Traditional methods of musical training and modern music classes

2007·2.9 MB·English

by  Ratanjankar, S N

Traditional Methods of Musical Training
and Modern Music Classes*
S.N.RATANJANKAR
'T'he subjectof mypaperis 'AComparativeStudy of theOld,Traditional Methodsof
1.
MusicalTraining andModemMusicClasses'.Nowthat musichasacquired aplace in
theculturallifeofthe nation. the demand forsystematic training inthearts ofmusicand
dancehasgrownandisgrowingbyleapsandbounds.Itistimeweformeddefiniteviewson
methodsofmusicaltraining.Ihavethereforethoughtofdiscussingandcomparingtheold
andmodem methodsofmusicaltraininginthisgathering.
Inthepastliteratureonmusic,wedo notfindanyreferencetothisveryimportantand
interestingsubject.namely.sangeetshikshapranali.Infact.there isnorecordinanyofthe
oldSanskritworksonmusicofclassesofmusicwhereanumberofboysoranumberofgirls
were giventrainingand practice in music together. Mostofthe training,ifany.seemsto
havebeenindividualistic,intheguru-shishyaparamparaastheycallit.Thereis,however,
ominterestingreference toacompetitionand argumentbetweentwo Ustads,Haradauaand
Ganaraja, onthesubjectofdancetrainingintheMalavikugnimitram ofKalidasa,inwhich
theyarediscussingcorrectwaysofinitiatingastudentintotheartofdancing.anddeveloping
aproperunderstandingandappreciationoftheartinhim.Theshilpashalasandnatyashalas
attached to ancient palaces wereperhapsclassesofmusicanddance maintained by royal
patronsjusttohaveprogrammesofmusicanddancereadyattheircommandonceremonial
occasions. \Ve are told thatthe ancient universitiesofTaxilaand Nalanda had centres of
musicalanddancecultureaffiliatedtoorincorporatedinthem.Butbeyondjustareference
to these, there is hardly any information whereby we could understand the system of
teaching,courses ofstudy, forms ofclasses-maleor female-examinations, if any, and
othermatters.
Nobody can challengethe superiorityofindividualcoaching whetherinan, science,or
literature over class and mass training, with regard to qualitative merit. But individual
coaching is possible only if teacher and taughthave both enough patience and time and
energy tospend overthe very slow butsure method of study andpractice. In the present
times,especiallywhen, intheplaceofhalf-a-dozentalentedpersonalpupils,eachreceiving
hisownspecialtrainingfromtheguruaccordingtotheconvenienceoftime,thepupil's own
capacity to learn, his talent,application and devotion,and momentsof inspiration ofthe
..Thispaper, and the papers byAntsher Lobo,P.Sambamoorthy, 5.S.BOOas. and vasamrao Rajopadhye
published inthisissue werepresented inthe first Music Seminarorganized by Sangeet NatakAkademi in
New Delhi inApril 1957.-Ed.
Sangut Nafak Vol.XLI. No.4, 2007
S.N. RATANJANKAR
guru himself, the modem training in music has (0 reach a class of students of varying
talents. tastes.qualities of voice. and temperaments. the old methods would seem to be
impossible. However, it would not beout of place at the present moment to make a
comparativestudyoftheoldandmodem methodsoftraining inmusic.
The pastmethodsofmusicaltrainingwhichweshallbediscussingherewillofcoursebe
thosefollowed byprofessionalmusicians ofnorthern Indiaof thelast fourcenturies.
BaijuBawara.GopalNayak,andAmirKhusroaretheoldestnameswehearwithreference
toHindustanimusic.They werecontemporaries.Vleare told aboutacompetitionbetween
AmirKhusroandGopalNayak.Botharecreditedwithhavingintroducedcertainnewfeatures
inourmusic.\VefindGopalNayak'snameinKallinatha'scommentary onShamgadeva's
SangeetRatnakar,andhisragaandtalakadambakas.AmirKhusroismentionedinhistory
as the inventor or rather modifier of certain usages in the Indian music of those days
including certainmusical instruments.The quawwalsofIndiawho are theMuslimbhatai
gayakas acknowledgeHazratAmirKhusroastheinventoroftheQuolQalbana.Quawwalis
aretheMuslimform ofBhajansand Keertans:Ami! KhusroevolvedQuawwaliout of the
BhajanandKeertan.QuawwaliisthusofIowanorigin.BaijuBawrawasawanderingminstrel,
singing devotional songs and songs of philosophical content. This wandering minstrel
must have been a very popular figure of his time and must have given birth to a very
touching style of singing so that he isremembered today, after five centuries,with great
respectbyallourmusicians.Butbeyondhisname.wehaveabsolutelynoinformationasto
where he learnthis art. Wecannot say wherehe picked uphisknowledge and practiceof
singing.Bawrameansawanderingminstrel.
