THE PLUS ISSU E #17 APR 202 1 www.igenplus.com Introduction Hello, young readers! We are thrilled to welcome you on another learning expedition with the ‘Music’ edition of ‘The Plus’. This month, we are looking at the cultural evolution of music and its significance as a human experience. From enabling creative expression to strengthening social bonds, music is tied to education and learning in intricate and expansive ways. In this issue, you will get familiar with the concepts of musical vibrations, the melodic framework of the Indian raga and sargam. You will find captivating stories of traditional instruments, the maestros who took Indian music global, and the emotions Hellen Keller felt after “hearing” music for the first time. You will also catch an inside look into some innovative musical enterprises and gain insights into building a career in music. We will be back with another issue next month. Meanwhile, we would love to hear from you. Your suggestions, ideas, and feedback - all are welcome. This magazine is an effort by IGenPlus to reach you, so be rest assured that we are here for you! Letter from the CEO p 3 Concept Note p 4 The Beauty of Ragas & Swaras p 5 The Evolution of Music p 7 In Conversation With p 9 From the Reader’s Pen p 12 Melodies of the Mind-Body-Soul p 13 In Tune with the Divine p 14 Saar: Ancient Wisdom p 16 Traditional Indian Instruments p 17 Games Corner p 19 Musical Trail p 21 Ghatam: Plugging into the Cadence Inside Us p 25 Taking Indian Music Global p 27 The Role of Music in Adolescence p 29 Inside a Musical Enterprise p 31 Career Insights p 33 This Day, That Year p 35 Teenspiration p 36 SAI SHRAVANAM Indian music producer, recording and scoring engineer GHATAM GIRIDHAR UDUPA Letters of the Past p 37 Indian percussionist DIVIJ Thank Us Later! Teen music artist p 39 On a more scientific level, if you feed any sound into an oscilloscope – a sound measuring instrument – depending upon its frequency and amplitude, a form is created. "The sound : The AUM itself is considered the very root of physical creation. In the yogic culture, the source of creation entire existence is seen as a web of sounds, for Namaste, which the root sounds "Aa", "Oo", and "Mm", are uttered together as "Aum''. Every night, while cradling my new-born to sleep, putting up my most soothing voice, the thought fills me as to how much we are in harmony with the sounds around us. The three month old is not aware of the tunes, the genres, the words, yet, the vibrations come in tune with her. It was a quiet night as Tarun and Vishal sat gazing at the Remember the Inside India trip that I went to? There we stars outside their camp. Vishal asked Tarun if he could hear were informed about the four kinds of sounds: Coming from an Indian family, the presence of music is more the slight whirring sounds of the wind. Both of them profound; be it a small celebration to mark an achievement, discussed that despite the apparent inactivity, there was • The first type of sound is vaikari. This is the sound that I birth of a baby, anniversaries, or large-scale marriages, it is not complete silence. Even in the serene surroundings, speak and you hear – the physical sound. incomplete without music. From the daily mantras chanted there was some sound if you listened closely. in my house, to gatherings of family members over kirtans, • The second form is madhyama, “the middle one.” It is a or playing antakshari during road trips, music is a major “Is there a form to sound, Vishal?” Tarun wondered aloud. sound that comes from a dimension of our mind. companion in every memory. Whether it is for our personal purposes or to connect to the divine through bells, conch, or “Yes, there is,” Vishal replied remembering a lecture he had • The third dimension of sound is referred to as pashyanti, bhajans or gurbani, music has a deep devotional dynamic to it. attended, “In fact, it is said that every sound has a form which is our mind’s ability to create an image to a sound attached to it and every form has a sound attached to it.” even when we hear it the first time. The magazine is an attempt to bring you closer to the presence of music and the silence it brings along. In the next Tarun was not convinced, “How can something invisible to • The fourth dimension is called para vak. “Vak” means “voice,” few pages, we collect some of those memories and the the eye have a form?” “para” means “the divine” or the source of creation. deeper essence of music. Hope you find your rhythm or discover a new one on this musical sojourn. “Do you see that owl flying over there, Tarun?” And so, the