In Indian Classical music, वीणा (Veena), वाणी (Voice) and वेणु (Bamboo flute) represent a time honoured trinity of mediums for performing music. A Veena is a sensitive instrument capable of creating the most subtle of intonations, called microtones. Till recent times, many vocalists were trained to sing with the Veena, so that they could be pitch perfect and were able to master microtones.
In this session, we present a Chandraveena - Vocal duet in Raga Yaman featuring a detailed Raga Alapana consisting of Alap and Jod, also known as Alapana and Tanam. We are pleased to feature Aparna Shastri on vocals. She is a trained vocalist under master vocalist late Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. She has also received guidance from Pandit Uday Bhawalkar and Ustad Mohi Bahauddin Dagar.
Program Notes
Raga Alapana in Raga Yaman
Raga Alapana is an improvisation and a systematic presentation of a Raga. This part has no rhythmic accompaniment. This has three parts - Alap, Jod and Jhala. Here only Alap and Jod are presented. This format is also known as Ragam and Tanam.
Here are some notes about the Raga and the Tala.
Raga - Yaman
Scale - Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni
Family - Kalyan
Melakarta - Mechakalyani (Sa Re Ga Na Pa Dha Ni)
Prahar - 4th and 5th prahar (equivalent to 3 PM - 9 PM)
Reading the scale
In Indian Classical Music, the seven notes in an octave are called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni and then Sa comes again. Notes with a capitalised first letter are called Tivra (or sharp) notes. E.g., Re above. Notes written fully in lower case are called Komal (or flat) notes. E.g., ma and ni above. Sa and Pa are always written with a capitalized first letter.
Prahar
In Indian Classical Music, Ragas are classified into Prahars (time periods of a day or night) which are said to represent the most appropriate time to perform the Raga.
Release Links:
A full video of this performance is available at my channel :
www.youtube.com/c/chandraveena
Background history on Raga Yaman/Kalyani as blog post :
www.chandraveena.com/blog/r15-veena-vani-yaman/