AfterBaijuBawra,themostrespectedname wehearisthat ofSwamiHaridasjiDagur.
Swamiji can truly beconsidered the father of the music of Hindustan of the past four
centuries.HindustanisthenameusuallyappliedtonorthernIndia,thatpartofIndiawhich
is 10 the north of the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The style of singing which Swami
Haridasjitaughttoaselected fewstudentsofhissuchasTansen,Baiju Nayak,Gopal LaI.
Rarndas,seemstohavespread allovernorth IndiaandGujarat.Maharashtra,andMadhya
Pradesh.But aboulthe actual stylesofsinging. voice qualities. systems ofvoice culture
and voice productionwhich made thesenamesmemorableinthehistory ofourmusic.we
havenodefiniteinformation.The onlysource.ifany,ofthe slightestideaon these points
isthetraditionalpractices oftheprofessionalmusiciansoftoday.Therecognized classical
styleof vocalmusicin thosedayswaswhatwe knowtoday by thename ofDhrupadand
Alap.Allthesegreatmusicianspractised andcultivatedreligiousand devotionalmusic.a
serious typeof music having itsown solemnity. itsown serenity.its own dignity.and as
suchcommandingrespectfromthelisteners.DhrupadandAlapcharihavetheirorigininthe
templeoftheKeertanasandBhajans.Theactualmethods.as]havepointedoutherebefore,
ofdevelopingamelodyinDhrupadandAlap.theexercisesforvoiceandeartraining.can be
deduced from whatmight have beenperhaps leftof itinthe Iraditionsof theprofessional
musicians.SwamiHaridasji,itissaid,hadsuchcharminhismusicthathecouldgathereven
MUSICAL TRAINING: PASTAND PRESENT 5
wildanimals andbirdsaroundhimself.Thesweetnessofhisvoiceandcadencesarebelieved
to have been superhuman. What made his music so sweet? Wecannotsay.
And let us now turn to the traditional methods of initiating apupil into and imparting
training intheartofmusic.
Before education on a mass scale was introduced, the old guru-shishya samprudaya
was prevalent everywhere. Even in the Westwhere mass and class teaching on modem
lines-massandclassteaching asweunderstandittoday-wasintroducedmuchearlier,it
didnot exist before whatthey refertoastherenaissance setin.Class and masseducation
has its origin in religious congregations. The Upanishads of the Hindus, the moulood
Sharifof the Muslims, the religious gatherings of Buddhists, Christian sermons in the
church, were all schools ofreligious education. But there wasno ideaof specializationin
these religious gatherings. The listeners to religious sermons were not being trained as
such in religious knowledge and practices. They were notnecessarilyexpectedtoqualify
for thereligious profession. For thepurpose oftraining students for aparticularvocation,
thesystemofindividualcoachingalone was followed inthose ancient days.Ayoung boy
having a natural talent for a particular branch of knowledge or art used to be sent to a
specialistin the line and was coached by hin:t. This very thing happened to Tansen. The
same wasthecase withthegreat composersandmusiciansoftheWestsuchasBeethoven,
Bach, Handel,Mozart,andothersofthepastfewcenturies.Education inthose days wasa
pricelessgift.Great artistsandlearned scholarsoftheremote pastwere themselvesalways
on the lookout for pupils to whom they could impart alltheir knowledge and art-pupils
who had talent enough to appreciate the blessing of the knowledge and the devotion to
pursue it, and faith intheir masters. Suchpersons alone approachedthegreat masters and
suchpersons alone thegreat masters taught with affection and interest. The custodians of
knowledge were, in those days, liberally patronized by kings and princes. They neither
stoodinneedofnorexpectedany gratificationfortheirworkofteaching fromtheirpupils.