yogic lore goes that sound is the basis of creation. “No!” Tarun exclaimed, trying to look around, almost Wow, that’s quite a lot of information. But tell me more Love, standing up as he had never seen an owl. about the last bit. Soumya “Okay, what about that bat near that tree?” You know sounds originate from reverberations, right? “Where are you seeing all these?” Tarun questioned The source of creation is vibrations and reverberations. squinting his eyes to take a closer look. And that is not just what the yogic lore says but what even modern science proves. Be it the Big Bang Theory of the “Actually, I am not seeing them either.” Tarun was confused universe, or the galaxy sounds that NASA recently shared now. with the world, our existence is seen as reverberations of energy at different levels of vibrations. Where there is a But tell me, when I said “bat” what were you trying to see? vibration, there is bound to be a sound. So the entire existence is a kind of sound or a complex amalgamation of I was obviously trying to look for a black bird with those sounds. In fact, that’s why even in silence you can sense distinct wings that the bat has, why? these basic sounds if you listen carefully. See, even when you didn’t see a bat, you had some form Is that why my mother stresses on me pronouncing every already associated with it in your mind based on the word word correctly and clearly? I would definitely like to read I said, or what you heard, basically the word is an more about it. interpretation of a sound. Sure, let’s do that tomorrow. We should sleep now. Hmmm, interesting, I never thought of it that way. 3 4 The Beauty of The seasonal thinking about music is universal. Legendary Italian composer Antonio Lucio & Vivaldi created a set of concertos called the “The Four Seasons” where each production is a musical Picture any string instrument being played in an empty Many Indian ragas are said to have healing expression of a season of the year. room. Imagine it vibrating the air at a certain frequency, the properties for the singers and audiences. For music flying through the air, reaching your ears, moving instance, the Sahana raga is regarded as a some liquids in there, and firing up the same vibrations in panacea for mild ill-health, Todi as the relief the neurons of your brain. This is a classical example of how of severe sinus headaches, and Carnatic ragas music “colors the mind.” like Bharavi and Athana as the restorers of In Indian classical music, the ragas serve as the backbone of spirit and energy. the nuanced vocabulary, the stipulated notes strung Inspired by the Indian Raga (known as ‘rag’ in northern India together, and the distinct melodic phrases constructed. and ‘ragam’ in southern India), this phrase has its origins in Each melody is intended to convey a memorable idea to the the Sanskrit language. “Raga” literally means “colour” or listener. The beauty of the performance comes from the “passion” in Sanskrit. Functionally, it is a melodic framework Historically, ragas were time-specific as they were classified synchronization of ornamentations, vibrato (change in used for improvising and composing Indian classical music. according to seasons of the year and times of the day. For pitch), delivery, and timing. example, Raga Basant and Bahar were traditionally rendered In a raga, musical notes follow a scale, with a given set during the vasant ritu (spring season). So, most classical The Swaras in classical music are symbolic expressions or appearing in a typical order. Going from note to note, music concerts in February and March featured these ragas, representations of the seven notes of the musical scale. weaving melodies, and emphasizing specific musical motifs individually or as a combination of the two. Nowadays, this then creates an atmosphere or a mood that is unique to the custom is fading away, perhaps due to our changing Often designated as the ‘saptaka’ these swaras are The swara solmization corresponds to the raga in question. This is termed as the ‘rasa’. lifestyles and general disconnect from nature in urban settings. shortened to the sounds Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. Western solfege system of Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Collectively, these notes are known as the ‘sargam’. One of Ti. Japanese music follows a convention based Although there are about a hundred ragas in Indian classical the most noticeable applications of these syllables is in on an ancient poem, comprising the syllables i, music, there are some prominent ones that have seasonal teaching vocal music.