swara sthanas

Ideas and innovations in Indian classical music
Post Reply
ramarama
Posts: 93
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 12:15

swara sthanas

Post by ramarama »

Perhaps this has been discussed before here, and if so, do let me know and I'll search for it.

Are there 12 exact spots corresponding to the 12 swara variations (5 x 2 + Sa + Pa), or does the exact spot of say, R1 on the sruti continuum depend on the raga being rendered - I hear in lec-dems that the ri (or is it ga) of raga X is a little different, a little lower or little higher than usual, and so on. What does that mean - does the ri or ga still have to hit that exact spot on the continuum, or is there a small range on the continuum that defines each of the 12 spots (and where you hit that range depends on the raga)? Or are there are actually more than the 12 spots (is it the 22 srutis that are fixed? or is that a completely different topic?)

Confusedly yours,

ramarama

SabashBale
Posts: 69
Joined: 09 Jan 2012, 08:37

Re: swara sthanas

Post by SabashBale »

To my understanding, the frequencies of different swaras relative to the adhara shadjam are fixed, if you don't bring ragas into the picture. When ragas were given a swaroopa, this was compromised (in a limited way) and some excursions were deliberately introduced to characterize the raga to incorporate beauty and/or aesthetics. Some examples: the 'R1' of Saveri seems to be lower than the note R1; the Varali madhyamam seems to be slightly higher than the pratimadhyamam and so on ...

ramarama
Posts: 93
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 12:15

Re: swara sthanas

Post by ramarama »

Thanks - that suggests to me that each of the 12 swaras is a small range then, and there are specific spots in that range that are the right spots for specific ragas?

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10956
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Re: swara sthanas

Post by vasanthakokilam »

That is one way of putting it alright but that may give the impression that a lot of ragas have such 'flats' and 'sharps' from the swarasthana position.

For this discussion, let us assume the swarasthana positions we are referring to are based on a broad consensus on the interval ratios for Indian tuning.

If we leave out a) 22 sruthis b) oscillatory gamakas and focus on only the steady notes that are used in each raga, the number of such ragas that have those prescribed characteristic deviations from the swarasthanas are only a few in number. I request knowledgeable rasikas and musicians to list them here.

Note 1: How many musicians use that consistently, does it vary from school to school and how many of us rasikas can perceive them are all interesting side topics.

Note 2: Once you bring in oscillatory gamakas, then the discussion itself does not make sense. But a lot of times such oscillating notes are talked about as if they are swarasthanas but that is just due to lack of preciseness. When someone refers to 'Begada Ma', they are not talking about a bit of 'flat' or 'sharp' from the fourth scale degree but they are really referring to a particular oscillation of Ma that is characteristic of Begada.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: swara sthanas

Post by SrinathK »

The exceptional swaras are almost never sung as a plain kaarvai for any extended period of time - m2 in varali is played as a phrase with a small downward movement from the P, which is why it always sounds higher, even in brighas. Attempts to do so result in that note changing back to its plain note position.

Post Reply