Jayalakshmi R.S.

Teaching Methodology for Tnam; Journal of The Indian Musicological Society, Baroda, Vol.35, Jan-Dec 2004 pp.81-95

Teaching Methodology for Tnam

(R.S.Jayalakshmi) Classical Music, unlike other types of music like Folk Music, needs to be learnt under a good teacher in order to become a Musician. Classical Music cannot normally be learnt directly from Cassettes or Notations especially during the inductive years. The teachers of Classical Music follow a sequential method of teaching. This method may vary between one teacher and the other and also the same teacher may adopt different methods to suit varying standards and receptivity of the individual students. Hence there is no standard and uniform methodology adopted in teaching. South Indian Classical Music too has many methodologies in teaching. This paper will discuss the methods of teaching relating to Tanam. There are two branches in Carnatic Music namely Kalpita Sangeetha and Manodharma Sangeetha. Kalpita sangeetha comprises songs composed by a composer composed with a set lyric, tune (based on a raga) and a tala. This includes forms like Geetha, Varna, Kriti, Ragamalika, Pada, Javali, Tillana etc. Manodharma Sangeetha is an advanced stage in Karnataka Music, which comprises of extempore rendering of Alapana, Tnam, Niraval and Kalpana Svara. Alapana is the creation of an elaborate melodic structure not reflecting any perceptible rhythm and not bound by Tala. The melodic structure is built up of phrases taken from a raga, combined with decorative svara patterns and it is not set to meaningful words but to syllables like tha, dha, ri, na etc. Tnam on the other hand is characterised by a very pronounced rhythm and is sung to syllables like `ta, `nam with the syllabic patterns being devoid of much vowel extensions. The tanam form too is not bound by tala. Niraval is the rendering of a single line from a composition in a particular raga and set already to a tala, in different tunes in that raga within the framework of the tala and the lyrics. Kalpana svara is singing Solfa Syllables or Sargams of a particular raga within the framework of the tala. Kalpita Sangeetha, which comprises pre-composed musical forms is rendered or taught in the same manner always. Hence the teacher, apart from teaching the song to the student, also gives the notation for the song and also records it and gives it to the student, which makes it easy for them to practice. But this is not the case with Manodharma Sangeetha. Manodharma Sangeetha cannot be sung in the same manner by every performer or teacher as it is extempore. Further, the very same performer or teacher may also not sing it in same manner from one instance to the other as it depends on the mood and creativeness of the performer or teacher at that particular point of time. I have attempted to provide here a methodology to learn or practice one of the Manodharma Sangeeta form namely `Tnam. I do not claim that this is the only way to teach Tnam but just that this is one other way of teaching it. Tnam is a component of Manodharma Sangeeta as already stated. It is also known as Madhyama Kalam. It is a svara based form but not sung with the svara itself. Only syllables Anantha, Nomtha with vowel elongations are used to render Tnam. It is based on different patterns formed with the svaras. Though Tnam is not bound by Tala,

2 there is a rhythmical flow in rendering it. Also the patterns of the melody are split in chunks of 3,4,5,6,7,8. These patterns are either in the form of Janta (doubling notes), Varja (skipping of notes) or Vakra (zig-zag arrangement of notes) depending on the raga. Only through these patterns could the beauty of the raga be revealed or enhanced. To tackle the above-mentioned requirements, I have devised a technique that could be put to practice for easy grasp of Tnam. I shall give some exercises for the same. Firstly, the basic exercise form, Alankara could be taken and sung with the Tnam syllables. For example, let use take the Dhruva-tala Alankara |4 s taa s taa s taa
O

