On Music related….

A shot of Kapi

If you ever thought a coffee and kapi meant the same, you may want to sit someone from Tamilnadu down and get them to explain the ‘fine’ line of distinction to you. In music as well, there is a kafi and then there is a kapi! In this article, we explore interesting musical nuances around the Carnatic raga kapi!

The origins…

Kapi is a popular raga in the Carnatic music system, which owes its ancestry to the Kafi thaat (system of ragas) in the Hindustani system. Kafi is a key raga in the Hindustani system and is said to have references dating to the 15th century. Several compositions including thumris, tappas, kirtans and dadras were set to tunes based on Raag Kafi.

Brewing up…

The first traces of Raga Kapi are believed to have entered the Carnatic music paradigm around the 17th century. This raga known today as the ‘Karnataka kapi’ was like the original kafi, the Hindustani raga and found its identity down south in several beautiful compositions by renowned composers like Saint Thyagaraja, Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar and Sri Shyama Shastri. Saint Thyagaraja composed several kritis in kapi including Anyayamu seya, Inta sowkhya manine and Sundara dasharathanandana. Sri Dikshitar composed the song, ‘Venkatachalapate’, a manipravala kriti on Lord Venkateshwara and Sri Shyama Shastri composed ‘Akhilandeshwari durusuga’ based in this ragam. Several other composers including the Tanjore Quartet and Maharaja Swati Tirunal have also penned pieces to the flow of Kapi!

More flavors and seasonings…

Raga Kapi continued to gather momentum and popularity in the later centuries as well. On its way, it picked up interesting seasonings and shades, getting moulded into what is called ‘Hindustani Kapi’ today. While this raga is based on Kapi, it is different from its parent raga in the use of certain phrases and swarams. For example, the Antara Gandharam is fairly pronounced in this raga with some kritis even starting off with this note vis-à-vis Karnataka Kapi, where the use of the Antara Gandharam is limited primarily to anuswarams pivoted around the Suddha Madhyamam and rarely is a conspicuous use observed. Enna thavam seidanai and Yen unakkinnum irakkamillai by Late Sri Papanasam Sivan are some among many well- known compositions in Hindustani Kapi.

Clarity or confusion…?

Have we left you with more clarity or confusion? If it is the former, we doff our hats and thank you! If it is the latter, however- be assured it is not us!. There is clearly an acknowledged irony in the raga names for Kapi! The Karnataka kapi is akin to the original Hindustani Raag Kafi while the raga named ‘Hindustani Kapi’ in the Carnatic system has additional notes and flavours!

One thing however is clear: ‘kapi’, the beverage traveled a longer journey to South India, all the way from Yemen! Baba Budan, a 17th century Sufi saint, brought the very first coffee seeds to India and planted them in the Chikmagalur district in Karnataka. And of course, spiced up with chicory, the right ‘processes’ involving the right use of the filter and served in the perfect paraphernalia (the “davara” and the tumbler made of stainless steel), this kapi is truly the perfect way to start one’s day and drive clarity even in the most misty Margazhi mornings!

Swaram

What is it?

A Swaram is essentially a musical note corresponding to a certain sonic frequency. Every musical system including the Indian Classical (be it Carnatic or Hindustani) and Western music are based on a set of notes, a permutation and combination of which leads to various melodic forms.

What are the Swarams in Indian music?

Indian music is based on seven basic notes- the ‘sapta swarams’- representing an entire octave, namely:

 Shadjam (Sa)  Rishabham (Ri)  Gandharam (Ga)  Madhyamam (Ma)  Panchamam (Pa)  Dhaivatam (Da)  Nishadam (Ni)

How do the swarams arrange themselves with a musical ‘scale’?

At a broad level represent an octave similar to the musical scale in Western music. For example, Raga Shankarabharanam in Carnatic music (Raag Bilawal in Hindustani music) is exactly aligned with the C major scale in Western music

 Shadjam (Sa) --- Do --- C  Rishabham (Ri)--- Re --- D  Gandharam (Ga)—Mi--- E  Madhyamam (Ma)--- Fa--- F  Panchamam (Pa)--- So--- G  Dhaivatam (Da)--- La--- A  Nishadam (Ni)--- Ti--- B

Are there any variations associated with each of these swarams?

While there are basic swarams in a scale, there are variations of each of these swarams (except the Shadjam and Panchamam) which represent the intermittent frequencies/ notes between them. These correspond to the ‘sharp’ notes in the Western system (for example, in between C and D is a C# note and in between D and E is a D# note). Specific cases of this point are outlined below:

 The Rishabham assumes three frequencies and forms known as the Suddha, Chatusruti and Shatsruti rishabham  The Gandharam assumes three forms known as the Suddha, Sadharana and Antara Gandharam  The Madhyamam has two variations- namely, the Suddha Madhyamam and Prati Madhyamam  The Dhaivatam assumes three forms known as Suddha, Chatusruti and Shatsruti Dhaivatam  The Nishadam can be either a Suddha, Kaisiki or Kakali Nishadam

In all, there are 16 types of notes including the shadja and panchama notes although there are just 12 distinct notes, taking into account frequency overlaps between:

 The Suddha Gandharam and the Chatusruti Rishabham  The Sadharana Gandharam and the Shatsruti Rishabham  The Suddha Nishadam and the Chatusruti Dhaivatam  The Kaisiki Nishadam and the Shatsruti Dhaivatam

Just to make things very clear, below is a pictorial representation of the concept: Below is a pictorial representation of the notes in sequence (assuming C to be the starting note, ‘Sa’), as they are laid out on a keyboard, representing increasing pitches/ frequencies from left to right.

How do these notes lead to the formation of a raga in Indian music?

A raga is a permutation and combination of all seven or a subset of these notes, in any one of their forms/ frequencies. The representation of a raga is done through an arohanam (notes in the ascending scale of the raga, arranged in the increasing order of frequencies), an avarohanam (notes comprised in the descending scale of the raga arranged in the decreasing order of frequencies) along with the requisite gamakams (ornamentations and transitions from one swara to the other) and also any special phrases (special ‘pidi/ prayogam’ in Carnatic music and ‘pakad’ in Hindustani music) that best depict the gait of a raga.

And how did the swaram get its name?

Each swaram is a stand- alone frequency, a pitch and hence the essence of melody. ‘Swayam ranjate’ iti swarah- is how the swaram is described linguistically.