Category archives: Resources

Flow | Practicing “mela pairs”

A challenge to enjoy on a daily basis (30 min.): Select a popular melakarta raga to get into the “flow” >>(e.g. the 65th Mecakalyani) before exploring others (01 to 72) in 36 daily sessions, over and over again – Happy Flowing! Over a longer period, start each practice session with a mela having Prati Ma for …

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Flow | Mela practice – number patterns (3 counts)

Flow | Mela practice – svara pairs (3 counts) >> Rūpaka tāla (3 counts/syllables) Lesson 4: “ta ki ta“- trikāla = 3 speeds Full lesson: Practice four widely used Carnatic talas >> a = middle octave (madhya sthayi)’sa = higher octave (tara sthayi) The above svara pattern may be sung, hummed or practiced silently with any …

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Birdsong in Indian music: “A rich tapestry that intertwines music, poetry and nature”

Read “How images of birds enliven Indian classical music” by Chitra Srikrishna (Scroll, 2 February 2025) along with images and YouTube contents:https://scroll.in/article/1077488/how-images-of-birds-enliven-indian-classical-music Bhakti poet Andal, Marathi mystic Dhyaneshwar and Tamil poet Subramania Bharati have all used birds as rich metaphorical devices. Both the Carnatic and Hindustani classical traditions are filled with the songs of birds. …

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What’s the difference between Hindustani and Carnatic music?

At first, this question seems easy to answer: just watch performers from either strand of Indian music and you’ll know Which is Which, merely going by the instruments in use, or how they dress and watching the body language involved: harmonium or sarangi vs. violin for melodic accompaniment for most vocal recitals, and tabla drums …

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