r r r -

g g g -

m g nom m -

r ta

|4 s taa s ta

r r -

g g g -

r r r ta

|4 s r nom s r nom s r nom -

g g g -

m ta m ta m ta

g r nom r ta

m g nom -

s r nom -

You can notice from the above that the three arrangements of Tnam syllabes underlie the first avarta of the Alankara. In a similar manner, the `anantha, `Nomtha syllables can be organized in various combinations and practised for the entire alankara. This could be extended to the other alankaras also. After having sung this in the Mayamalavagoula (default) raga, it could be practised in other Sampna ragas (having a full scale of 7 notes occurring in order) like Shankarabhana, Kalyani, Thodi etc. Here, the Tnam is to be sung along with the gamakas(embellishments) unique to each raga. This practice could be extended to the Shadava(6 notes), Audava (5 notes) like Sriranjani, Mohanam, Hamsadhvani. The Mohana raga is given below as an illustration. The pattern given for the first line could be extended to the other lines and sung. |4 s taa r g p d g
O

r g p d s r

g p d s r s

p g nom d s r g d p d s r s

r ta g p d s r

|4 s taa r g p d g

r g p d s r

g p d s r s

r g p d s r

|4 s r nom r g p d g g p d s r

g p d s r s

p ta d s r g d

The alankara is given only for the Ascent, it needs to be extended to the Descent as well.

3 Once we have practised the Tnam syllables on the basis of Alankaram, we could take up Tna Varna as the base for our practice. In fact, the name 'Tna Varna' itself appears to have been coined by the fact that the melodic flow is akin to the rendition of Tnam. This could be elucidated by the below. In the Tna varnas in Adi tala, the total akshara-s (solfa syllables) are 32 in number in one avarta. It occurs in patterns of 3, 4, 5 mostly. This is but the same pattern for the Tnam as mentioned earlier. The only difference is that instead of the Tnam syllables, meaningful words are used in a Tna Varna. In a tana-varna the duration of a svara is either of one or two time units and rarely do we find a single svara having a duration of 4 or more than four time units. Further, all the 32 aksharas do not occur in the same order. This can be well explained with an example. In singing kalpana-svara for a song in Mohana raga set in Adi tala, we could sing it as |4 s O g

p O g

Thus the 32 svaras could be arranged in an ascending or descending order and sung. Also, all the 3 octaves could also occur in the same avartha. But in a Tna Varna, the 32 akasharas generally occur within a single octave. For example, if we take the Tanavarna in Mohana raga, the patterns lie mostly within one octave. The anupallavi of the varnam goes as shown below:
|4 g O d

g O d

We notice above the phrases are in a single octave and further the patterns occur in units of 3,5,6,7. This sort of form is the special feature of tna-varna. Thus a tna-varna is very useful for practising Tnam. However, there is one component to be considered in using a tna-varna for practising Tnam. The lyrics used in a tna-varna is very sparse, in other words, just a single word in the lyrics is extended for a long duration and over quite a number of svaras placed in different patterns. So, while practising the tnavarna from the perspective of Tnam, it would not help to replace the words in the lyrics with the tna syllables `anamtha, `nomtha etc. at their specific positions. We need to set the Tna syllables for the tna-varna according to the patterns occurring in it. This is the way in which a tna-varna could be employed as a tool for practising Tnam. The example below of the tna-varna in Mohana raga would elucidate this aspect.

4 |4 g taa

, .

g .

, .

r nam

, .

, .

, .

s s taa .

r .

r g g . nom .

r .

r ta

O O s r g r s r s d s r g p g r s r taa . . . nom . . ta taa . . . nom . . ta. (A) |4 g p taa . g . g . r sr g . . nom . r . r s d- s r . ta . taa . g r. .

O O g p g- p d pd s d , p gd p g r nom . . ta . . nom . . . ta . nom . ta . (B) |4 g p g g r s- r g r r s d- s r g rtaa . . nom . ta taa . . nom . ta ta . . . O O g p gp d p- d s d , p- g d p g r nom . ta nom . ta ta . . . . a nom . ta . (C) |4 g p g g r s- r g r r s ds r g ra . nom . . ta taa . nom . ta nom . . ta O O g p gp d p- d s d , pg d p g r a . . nom . ta taa . . . . nom . . ta . You could notice, that the second avartha of the Pallavi is given in 3 versions for Tnam practice. For instance, the first phrase `ga pa ga ga ri sa containing 6 svaras has been split as 3+3 and also as 2+4 and the tna syllables are also placed to emphasize the pattern. Thus it could be set in different patterns and practised. In this manner the entire varna could be set to different patterns and with corresponding tna syllables to show the pattern could be set and sung. Practising in this manner helps in rendering Tnam syllables without any block.

