Aids to the teaching of music

2007·0.63 MB·English

by  Sambamoorthy, P.

Aids to the Teaching of Music
P. SAMBAMOORTHY
Visualaids are animportantfactorintheteachingofmusic.Pupilsareenabledtograsp
musicalfactseasily whentaughtwiththehelp ofcharts,diagramsandotherteaching
devices.Inthiscase, the eyecooperates with theear in the assimilation ofmusicalfacts.
Many pupils learn things more satisfactorily and quickly through visual methods than
through auralmethods.
Aids to the teaching ofmusic may be classified into: 1.Graphs; 2. Charts: 3. Maps;
4.Pictures,illustrationsandportraits;S.Demonstrationinstruments;6.Books.
Graphs
Everysongtaught isinsomeragaortheother;andthemostfundamentalthingrelating10
araga isiLSarohanaandavarohanaor the orderinwhich theS1-'aras ascendanddescend.
Thearohana and avarohana are thebasisuponwhichthewhole embroideryoftheragais
developed.Thereareheptatonic(sampumat,hexatonic(shadava),andpentatonic(audalla)
scales.Thereareragas wherein thenotesregularly ascendanddescendandragas wherein
thenotestakeazigzagor vakracourse.Thesefactscanbeillustratedthrough scale-graphs
or arohana-avarohana graphs.Through these graphs, a pupil is able to see visually,not
only the nature of the arohana and avarohana of a raga, i.e., whether it is sampurna,
shadava, or audm'o and \'akra or non-\'Qkra. but also the varja (deleted)svara and the
l'Qkra Sl'ara, i.e.• the Sl'ara at which the arohana or avarohana takes a zigzag course.
Graphsbased on the frequencies ofnotes figuring inragascanbeprepared fortheuseof
more advanced students.
Scalegraphsare oftwo kinds:
1.Those based onSVQras. 2.Those based onsvarasthanas.
In the svarasthana graphs. the graphs are drawn on the basis ofthe kinds ofs\'aras
takenbyeach raga.Inthesegraphs.theverticalarm bears the 12divisionscorresponding
tothe 12svarasthanasofthefinger-boardoftheVina.Itmayincidentallybementionedthat
these 12notesofa sthayi are metwith inall countries possessing adeveloped system of
music.Ontheverticalann,the solfa lenersareplacedagainstthosesvarasthonasusedina
raga. It is possible to have graphs based on 22 shrutis, but the svarasthana graphs will
sufficeforall practical purposes.Inpractice,althougharaga isdescribedonly intermsof
the12svarasthanas,still,everymusicianknowsthepreciseshrutis thatfigureineachraga
andwhichgo tocontribute toitsmelodicindividuality.The svarasthana graphs showata
glancewhether asemi-toneor amajor toneexistsbetweenany twocontiguousnotes.
Sangul Natak Vol.XLI. No.4. 2007
24 P.SAMBAMOORTHY
WhereasthesvaragraphsofSaveri.YadukulakambhojiandArabhiwillbeexactlyallike,
takingas theydothe samearohana-avarohanapatterns(5 rillpd5- emdpillgrs), their
svarasthanagraphswilldifferinasmuchastheirparentscalesaredifferent.Likewise willbe
theSl'Qragraphs and thesvarasthanagraphsofthe following pairs ofragas: Dhanyasiand
Abheri:Gauriand Kedaragaula; Rava-guptiand Mohana.
The shrutisthana graphs are useful in showing the preciseshrutis employed in araga.
ThesrutisthanagraphsoftheEuropeanmajorscaleandtheSankarabharanaragawillshow
thatwhereasthetrishrutiDha (513)istakenbytheformer,itisthechatusshrutiDha(27/16)
thatistakenbythelatter.
The significance of the term 'janya raga' can be explained by pointing out that the
svarasthana graph ofajanya raga follows the same contours as ofits me/a raga, except
for the fact that the deleted notes are skippedover.
Charts
Explanatorychartsofthefollowing topicscan beprepared: 1.Notation; 2.Vinafinger-board;
3.35talas;4.Sangati;5.Compassofmusicalinstruments;6.Seatingorstandingplanofmembers
ofconcertparties;7.Musicalkolam charts;8.Aerialkolam charts;9.Genealogicalchartsof
famous lakslzanakaras, composers and musicians; and 10.Sishya-parampara charts.
Musical Maps
The musicalmapofacountryshowsthe importantseats ofmusicand the placeswhereher
greatcomposers livedand wrote those immortal compositions which are the pride ofthe
people. The map can also show the places hallowed by the memory ofgreat composers,
places which have musicalacademies,conservatoriesandcolleges,placesnotedfor music
festivals. and places notedfor the manufacture ofmusical instruments. In mostcases,the
seatsofmusicwerethecapitalsofcountriesorstates, where therulers, who werethemselves
musiciansand genuineloversofthe art, attractedtotheircourtsthe musicaltalentoftheir
times.
Seatsofmusic are the brightestspotson the cultural map ofacountry. Therelivedthe
creamofthe country'smusicalgenius. Musicologistsand musicalthinkersspenttheirtime
there, discussingproblems relating tothe theoryand practice ofmusic.
The principalseats ofmusic in South Indiaduring the lastthree centuries are Bobbili,
Ettiyapuram, Karvetnagar, Madras. Mysore, Pudukkottai, Ramnad, Sivaganga, Tanjore,
Travancore,Udayarpalayam,Venkatagiri,andVijayanagaram.
Demonstration Instruments
Instruments like the Grahabheda-pradarshini and Pradarshana-vinaare important aids in
theteachingofmusic.Many musicallaws.facts and phenomenacan beillustratedthrough
them. The phenomena of sympathetic vibration. note frequencies of the 22 shrutis, the
structure ofgamakas, the compass. speed and the intensity ofthe kampita gamaka. and
AIDSTO THETEACHINGOFMUSIC 25
manyother interesting things can beexplainedthrough thePradarshana-vina.
Textbooks
Textbooksareanimportantaidtotheteachingofmusic.Unfamiliarsongsgiveninnotation
inabook may begiven tostudents.Pupils maybegivenareasonableamount oftime to
reproduce the song. In their attempts to reproduce the songs withraga-bhava, they get
traininginsvarajnanaand ragajnanaandalsotrainingininterpretingthenotationsymbols.