scholars to be at least 3,500 years old. The Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali also converse the concepts and teachings of yoga.