5 Further, having practised the Tna vanman in this manner, we need to employ manodharma by setting phrases ourselves and singing it with the Tna syllables. For instance, in the above 6 svara phrase, `ga-pa-ga-ga-ri-sa, we have seen, we could further improvise using kalpana phrases as given below.

g a g p d g r s s

p . d g d r g r s

g nom p p p g p g r

g . g g g r g g g

r . r r r , r r r

s ta s s s s s s s

All the patterns given here have been made to end in 'sa' and also each phrase occurs in 3+3 pattern. Further a similar approach could be adopted with 8 svaras splitting them as 3+5. g p g s g d g p d r p r d p r g s s p g p , d g p g s p g g r d g r g s s p s p

The same could further be split as 5+3, 4+4 etc and the tna syllables set according to the pattern and practised. Singing a phrase 'ga-pa-dha-sa-ri-ga-ri-sa dha-pa-ga' with just 'a' for the first 8 svaras and end with `nom-ta for the last 3 svaras would give the effect of an alapana and not that of tnam. In tnam, the group or pattern should not have more than 5 svaras for a single tna syllable. This alone could create a tna effect. The above given exercises are relevant for vocal. In Vina, tnam is a very important aspect and in fact a special feature. In a vocal concert, Tnam is rendered only in the context of raga-Tna-pallavi. However in vina, tnam is played even for a kriti. It is rendered after the conclusion of the alapana and before the Kriti commences. Being a Vina artist and teacher, I have devised a methodology for practicing Tnam on vina also. In vina, tnam is rendered by alternate employment of strokes and 'Usi'-s. `Anamta and `nomta syllables rendered in singing cannot be extended exactly to vina. In vina, in order to get the feel of tnam, large number of strokes and 'usi's are required and this does correspond to the `anamta, `nomta employed in vocal. For a student to

6 get the flow of the alternate employment of strokes and 'usi's, I have provided a simple exercise. In playing vina, the first or the main string is plucked alternately using the forefinger and followed by the middle finger of the right hand. The little finger of the right hand is used for plucking the tala strings. The first lessons in learning vina involves the simultaneous plucking of the tala strings by the little finger and the plucking of the main playing string with the forefinger. A technique called 'Usi' is also employed while playing vina. This is a very most important aspect in rendering Tnam on the Vina. In a phrase, after plucking the main string with the forefinger or the middle finger of the right hand, the tala strings are plucked using the little finger (note: the pluckings are not simultaneous but one after the other). This type of plucking of the tala strings by the little finger after plucking the main string by the forefinger or middle finger is called Usi. For example, in playing a phrase 'sa ri' in the upper octave, the forefinger and the middle finger of the left hand are placed on 'sa' fret and the string is plucked by the forefinger of the right hand to produce the note 'tara-sa'. Further, without employing a stroke for 'ri', the left hand fingers currently on 'sa' are dragged over the string to 'ri' position to sound 'ri'. While this is being done, the tala strings are plucked by the little finger of the right hand. This is termed `usi and this is the core component of Tnam. The above technique followed by a third note, say 'ga' for the above example, produced by the plucking of the main string by the middle finger is a phrase in Tnam. What I have attempted in this articles is to provide a foundation for the understanding and practice of tnam so that a student is able to grasp the technique and also is able to render it well. As has been seen earlier, the svaras for a tnam form a pattern of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in general. It is difficult to follow the syllables `anamta, `nomta used in vocal in rendering Tnam on a vina because in vocal, a 8 svara phrase could be split into 5 +3 and the 5 svara phrase could be sung in akara 'a' and the remaining 3 svara phrase could be sung with the syllables `nomta. However, while playing the same on vina, the process would involve the rendering of a stroke, usi, stroke, usi, stroke, stroke, usi, stroke in succession. Thus the eight-svara phrase would require 5 strokes and 3 usi-s. This method of rendition is employed when rendering an eight-svara phrase as 5+3. Again, the same when split as 3+5 or 4+4, the combination of strokes and usis would be different. Thus, we see that it is difficult for vina to imitate the vocal rendition of `anamta, `nomta. `Anamta, `nomta can be modified in terms of vina strokes and can be practised by the student. However, remembering the vina based Tnam syllables is quite difficult due the shear number of its occurrence. Hence to remember the manner in which the strokes need to put in Vina, I have given some meaning words, which can be substituted for the vina Tnam syllables. Once again we take the basic lessons of alankara to understand the patterns and the stroking technique used in rendering Tnam on the vina.

