Dasanjali Lesson 9

Practice what you learn in class every week at home, preferably for 15 to 30 minutes every day.

Warm up from the long Thanksgiving break by starting with S-P-S' and singing the familiar, brisk song, Hare Murare.
We now learn about another instrument that helps provide a background drone to help the singer maintain a steady pitch. It is the tanpura (or tambura) that repeats the foundational notes as P S' S' S repeatedly. This instrument looks a lot like the Veena. A modern version that is really compact and serves the same purpose is the electronic tanpura.
Ask someone to play a random Shuddha note in any of the 3 octaves we sing in (N, S ... upto S' R') and guess the note.
Then, make it more challenging and ask that person to play 2 and then 3 random Shuddha notes and guess all those notes. Remember to close your eyes and concentrate on the notes being played. If necessary, ask that person to play the foundational notes, S, P and S' to give you good reference points.
If you want it more challenging, try to guess komal notes and tibre m as well.
Practice the Aaroha and Avaroha (notes and aakaar) of Darbari Kaanada, from Lesson 7.
Practice the Aalaap of Darbari Kaanada, by listening to and repeating only the first 44 seconds of the following song (needs RealAudio player):
Now, practice the song, Prema Mudita, that we learnt in Darbari Kaanada, set to taal Keharva (8 beats) in a slow rhythm.
When singing slowly, it helps to put each of the 8 slow beats of taal Keharwa as "twin-beats", especially if you use the Indian hand cymbals known as Manjira.
Next, practice the same song in a faster pace to make it more lively. Note that by singing it faster, you may not be able to sing some of the nuances of the song as well as you could when you sing it slow. Also, you will not be able to put "twin-beats" like you do when you sing it slow.
We will finish this lesson by singing various parts of Lesson 5.
- Practice the Aaroha and Avaroha of the Bhilaaval Taat.
- Practice the Aaroha and Avaroha of Raag Bhoopaali, followed by a short Aalaap.
- Practice the entire song, Hey Prabhu. Remember that every line in this song starts on Khaali whereas every line of Hare Murare starts on Sam.

Last but not the least, remember that attending the class regularly is very important. A lot more techniques may be taught in the "live" class that may not be all mentioned here on the web. Enjoy singing! All rights reserved © Osuri Enterprises, 1997-2006.