Infact, theyfed andclothedthepupils outoftheproperty inlandand money they held as
donations and gifts from their royal patrons. They ofcourse puttheir pupils to hard work
and even at times very trying personal services with a semblance ofharshness. Maybe it
was allapart ofthetraining. This spiritofeducationasalabouroflove onthepart ofthe
teacher anddevotiononthatofthepupildeterioratedassoon asroyal patronage slackened
andthemasters weredriven tolookafterthemselvesfortheirverysubsistence.Trainingin
artandcraftbecameaverydifficultproblemforlearners. Theyhadtopayaveryhighprice
eitherin the form of personal services or in money for scanty scraps of lessons from the
masters. Music, art,crafts,poetry, literature becamehereditaryprofessionsandthesewere,
sotosay,monopolizedby andrestrictedtoguilds ofprofessionals whojealouslyguarded
thesecrets ofstudy andpracticeof theprofessionconcerned,reservedthemfortheirown
children,andthrewouttoanoutsiderwhocametolearnfromthemlittlebitsoflessonshere
andthere without openingtothemtheso-calledsecrettreasures ofknowledgeandpractical
work. No doubt, it often happened that a fellow who had absolutely no talent for art or
6 S.N. RATANJANKAR
science went to a renowned expert for training. Such persons became a nuisance to the
Ustad and a laughing stock of the company around. These shagirds were passionately
devoted to their line ofchoice. But they had no sense of their own lack of capacity to
succeed in their pursuit.As a result.these pupils never attained any merit and remained
mere caricatures.Extra-intelligent and talented pupils were considered by the masters of
theselateryears as trade-secret-liftersandwere neverencouraged or allowed anycontact
with the proper methodsofstudy and practice.Even under such conditions, the talented
andintelligentamong theshagirdsofthe Ustadswithnoendofpatienceandafinnfaithin
the Ustad,and a devotion 10 their chosen branch ofstudy, stuck to their work for years
togetherdespite alldifficulties and the purposeful inattentionof the Ustad and came out
successful in the line. Such cases were quite common among the great musicians of the
recentpast.Thetraditionalmethod,however.oftheprofessionalUstads hadcertaingreat
advantages.The admissionand enrolmentofanewentrantintothe particular traditionor
gharanaofpracticaltrainingwaseffectedbywhatisknownastheganda ornadaceremony.
accordingtowhich theUstad tied athread roundthe wrist ofthepupil and recited certain
secretincantationsandbenedictions.putafewgrainsofgramandjaggeryinthe mouthof
thepupil,andinitiatedhimintotheartbythefirstrudimentarylesson-inthecase ofmusic,
thebasicmusicscalesa,re,go.rna,etc.Thepupilonhisparttouchedthefeetofthe Ustad
withhisheadandofferedapresentandsweetsaccordingtohislimitatthefeetoftheUsrad.
Aroyalshagirdofferedjewelsandornamentswhileacommonmancouldofferafewcoins.
There was no set standard.This ceremony was considered to besacred and the relation
thus created between the Ustad and shagird was to beobserved for all life.The shagird
attained certainrights asaresultof theceremony. He waslooked upon as anear-relative,
almostaninmateofthehouseofthe Ustad.Inhiscareerinthe profession and inhisstyle
ofexecutionhewasalways supportedbyhisUstadandtheUstad's relatives.Thisspiritof
personalinterestandattachmentbetweentheUstadandshagirdwentalongwayininspiring
the pupil with zealand zest forhis study and practice despite all difficulties. The ganda
ceremony wasperformed in the presence of agathering offellow musicians ofthe Ustad
andfellowpupilsoftheshagirdandthepupilswaspubliclyannouncedastheacknowledged
shagirdsoftheUstad,Afterthefirstpresentoffered atthegandaceremony, no further fee
was expected from theshagird.The pupil was,however, expected10do serviceas he was
enjoined inthe house of the Ustad.
Let us nowtum to theactual lessonsset.