7 We take the example of Tisra-jti Eka talam; s r g - r g m - g m p - m p d . This pattern presents 3 svaras in each phrase. When it is played on vina as a tnam, the first note 'sa' is stroked, the second note 'ri' gets the usi and the third note 'ga' once again gets a stroke. On the basis of the strokes, the pattern could be expressed with the syllables of a word 'rma'. The pattern is arranged thus s r r a g ma

The strokes are put where there is a consonant and usi is put where there is vowel extension. Thus the consonants are two and there is one vowel, which is an extension of the first consonant. Thus the same can be employed for the entire alankara and practised which would make the playing of three-svara tnam pattern easy. The indication of the stroke (st) and usi (u) could also be made in the notation itself as shown below. s r g r a ma st u st Now, the three-svara pattern could also be played with a different combination. s ra st r m st g a u

Here we see that sa is plucked with the right hand forefinger, followed by a stroke by the middle finger for ri and an usi for ga. Normally `usi will not occur as the last one. Hence this patters of sa-ri-ga will not occur independently but as part of a bigger pattern, such as, sa-ri-ga sa-ri-ga-ma. Practice for a four-svara tnam pattern could be done using the chaturasrajti Eka tala alankara. s r g m - r g m p g m p d m p d n . Here, one of the playing techniques is stroke, usi, stroke and usi. It will be quite clear where the strokes need to be put and where the usi-s would occur. sa and ga get the strokes from the right hand fore and middle fingers respectively while ri and ma get the usi-s. On the basis of the strokes, here the pattern could be expressed in terms of a meaningful word `st (s-t). s s st r u g t st m a u

Here the consonants are two and the vowels due to extension are also two. Thus the same could be continued for practicing the entire alankara. Using s-t for the syllables is one type of playing technique that could be adopted for the four-svara pattern. Once again, the same four-svara pattern could be rendered in another manner, which could be expressed in terms of syllables `anantha. Instead of putting the strokes alternatively, as seen for s-t, in a-na-ntha the playing technique would be a stroke, followed by another stroke, then a usi and finally again followed by a stroke. Thus, s r g m a na a ntha st st u st is obtained. Here, the sa is plucked by the forefinger, ri plucked with the middlefinger, followed by an usi for ga, obtained by dragging the left hand fore and middle fingers over the string, followed finally by plucking the string with the middle-finger for m. (Note: Wherever plucking or making strokes are being prescribed, it should be understood that reference is being made only to the right hand fingers) For five-svara pattern, we could take `sa-ri sa-ri-ga as example. s r st r u s r st r a u g ma st

It will be clear now that the first and the second 'sa' would be sounded by using the forefingers and 'ga' by the middle finger, while the two 'ri'-s will have usi-s. We can now combine the five-svara pattern and the three-svara pattern to get an eight-svara pattern. For example, consider a eight-svara pattern, sa-ri sa-ri-ga ri-gama. Now we could practice it with the syllables r r-ma r-ma for the 5 and 3 svara patterns respectively as seen from the earlier discussions. Here we see that two 'r-ma's are rendered successively. This when extended over the entire series of `sa-ri sa-ri-ga ri-ga-ma `ri-ga ri-ga-ma ga-ma-pa could be confusing and very unwieldy. To avoid this, I have introduced a new name for this pattern 'ka-ly-na r-ma'. 'ka-lyna' would encompass a five-svara pattern and 'r-ma' as we have seen, is for the threesvara pattern. s r s r g r g m ka a ly a na r a ma st u st u st st u st The playing technique is as follows : Stroke, usi, stroke, usi, stroke,stroke,usi,stroke.

