Ravi kiran Class on Brinda-MMI on Acharya Net

[cacm]

I am starting this thread on my own in the hope of generating discussions as well as acknowledging the great service & work Sowmya Acharya is doing to educate & enlighten lovers of Our music. All her efforts so far been in the same spirit of Madurai Mani Iyer whose birth centenary-along with that of Brinda, PMI, Alathur Srinivasa Iyer & several other GREATS- we are celebrating this year.
Sowmya's Choice of Ravi kiran is the BEST & IDEAL one for this purpose. Ravi is not just a genius in terms of performing but one who is eminently qualified and capable of explaining to EVERY ONE-Experts, Students, and Lay persons- the brilliance and depth of other Geniuses like MMI whose mission was to creatively entertain & explain the nuances & subtelities of Carnatic Music in a universal fashion to experts as well as lay persons.
Coming to the Video Lessons Ravi has covered the subject matter of Kalpana Swarams, Javalis & Padams in a brilliant fashion. The video is well made with the .The proper level of audience interaction.In my opinion it belongs in the collection shelf of anyone interested in learning the nuances of the subject matter. The only suggestion I can think of to improve matters is if more audience shots of participation were shown.
My fond hope is if Sowmya can persuade Ravi Kiran to share his thoughts on every aspect of MUSIC (especially our music) we can have an authentic record of Carnatic music as of the current period. These can be video taped as a complete collection and shared with interested persons through the Acharya Network. In my opinion he is the ONE COMPLETE MUSICIAN (who also happens to be a GENIUS) at VARIOUS ASPECTS we are fortunate to have at our midst. VKV

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

I fully endorse VKV--In my opinion he is the perfect
bridge" between the generations--enough respect but by no means a "rubber-stamper" of all that is past and glorious . He also educates without condescension-- his expertise carefully cultivated and nurtured(most boy prodigies "fizzle" out after a few years whereas RK has grown in several dimensions and hisinitiatives--the Carnatic.com web site with Sowmya,the Sampradaya concerst arranged before the music season starts. What I find most admirable is the way he comments on various topics in this forum without pontificating or asserting that there is only one point of view. Whatever initiative he launches or supports would be a worthy service to CM and posterity would be indebted to him.

[msakella]

In fact, long back I have written to the authorities of both MyCarnatic and Acharyanet to start a feature on ‘Discussions’ also in their websites as it is always desirable and most essential to discuss the matters relating to any topic to be more transparent and, at the same time, to get more effective and constructive results. But nothing has yet been done in this direction. In this connection I would like to bring out the following.

For example, in Acharyanet, in his video clipping of 7 & 35 Talas, very sadly, Chi.Ravikiran started with Dhruva followed by Mathya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata and Eka following the age old Shloka which gives only ‘Shoka’ to the aspirants. To tell the truth, there are not even handfuls of compositions either in Dhruva or Mathya-talas in our music. Even in our Trinity only Dikshitar had composed very few compositions in these Talas of confusion and no singer ever dares even to sing them with elaborate Ragalapana or Kalpanasvaram in any one of his/her concerts. In such case, is it justifiable to start these Alankaras with these difficult Talas to our kids? More over, if we start with Eka having only one Laghu in the beginning and gradually proceed with Rupaka adding one Druta to Eka, with Mathya adding one more Laghu to Rupaka and then with Dhruva adding still one more Laghu in the end of Mathya thus, maintaining only singular-units and, later, with Jhampa and Ata including double-units also lastly ending with Triputa, the only Alankara carrying odd-number of Kriyas. In our syllabus we are following this seriatim only very successfully getting amazing results very quickly.

In another example, he taught a Gita in Anandabhairavi to the aspirants. While singing the Arohana he explained a little about the oscillation of Sadharana-gandhara and while singing the Dhaivata he spelt out ‘Dha’ but sang only the shade of Nishada without giving any explanation for this. In this Raga to make it clear late GNB the Great was singing ‘p n p s’ but not ‘p d p s’. More over, in the olden days when only Gitas are composed, Gurumurthy Shastry got the title ‘Veyigeethaala’ and called ‘Veyigeethaala Gurumurthy Shastry having composed 1000 Gitas in those days. But, now, having become obsolete long ago, no Gita is allowed to sing in any concert and I do not understand the logic in teaching a number of Gitas that too including such difficult Ragas to the small kids. In our syllabus we have restricted the number of Gitas to only ‘six’ in easy Ragas including only one Lakshana-gita in Shreeranjani that too only to give the acquaintance with all the 12 notes to the small kids.

While availing the modern technology to the full extent, I sincerely feel, it is the duty of the ‘teacher’ to modernise the methods of teaching also for the benefit of the poor aspirants and their respective parents. In this regard, few months back I have also sent an email to Chi. Ravikiran to do something constructive in symbolising our ‘Gamakas’ as a super-active person in the music field but he did not respond. I sincerely wish that Sangita Samrat Chi. Chitravina Ravikiran sincerely tries to modify the methods in teaching music also for the benefit of the poor kids and becomes Adhyapaka Samrat also. amsharma

[asangeetha]

Dear VKV ,

Thanks for your kind comments. Acharyanet was founded with the goal to bring the teachings of accomplished gurus and artistes to a wider community and also preserve and archive learning material for future generations. As a student of music , I personally enjoy this work and the great learning experience it brings to me. Thanks for your feedback of inlcluding footage of students in the video lessons.We will keep that in mind when we do future recordings.

In fact, our goal is cover a wide range of topics relevant to students and rasikas not only from Shri Ravikiran but other esteemed gurus as well. We will keep members posted of our activity as always.

I will post a link to the video excerpts of this workshop on 'Kalpana Swarams and Rare Krthis and Javalis from the Brinda school' soon and details of the workshop lesson download will be provided for interested students.

Regards
Sowmya

[asangeetha]

Dear Ramasubramanian M.K

You might be referring to Shri Shashikiran, younger brother of Shri Ravikiran, as the founder of Carnatic.com and organizing the sampradaya concerts etc. However, your other points are 100% true.