| Carnatic Music | |
|---|---|
| Concepts | |
|
Sruti • Swara • Raga • Tala • Melakarta • Asampurna Melakarta |
|
| Compositions | |
|
Varnam • Kriti • Geetham • Swarajati • Ragam Thanam Pallavi • Thillana |
|
| Instruments | |
|
melody: Vocals • Saraswati veena • Venu • Violin • Chitra veena • Nadaswaram • Mandolin rhythm: Mridangam • Ghatam • Morsing • Kanjira • Thavil drone: Tambura • Shruti box |
|
| Composers | |
Varnam is a form of song in the Carnatic music repertoire. A varnam is a relatively long piece and can range from 30 minutes to up to an hour. It is usually set to Aadi or Ata tala. It is the center piece in a recital of a Bharathanatyam dance. It is a tradition to start a recital in Carnatic music with a varnam. The lyrics are simple and consist mostly of long syllables and swara phrases of various lengths which bring out the essential features of the raga. It has two types: Taana varnam and Pada varnam.
Varnams are considered vocal exercises in a particular raga. The patterns in a varnam are considered to be characteristic patterns of a particular raga or scale. Varnams are considered the most complex of the vocal exercises in Carnatic Music. They are designed to help develop voice culture and proper control of rhythm. Indeed, varnams are often practiced in double and triple speeds and proper rhythmic control (tala) must be kept.
Contents |
Named for its thanam-like rhythmic qualities, tana varnams only have lyrics for the pallavi, anupallavi and charanam.[1]
With rhythmic elements like a padam, pada varnams are generally sung to accompany South Indian classical dance, including bharatanatyam.[2] Unlike the tana varnam which only has lyrics for the pallavi, anupallavi and charanam and swarams for the rest of the sections a pada varnam also have lyrics that correspond to the muktayi and chitta swaras of the varnam, so generally, pada varnams contain more lyrical content than a tana varnam.[2] The swaras in this type of varnam are suitable for intricate footwork.[2] Padajathi varnams are simply pada varnams that also contain jatis in it, making it again more suitable for South Indian classical dance.[2]
The varnam is subdivided into several sections:
Generally, a varnam is sung as follows:
Repeat, then Pallavi sung in triple speed, or in original speed.
There are generally 3–5 swara groups in every varnam. In a concert, the entire charanam section is sung at approximately 1.5 speed. Sometimes when repeating the Pallavi the Annupallavi and Muktayi Swarams are repeated in double or triple speed.
Varnams are generally sung in two varieties of talas, or metric systems, Adi Tala (8 beat cycle) and Ata Tala (14 beat cycle), where Ata Tala varnams are generally more complicated and advanced. In most of the Adi Tala Varnams the tala is placed in the 2 kalai version. So therefore each beat and finger count is placed twice.
Adi Tala Varnams include:
Ata Tala Varnams include:
The Arabhi ragam varnam is supposed to be the only longest piece with jantai and tattu prayogas.
The Valachi vachi varnam is a Navaragamalika composition. The "MATHE MALAYADHWAJA" is a Unique Varnam because the Chitte swara has two different types of sahitya arranged according to it. The first is a rhythmic poetry describing the king and has the Raja mudra and the second is a liting Solkattu swara which is very nicely embodied in expression by bharatanatyam dancers