The first lesson was what is known as 'sur bhama',The basic swara shadja of the
mandra sap/aka suitable to the vocalpitch of the shagird was to be held as long as his
breath capacity could hold it.This practice was to bedone regularly early morning every
dayforan hourortwo,increasing byand bythedurationoftheshudja.The object of this
practice was to acquire steadiness, strength. and correct pitch sense in voice and breath
control. Proper guidance is necessary in this, otherwise the voice may get cracked and
spoiled by overdoing the practice or by faulty production of voice. Persons having high-
;\fUSICALTRAINING:PASTAND PRESENT 7
pitched voices were not expected to go down too much in the lower octave, nor were
persons possessingdeep,low-pitched voicesexpected tostretchtheirvoicesup toomuch
into the top octave. What was important was holding a musical tone steadily for some
lengthoftime.This practicewascontinuedformonths,evenfortwoorthreeyearsinsome
cases.TheUstadneverproceeded furtherinthistalim tillhewassatisfiedthatthevoiceof
theshagirdhadacquiredtherequiredsteadiness;suchpracticeistediousanduninteresting.
Iwonderifourmodemstudentswillhavethepatienceortimetosingjustonesinglesafor
monthstogether.Butstudentsofthepastcenturiesdidsticktotheseinstructions.However,
during thelime theywentonwiththis'surbhama', theycameinconstanttouch withthe
bestmusicandmusiciansatthe musicalgatheringsanddebatesanddiscussionsoftenheld
atthehousesoftheirUstads.Bythetimetheyfinishedtheinitialcourseofvoicecultivation,
they had already heard hundreds of musical performances and discussions on practical
aspects of music at the little homely conferences in the houses of their own and other
Ustads.Agoodnumberofpricelessmusicalcompositionsandartisticalapsofanumberof
ragashadalreadytrainedtheirearsautomatically.
After theshagird hadacquired strengthandsteadiness. invoice,thenextcoursestarted
withafewsimplescaleexercisesto bepractised inincreasingtempo.Mostly,thestraight
arohas and avarohas of a few basic scales such asYaman, Bilawal, Bhairava, Kafi and
Bhairaviwerepractisedwithanopen-mouthedandfull-throatedvoice.Alongwiththese,a
feweasysongsinDhrupadstyleinragaslikeYaman,Khamaj',Bhairava,andafewpassages
typicaloftherespectiveragasattachedtoeasysongsinKhayalstylewerepractised.There
was nothing like a sci course of study. Whatever the Ustad was inspired to teach the
shagird,theshagirdhadtolearn.Ofcourse,therewasacertainbroadoutlineofthecourse
ofstudywhichvariedindetailaccordingtovoicequality.degreeofmusicalintelligenceand
musicalmemory.andgeneralfitnessandprogressofthepupils.Therewasnothinglikethe
swarajnana exercises.The ear-training under thetraditional method oftrainingaimed at
correct impression of ragas and songs on the ears,caught and retained synthetically by
musicalimaginationandmusicalmemory,andnotbymusicalintelligenceinthei.ranalysis.
Without knowingintellectually whatit was, the pupil underthe traditionalsystemhad to
concentrate by mere memory the impressions he might have received of the ragas and
songshewastaught,andtopractisethemhundredsoftimestillthelessonwaspermanently
fixedonhis mind.Thelackofswarajnanaworked asablessingindisguiseinthecaseof
these students of music of the past ages. because it was only by steady and constant
practice aidedby musical imagination and memory thatthe lessonslearnt from the Ustad
could be retained.Wenow wonder how a musician ofthe old tradition is able to repeat
verbatim songshemighthavelearntfiftyyearsago.Hemusthavepractisedthosesongsat
leastfive thousand times toremember them correctlyafteralapseoffiftyyears.\Vealso
wonder. on the other hand, that quite a number of practical musicians of a fairly good
reputationduring therecentpastwereunable toanalyze theiralaps andtanasinnotation.
