In Carnatic music, the intended meaning of music phrase is that the given set of notes has to be sung or played within one breath time in the case of vocal or in a single bow in the case of violin. In Carnatic notation scheme, the musical notes belonging to a phrase expression are placed within two hyphens. This video explains the tuning method used in Indian Classical music. (both carnatic and hindustani). Please visit www.sunadam.com. Sunadam - Project aimed a.

Carnatic Music – SAMPADA

Indian violin

To the ear of the western violin player Indian music, and perhaps the Indian violin in particular, is one of the most exotic and mysterious of sounds. And this is not merely superficial, for the more closely you examine the complexity and discipline of the Indian Classical tradition, the more mysterious and baffling it becomes.
There are two main branches of classical music in the Subcontinent; the Carnatic or South Indian, and the Hindustani or Northern. The two styles diverged around the 14th Century AD, but have common roots dating back to the 4th Century BC. The biggest difference between Indian and Western Classical music is that the former is based very largely on improvisation, with emphasis on the creativity of the performer rather than on the exact reproduction of a composer's work.

Raags
The performer must work within a rigorous and complex framework of scale and rhythm; it is the ability to be inventive within these restrictions that marks out the quality of an artist. In Carnatic music for example there are 72 main scales or Melakartas, each of which has its own set of ornaments and Gamakas (grace notes); and 35 principal rhythms or Talas. A performance or Raag (often called Raga), which may last for several hours, will specify the use of a combination of certain melakartas and talas, and will have a simple melodic line, often from a religious or folk song; this however may not appear until late in a piece, and most of the performance is spent in examining and elaborating the particular mood and feel of the Raag. Raags were originally based mainly around the vocal tradition, and are not instrument-specific; indeed it is remarkable to hear the similarity in tone and ornamentation when comparing vocal and violin performances of a raag.
Probably the most important melody instrument is the Sitar, a plucked stringed instrument whose characteristic whining and 'zinging' sound comes from the many sympathetic drone strings, and the ability to bend the strings sideways, thus sliding the note. An instrument called the Ravanastron is said to be the earliest ancestor of the fiddle, in that it was the first stringed instrument played with a bow. King Ravana of Ceylon is said to have invented the bow, and the instrument he used it on was named after him- the date for this is either 3000 or 5000 BC depending on what source you believe. Other stringed instruments include the Tambura (a four-stringed drone instrument, the Sarod (a small sitar), the Surbahar (bass sitar) and, from Hindustan, the Sarangi.
The Sarangi: A hundred colours
The Sarangi is a strange and ancient relative of the European violin which is both highly expressive and extremely difficult to play. Its name means 'a hundred colours', indicating the range, depth and subtlety of its voice. The instrument expresses, according to the late Sir Yehudi Menuhin, 'the very soul of Indian feeling and thought'. It has an important and growing role in North Indian music, but has largely died out in the south.

It is said that the Sarangi originated in ancient times when a weary travelling hakim (doctor) lay down under a tree to rest in a forest. He was startled by a strange sound from above, which he eventually found to be caused by the wind blowing over the dried-up skin of a dead monkey, stretched between some branches. With this unlikely event as his inspiration, he proceeded home and constructed the first sarangi
It is squat and box-like, carved from a single piece of hardwood (usually Indian Cedar), with three gut melody strings (tuned do-so-do) and a baffling array of up to 40 metal tarab (sympathetic strings). The body has a goatskin face on which rests an elephant-shaped bridge of ivory or bone. The Sarangi is held vertically, neck uppermost, and the strings are stopped not with the fingertips but with the backs of the nails. A characteristic feature of sarangi playing is the very smooth meend (glissandos) and gamakas (oscillations around the note). Talcum powder is used on the palms of the hands to facilitate easy sliding on the neck.The heavy bow is held with an underhand grip, the first and second fingers placed between the hair and the stick. Among the current masters of the instrument are Pandit Ram Narayan and Ustad Sultan Khan; they have achieved conspicuous success despite a general decline in the fortunes of the sarangi, brought about both by its poor image (associated as it is with the accompaniment of dancing-girls), and by competition from the considerably sturdier and less troublesome harmonium.

Besides the classical sarangi described above, there exists a whole extended family of instruments either called by the same name, or structurally very similar, across the whole of North India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Indian violin
The violin may have been introduced to India around 1790 by military bandsmen in the East India Company, many of whom were Irish. BaluswamiDikshitar (1786-1859) learned the instrument from the army bandmaster at Fort St.George in Madras, and developed new playing techniques to suit Carnatic music; he became court musician in Attaiyapuram. It has also been suggested that the violin came somewhat earlier, brought by Portugese Christian missionaries, and taught to converts for use in church services. Either way, the instrument was quickly found to be ideal for use in Indian classical music, with its closeness in timbre and range to the human voice. The initial Irish connection is supported by the name of one of the earliest prominent Carnatic violinists, referred to as 'Fiddle' Ponnusami. There are also examples of Irish fiddle tunes such as Rakes of Mallow which were adapted to the Carnatic tradition, along with Sanskrit words and titles (in this case Vande Minakshi)

In India the violin is played sitting cross legged, the instrument pointing to the ground with scroll resting firmly on the ankle of the right foot. This allows the left hand to slide freely up and down the neck, without any need for the instrument to be supprted by hand or chin. Traditionally fingering is based around the middle finger (which slides up), and the index finger (which slides down); these slides or portamenti, called meend in carnatic music, are sometimes facilitated by oiling the fingers. Open tunings in fifths, such as DADA or FCFC are commonly used in order to incorporate the drones which are such an important part of Indian music. The bow is held more in the folk than western classical style. Vibrato is not used as in Western music, though there are slow, deliberate oscillations (andolan) and faster oscillations called gamak.

The aim of tone production is to imitate the Indian singing style. Unlike in western violin playing, powerful projection is not required.As well as tuning in fifths, violinists often tune down a tone, giving a more mellow sound.

Ornamentation in Indian Violin

Ornaments or Grace notes (sparsha svara or krintan in Hindustani, Gamakas in Carnatic Knatic) are essential to achiving the correct sound of Indian violin. Whilst in western music ornaments are often considered to be an optional extra, in Indian music they are fundamental.

A 3rdC authority comments;

'A raga without subtle ornamented features is like a moonless night, a creeper without flowers, a river without water, a woman without jewelry'

Hindustani music alone has over a hundred categorised ornaments. Ornamentation marks were first codeified by Subbarama Dikshitar (grandson of the aforementioned Baluswami)- in his 1904 book 'Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini'. More recently a modern form of notation of ornaments was described by Smt. Vidya Shankar in her book 'The Art and Science of Carna

Carnatic Music Violin Notes