| Indian musicians
never rely on musical scores. In Karnatic music, compositions (kalpita
sangita) and improvisation (manodharma sangita) play an equally
important role. Thousands of "songs" have been handed down from generation
to generation in oral tradition (sampradaya) or are being composed
in our time.
There is no separate repertoire for vocalists and instrumentalists. Improvisations such as the exposition of a raga (raga alapana) and variations of a theme (e.g. kalpana svara, niraval) are so carefully intertwined with a composition that the resulting effect is one of a complete musical unity. For an inexperienced listener it is therefore difficult to identify the beginning and end of an improvisation. Several important facets of Karnatic music can only be mentioned in passing here although they are of greatest importance for maintaining the stylistic integrity of any particular tradition of classical music (bani). For instance,
Shruti denotes microtones based on the seven basic notes (sapta svara)
and their twelve semitonal variants (svarasthana). Ornamentation
(gamaka) plays a great role even in the rendering of scale patterns
(arohana-avarohana), characteristic phrases (prayoga) and
special phrases (visesha sancara). In other words, a gamaka constitutes
more than arbitrary embellishment as it is the key to the individual character
of a raga (raga rupa). Intermediary notes (anusvara) have
the purpose of lending continuity to all melody. Subtleties of this kind
cannot be reduced to writing but need to be assimilated through long exposure
to good music and years of practice under the guidance of an experienced
musician. There are hundreds of melodic structures (raga) and numerous
rhythmic patterns (tala). Tala and raga can be compared to the warp
and weft of a piece of fabric. When both are combined, they can produce
an unlimited number of musical patterns and moods. Each musician specializes
in a repertoire of his own, inherited from his teacher and expanded with
the help of senior colleagues.
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