Allthesame,theywereimpressivepracticaldemonstrators.ThegreatTansen,BaijuNayak-
8 S.N. RATANJANKAR
notthefamousBaijuBawra,butaBaijnath,amanfromGujaratwhowasoneofthepupilsof
SwamiHaridasji-GopalLal,BilasKhan.Samokhan Singh.MisriSingh.NiyamatKhanand
Naubad Khan(knownbetterbytheirpetnamesSadarangandAdarang),BhahadurHussein
Khan. Haddu, Hassu and Natthu Khan ofthe Gwalior durbar, Bande Ali Khan and Ali
Hussain.vazir Khan,YousufKhan,Inayat Khan,Taj Khan,Oland and Suraj Khan. Babu
Ram Sahai,Shakkar,Makkhan. Bade Muhammad Khan. Muhammad Khan and Rahmat
Khan.HadduKhan'ssonsAmirKhanSitariaandTanRasKhan,andhispupilsAli.a.known
asGeneralamongmusicians,and Fattuhis brother.ZakiruddinandAllah Bande,Pannalal
Gosai,KudavSinghandNanaSahibParise.whoarepioneersintheirrespectiveschoolsof
Mridang-playing,ShankarRaojiPanditofGwalior,BalkrishnaBua,Bhaskar BuaBakhle,
Vaze Bua.Abdul Karim Khan.and the unforgettable man ofthecentury.the late Fayyaz
HussainKhan.Aftab-i-Mousiqi,werealltrainedintheguru-shishyutradition.UsladMushtaq
Hussain Khan.ShriAnand BuaJoshiofAundh.VilayatHussain Khan.KrishnaRaoPandit
ofGwalior,GajananraoJoshi,andsomeseniorpupilsofthelateVishnuBuasuchasVinayak
Rao Patwardhan. Apte. Kashalkarji and a few others belong to the old tradition. Pandit
Vishnu Digambarji had already started his Gandharva Mahavidyalaya when these first
pupilswenttolearnfromhim.Butheseemstohavetrainedthemindividuallyalsointheold
traditionalsystem.
Intheoldsystem,allemphasiswaslaidonthepracticalsideofmusic.Therewasnothing
like an intellectualgrasp of the art..Musicianswerejust good demonstrators.They could
neverexplainwhatthey weresingingorplaying.Ofcourse,therulesofpracticalexecution
theyknewwellenough.Buttheyhadnowordorlanguagetoexplainthewhyandwherefore
oftherulesthey followed.Itwasthe Iistener'sjob.ifhe wasintelligentenough.tofindout
for himself and frame rules of procedure in the development of a raga and a musical
composition. And this was-let me assure you. ladies and gentlemen-s-what Pandit
Bhatkhandeji did withallthematerialandfactshegathered fromthegharanedarpractical
musiciansofhistime, andhastherebymadeavailableall theimportanttopicsofpractical
musicto posterity.Thereisnodoubtthatfor astudentwho wants toconcentrateonmusic
aloneandbecameapractical musicianwithout anyeducationoranyotherculturalactivity.
theold methodjustnow described would be the best.Only.thestudent must do all inhis
powertoachievehisaim.Hecanearnhislivelihoodandattainsocialandeconomiceminence
only ifhebecomes no lessthan atop-rank demonstrator ofmusic.Mediocres in practical
musicwhoarenorequippedwitheducationalqualificationsandculturalstandingwillremain
nondescriptsandhavetodragonahand-to-mouthexistence.Examplesofsuchfailures are
not a fewinthe field ofmusic.Mixing with good practicaldemonstratorsand keeping in
touchwiththemwasanecessarypartofthetrainingintheoldtraditional systemoftraining.
Musicisapracticalart.and themore oftena student hasthebest modelskept before him.
thegreater isthe possibility ofhiscomingoutas asuccessful practicaldemonstrator.An
able practical demonstrator of music. at least in these days. gets as much respect and
pecuniary assistance from the public as lawyers. doctors. engineers, etc., of the learned
MUSICALTRAINING: PASTANDPRESENT 9
professions.Heisneverquestionedonhiseducationalqualificationsandculturalstanding.
Even hisweaknesses,ifany,areconnivedatandpardonedbythelistenersonce theyare
charmedbyandlostinhismusic.ThustheoldmethodsofJeamingandteachingmusicmay
befollowed by those who have leisure. patience enough to practise music alone. and
nothingelse. Iwonderhowmany amongthethousandsofstudentsofmusictodaywould
bewillingandable10givethemselvesuptotallytomusic.
Andnowletusturn tothemodemmethodsofclass-leachingofmusic.Tomyknowledge.
thefirstrecordofamusicschoolinIndiaisthatoftheBarodaStateMusicSchool.whichseems
tohave beenestablishedatBarodasometimeinthe ninetiesofthe last[nineteenth]century.