Here, the significant aspect is that since 'ka-ly-na-r-ma is a single word, with not syllable being repeated, it is very easy to follow, memorize and practice the eight-svara pattern. The above-mentioned syllables that we have introduced all deal with short svara patterns. The same syllables could be used for patterns containing long svaras as well. For instance, s , r , g s r g ka a ly a na r a ma st u st u st st u st This is an eight-svara pattern, split as 5 (=2+2+1) + 3. The same syllables, 'ka-lyna-r-ma' have been used as before. The only difference is in the playing technique involving long notes. The first note 'sa' is plucked by the forefinger followed by an usi on itself as it a long note. The second note 'ri' is again plucked by the middle finger and once again followed by a usi as it too being a long note. The third note 'ga' is plucked and no usi occurs as it is a short note. For `r-a-ma we already know the playing technique. The same syllables 'ka-ly-na-r-ma' could be used for Janta-svara patterns also. s s r r g s r g ka a ly a na r a ma st u st u st st u st The pattern of stokes and usis are same as before, except that the long notes of the previous pattern are converted into janta-svaras. The eight-svara pattern has so far been split as 5+3. The same could be divided as 3+5 as can be seen from the example. g m p- g m p m p r a ma ka a ly a na st u st st u st u st

'r-ma ka-ly-na may not be a name as 'ka-ly-na-r-ma' is, however, here the name is not important as much as the pattern itself is. Hence to understand and play the pattern well, it is necessary to use 'r-ma ka-ly-na. Playing technique may not require any further explanation since it has been explained in detailed in the previous cases. From all the discussions above, we could derive a very simple formula for effective practice and rendering of the tnam on the vina.

10 A three-svara pattern could be construed with the syllables 'rma' or 'ram'. A four-svara pattern could be construed with the syllables 'anantha' or 'st'. A five-svara pattern could be construed with the syllables 'r rma'. A eight-svara pattern could be construed with the syllables 'kalyna rma'. The above combinations of the 3, 4,5 svara syllables could be further combined in any manner to give complex and meaningful patterns. For instance, a six-svara pattern like `ga-ma-pa da-pa-ma, can be practised with two 'rma'-s or two 'ram'-s. Similarly, for a seven-svara pattern like ' pa , dha , - ni-dha-pa ', the tnam could be played using the syllables 's-t' and 'r-ma ( the svaras being split as 4+3). The answer to a question as to why an eight-svara phrase has been separately given, since it could as well be conceived as a combination of 5 and 3 or 3 and 5 has been given earlier. It is to avoid the repetition of 'r-ma' in succession. The 'kal-y-na-rma' gives better meaning and adds beauty to the construction as well. I have given the above patterns based on the basic scale of Mayamalavagaula. After becoming conversant in playing the patterns with the syllables in this raga, the same could be easily extended and practised with other ragas also. Let us see a sample of using the syllables for practising tnam in Mohana raga. I have employed all the syllables in the same. g s , G , T a g a g , s r na r a g t , - g a . a g nta . r r g - r r g , na a nta . s t a r s r g t , a

g r r g - r r g - r , g r r g - r g r r g a na a nta . r a ma . r a ma r a ma . r i r a ma . r ra g m , a g r r a s ma d r s r a ma . d , p , s I t a

- d s r d , d , S - d , s ka a ly a na . r a ma . r a ma .

Having given the proper nouns as `mnemonic syllables for practising tnam on the vina, I do not claim that this by itself would make someone render tnam well. The judicious application of Stroke and Usi is an important aspect in the rendering of tnam. What I have attempted to do is to provide a method for the student to improvise on the given patterns to create more enticing and beautiful phrases that could embellish one's tnam. However proficiency could be obtained only through listening to performances of good artists and through practice.