The Carnatic Katha

Carnatic music is considered as one of the classical music forms of India. It is predominantly seen in the southern part of our country; Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and even in some parts of Sri Lanka.

I'm not going to delve into the evolution of the art form and all the other stuff even though I want to. Now, who can ignore a temptation? Certainly not me. Alright, storytime!

The music of Southern India was evolved from ancient Hindu traditions. It was relatively unaffected by the invasions that took place during that period. The Arab and Iranian invasions had a larger impact on the music of Northern India; Hindustani music. Au contraire to northern music, Carnatic music is more fixated on the voice. Even the instruments of Carnatic music are played with an imitation of singing with specific embellishments known as "Gamaka".

This concept of Gamaka is such a characteristic feature of Carnatic music. Gamaka can be understood as embellishment done on a note or in between two notes. Present-day Carnatic music uses almost 15 such types of Gamakas or ornamentation.

In Carnatic music, there is a famous saying - "Laya maata, shruthi pita" which essentially imply that they are the ones that guide us through. Laya is also known as the rhythmic cycle of the composition. And the Shruthi is the pitch in which we sing. They both go hand in hand with the singing.

The next is the Raga which is a melodic type or framework for improvisation. Even though some of these ragas align periodically with The Hindustani music, both the classical forms have a very distinctive format of the said ragas and also the basis on which these ragas are sifted are very different. Carnatic music, with its homogenous tradition, has evolved in a very uniformed way when compared to its northern cousin.

The repertoire of Carnatic music consists of compositions such as Krithis, keerthanas, devaranama, Padam, Javali, Thillana, etc, etc. The major influence on this music was done by the composers from 16th through the 20th centuries, particularly " Purandara dasa", and the Trinity of great composers belonging to the early 19th century, "Tyagaraja", "Muthuswamy Dikshithar", and " Shyama Sastry".