ThisschoolwasrunbythelateMoulahBakhshGhisseKhan whoseemstohavehailedfromthe
Southandassuch wasfairly wen acquaintedwiththeCamaticsystemof music. The new
schemeofimpartingtraininginmusictoanumberofstudentstogetherinasingleclassofmusic
onmodemlinesnaturallycreatedthenecessityofasystemofnotationandgradedtextbooks,It
ispossiblethatMoulahBakhsh,himselfamanoforiginalideasandresources,mighthavebeen
helpedbytheEuropeanband-mastersofthosedaysoftheBarodaStateinevolvingasystemof
notation.ItmaybenotedthatthemusicschoolatBarodacameintoexistenceduringthetimeof
thelateMaharajahSayajiRaoGaekwarofBarodawhowashimselfarecognizedeliteamongthe
rulingpricesofthosedays.TheschoolwasperhapsstartedatthesuggestionofHisHighness
himself.Afterhisschool,anumberofsuchinstitutionscameintoexistenceinallthechiefcities
of India,A number of notation systems-the akar-matrik and danda-matrik swaralipi of
Bengal,thelatePandlrVishnuDigambaJji'ssystemofthethreelinesofmandm,madhyaand
tana-sthanas, which has now beengiven upby theGandharvaMahavidyalaya Mandalin
favourofa newsingle-linenotationsystembroughtin bysomepupilsandfollowersofthe
notationsystemof HindustaniSangeerPaddhari- havealsocomeintovogue;besidesthose
followedbythelateAbdulKarimKhanSahib,thePoonaBharatGayanSamajofthelateBhaskar
Bua,andthenotationof ShriAnantBuaJoshiofAundhwhichIamtoldhasbeenadoptedby
PanditOnkamathinhisnewpublications.maybewithslightmodifications.Theselattersystems
neverbecameverypopular.Amongthosethatwerepopular.somearepopularbytheirintrinsic
meritofsimplicityanddirectmethodandsomeothershaveasemblanceofpopularityjustby
merepropagandainspiteof the fact ofa generalfeelingagainst theircomplexnature.The
professionalUstadsoftheoldtraditionhavenofaithintheideaofwritingmusiconpaper.But
theyareperhapsnotawareofthepresentneeds,andassuchthisopinionisnotacceptablein
viewofthenecessitythathasarisennowofpubliceducationinmusic.
AsIhavepointedoutherebefore,theBarodaStateMusicSchool'stextbooksonmusic
werethefirstgradedseriesoftextbookspublishedinIndia.PanditVishnuDigambarjisoon
followed with his three-lined textbooks on alankars. the Bola Sangeet Bodh, the Raga
Pravesh, theharmoniumguide,notationsofBhajans,etc.Butthisnotalionsystem,having
provedtoo unwieldy andcostlyforprinting.wasreplacedbythenewone-linesystemof
notationoftheGandharvaMahavidyalayaMandai.IwishthelatePandilVishnuDigambaJji's
Raga Pravesh series at least was republished in the new notation system, because it is
10 S.N. RATANJANKAR
quitegoodandmaybestudiedbystudentsofmusictoday.Panditjihasgivenafullprogramme
ofsomeragas-about18orso,Ibelieve-s-likeBhairavawithalops,vi/ambitandmadhya,
and perhaps afew running tanas attached to traditional songs.One full book is devoted
thustoasingleraga,sothatastudent whostudies variousformscommitsthem tomemory
byconcentrated practice.and could present abouthalf an hour's mahfil rendering ofthat
raga.ofcourseaccording toPanditji'sideaoftheformoftheraga.Butunfortunately.none
of his followers has thought it necessary or worthwhile to republish them in the new
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya system. Isuppose Pandit Vishnu Digambarji published these
music manuals of his after he opened the branch of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in
Bombay in 1908. PanditVishnuDigambarji andhis fellowstudent,Shri AnantBuaJoshi.
werebothconductingtheirrespectiveschoolsofmusicinBombayduringthetwodecades
from 1908to1928.TheGandharvaMahavidyalayainBombayhadbecomeagreatinstitution
ofmusicaleducationin Bombay.But unfortunately,it failed aftera few yearsand Panditji
hadtoshifttoNasik.SoalsotheGuru SarnarthaGayanVadanVidyalayaofAnantBuaJoshi
failedandJoshijileftBombayandshiftedtoAundh.The lateBhaskarBuaandAbdulKarim
Khan also conducted classes and schools of music oftheir own for a few years.Similar
institutionsofmusicaltrainingwere alsoopenedinBengal.Theinstitutions,oneknownas
Sangeet Sangha and the other as Sangeet Sammilani,wereperhapsthe oldestinstitutions
ofmusicaltraining.Thesewereprobablyjustmusicclubswhere some provisionwasmade
for regular day-to-day music classes along with the main purpose of holding music
gatherings,moreor lesson thelines ofwhatisnowknownas 'MusicCircle'.Somemusic
clubswere alsorun in Bombay,such as the Gayan UttejakMandaliofTaradeorun by the
Parsi community and the Trinity Club of Mugbhat, which was probably run under the
guidanceofthelateBhaskar BuaBakhle.
Allthesedevelopmentsofclasses,schoolsandclubsofmusicwerethe naturaloutcome
ofthenecessityfeltforsomesortofpubliceducationinmusic.TheoldgharanedarUstads
had lost the patronage of (heir royal masters during the troubled times ofjusta hundred
yearsagoandmigrated10thechiefcitieslikeBombay,Calculia,Poena,Lahore,Allahabad.
Nagpur;andthegeneral publicwhich hadnever before opportunities to hearthe musicof
theclassical Ustadscame intocontactwith itforthe firsttime,and thus the desireto hear
ragadari music and to learn it grew fast, and as a result the idea ofpublic education in
musicspreadfarand wide.Schoolsand classesofmusiconmodem schoollines beganto
be opened in all the big cities. notation systems were evolved,books on music written.
Music gatherings on a large scale,known now as Music Conferences, began to be held,
and thus·the knowledge and practice of music has now become a necessary part ofthe
culturalequipmentofour boys andgirls.
According to the class and school training in music, a student is given lessons in
swarainanaforayearortwosothatbythe timehe isadmitted tothe thirdyear, heiswell
acquaintedwithallthescalesofmusicandthetwelvebasicsemitonesofHindustanimusic,
andassuchcanlearnfrom abookofsongsinnotation theoutlinesofasong.Asyllabusof
MUSICALTRAINING; PAST AND PRESENT \I
graded courses of study and practiceare prescribedin these schools,andinthecourseof
five years a student becomes thoroughly acquainted with about fifty ragas, and half a
dozensongs of differenttypes-c-Dhrupads, Khayals,Taranas,a fewThumrisandTappas
andalapsofeveryragahehashadinhiscourseofstudy.Andyetwefindthathardlyfive
per centof the students of theseinstitutions shine asoutstanding practical demonstrators
ofmusic.Whatisthisconditiondueto?Isitthefaullofthenew methodsoftraining?Isit
the fault of the notation? Are the textbooks not of the right type? Are the teachers not
competentenough toguidethestudents?Idaresay none ofthesefactorsisresponsiblefor
what is supposed to bedeficiency of the standard of practical demonstrative capacityof
students. Certainly. everyone knows that mass education hasitsown defects.Wedo not
expectevery graduateofauniversitytoshineoutinlifeasadistinguishednationalfigure.
Soweneed notexpectevery studentwhohascompletedacourseofstudiesinmusicfrom
apublicinstitutionofmusictoshineasanoutstandinggayakorvadak.Butthereareother
circumstanceswhichmakeitdifficultoruninterestingforastudentofmusictoconcentrate
inhisstudyofthepracticeofmusic.
The firstand mostessentialconsiderationfora schoolisasectionamongthestudents
selectedongrounds ofvoice quality,naturalaptitude,andfavourableeconomiccondition
forspecializationinthean; forsuchstudents,ahostelattached(0 theschoolisnecessary,
Noneofthepresentmusicinstitutionshasahostelattachedtoit.Thefinancialconditionof
these institutions is not such that they can segregate talented and sweet-voiced students
fromtheothersandmakespecialarrangementsfortheirtrainingorcreatefacilitiesforthem
to be in constant touch with their teachers. Nor are music schools able to engage good
practical artists as teachers who can demonstrate students and put before them good
(Q
modelsofraga-interpretation.The recentmusicconferencesandpublicfunctions.official
and others, have created such an incessant and pressing demand for the few top-rank.
artistswhoarenotmorethanfiftyorsoinnumber.thattheirfeeshavegoneuptothousands
of rupees and they are never available for service anywhere either as demonstrators or
trainers. In a way. thisa welcome feature:studentsof music get theopportunity to hear
theseartistsoften.andmusicianslikemyselfwillalwaysthinkwellaboutthehighfeespaid
to practical demonstrators and see them prosper.Butthe factremainsthatinstitutionsof
musicaltrainingaredeprivedoftheservicesofthesetop-rankdemonstratorsofmusic.and
students lose the advantage of coming into close contact with these artists. Ifit were
possible(0 engagetheseartists.itwould havebeeneasyfortheinstitutions10 combinethe
old traditionalmethodsof training with the new onesofclassand masseducation. After
havinghadtrainingforafewyears intheregularday-to-dayclassesofmusicschools,they
could have been entrusted to top-rank demonstrators to be further trained in the old
professional methods.
Thenagain atschoolsofmusic.apropersystemofvoicecultureisstillnorsufficiently
adhered to. Infact.thereisnowhere aproperclassification ofstudentsaccordingtorange
andqualityofvoice.andtrainingofvoicesuitabletovoicequality.Everystudenthastodo
12 S.N. RATANJANKAR
thesamecourseofstudyandpractice,whether the course issuitable to his voice quality.
to histemperament,to histaste,ornot.The anxiety to complete the prescribed course of
studiesand passtheexaminationdivertstheinterestand attention of the student from the
musical content of the lessons he gets in the classes to the necessity of cramming the
wordstocorrecttalaandtheragaalaps,andpreparethemforexamination.Amongthetwo
hundred students who are admitted to various schools of music.hardly ten per centjoin
themwiththeseriousaimofbecomingamusician.Mostof themjointheclassesjustfora
pastimeorjusttohaveasuperficialandcasualacquaintance withtheart.Somestudents,I
havenoted.arejoiningclassesofmusicbecausetheyhavemiserablyfailedintheiracademic
carerinschools,justto try their luck in music.Suchstudents provedullin music too and
proveaburden to the poorteachersto whose 101theyfall.
Theadvenrageofacquiring3 good grounding inswarajnana under modemmethodsof
training andcourses of studiesshouldprovea greathelp to students who understand that
advantage and act upon it. But the usual tendency among modem students is to cram
lessonsjustamonthor two beforeexaminations and be prepared forexaminationsalone.
Thismaybepossible inrespectofothersubjects.Butinapractical subjectlike music,this
eleventh-hourcrammingisnot only ineffectivebutalsoharmful.
Theinitialswarajnanaandtextbooksofsongsandtheoryofmusichavecreatedafeelingof
overconfidence among modem students of music. so that they have totally lost sight of the
necessityofregularandconstantpracticeofmusic.Hesingsbythehead,sotosay,and,dueto
lackofpractice,hisvoicedoesnotrespondtohisbrainandhesingseitheroutoftune,orifnot
outoftune,hesingswithoutfeeling.Theeffectofthemusicisnil.Ontheotherhand,ifthese
verystudentswho have already acquiredswarajnanaintheirprimary course understand the
importanceofregularpracticeontherightlines,thereisnoreasonwhytheyshouldnotcome
outnotonlyascompetentpracticaldemonstratorslikethetop-rankmusiciansoftoday,buteven
dobetter,Educationandculturehaveaveryhealthyeffectonart.asIwasdelighted [0 findina
danceperformanceinthisveryhalllastevening.
Iamnotonewhowouldcondemnoutrightthemodern methodsoftraining inmusicand
singpraisesonlyoftheold.traditionalmethods.whenIcanseeand understand thecauses
that put modem schools of music and their students at a disadvantage. we have yet to
establishinstitutionsofmusic whereboththe modem and theold.traditionalmethodsare
combined.Nowthatmusichasattained itsdueprestige andplaceintheculturalactivities
ofthenation,studentswantingtospecialize inmusicanddevotetimeandenergytoserious
studyandpracticeofmusicwillnotbelacking. Residentialschoolsandcollegesof music
with acompetentand well-paid staffofteachers as wellasgood practicaldemonstrators,
and suitable courses of studies and textbooks offering suitable exercises for voice
production,voicecultivationandbreathing,andregularprogrammesofmusicbyteachers,
mists.and thestudentsthemselves willsurelybringoutIndian musiciansofgreatability.
Letushope we shallsoonbe able 10beon thecorrectpath.