• can't you be without music?
  When you enter a sound proofed recording studio, the first reaction will be a certain fear of silence! Imagine yourself in a place where there is no one to make any sound and it is absolutely silent! How eerie would it be! I know of some one who is a professor of music who cannot sleep without the sound of a fan! Every home wakes up to the sound of some devotional music in India! Music is made up of different sounds through different media. To the Professor the fan sound functioned probably as a lullaby!

• Why Carnatic music for everyone?
  The discipline in Carnatic music making brings coordination and concentration. Every aspect of music is as a result of utmost attention-meditation. So within the discipline of music everything possible could be subtly accommodated. Music is therapeutic, mind-alleviating, the source of peace and energy. The order within emerges enjoyably.

• Carnatic music being such a vast and intense musical discipline is it not ambitious to think that it can reach everyone?
  If we take music to be Carnatic music and nothing more, then there is less hope. But music being what it is, much more than Carnatic music or in fact more than any other system of music, or more accurately the glue that binds all of us together, it is never ambitious to think that it can reach everyone. What we need to do is simply give the right opportunity to unearth the music in everyone. This is as simple as drinking a glass of water.

• If it is possible how can it happen

• The Brhaddhvani way.

• What is unique about learning music at BRH?
  The organization's integrative and interdisciplinary approaches to music education make traditional Indian art forms accessible and relevant to the young and the old. For example, Brhaddhvani has exploited the basics of Carnatic music thoroughly in order to reach out to any musical style. Thus, even while mastering and preserving our rich Carnatic musical performing tradition, Brhaddhvani's curriculum offers its students a base extendable to different musical styles-Hindustani, folk, Western classical and jazz.
  
  Brhaddhvani's curriculum, known as COMET (Correlated Objective Music Education and Training), combines the positive aspects of both systems. COMET comprehensively combines research, documentation, archiving, and recording methodologies with teaching, self-learning, and performance.

• Is there an easy way to learn Music?
  One of Brhaddhvani's most popular programs is music education for school children. Children are taught Carnatic music in a way   that enhances memory, learning of languages, (co-ordination and organization, management, and creativity). By using a visual approach to music education, children easily grasp the fundamental principles of music and learn to sing with understanding.

• What is music after all and who can learn music?
  What is tonally conceived, composed (organized), improvised and performed by human beings, which is enjoyed by both the performer and the listener. Even the sounds of inanimate objects like, fans, cars can become music in a given context, which may be enjoyed. Music is the arrangement of sounds in specific patterns. But what makes the sound musical is because the way you respond to it. Any one who can respond to simple musical statements in melody and rhythm can learn music.

• Are musical instruments for only those who can't sing?
  Musical instruments are also for those who sing! Those who play musical instruments can also sing and will sing if they have not sung before. The instruments become the extension of one’s voice. Some times what cannot be achieved by voice can become realizable through instruments. Voice extending itself to instrument gets enriched in turn in the process of becoming.

• Are the voices different for film and Carnatic?
  At the Voice workshop conducted by Brhaddhvani in 1998 the noted film playback singer, S. Janaki says that there are only two types of voices, the male and the female voice. Voice is the most capable of instruments. Many instruments in one. The sound produced by this instrument can adequately suit many different stylistically different situations.

• If you sing film music, would it not affect singing Carnatic music?
  Some great living maestros in the past have sung for film music. They did not get affected. But in the past, singing for film was not different from singing for classical in any major way. But nowadays the film music demands different kinds of voices and different kinds of musical styles. The old, the middle and the young among the living musicians compete with each other to find  their niche in the films. The film media has exploits all of them.

• Can one play an instrument without being able to sing?
  Yes one can. But the instrumentalist will certainly attain the capability to sing eventually. The instrument gradually reaches his voice. If the player wishes he could sing at some point or the other. But singing is very important and helpful at an advanced level of musical accomplishment in the Indian context. Many musicians from the West nowadays come to learn Carnatic voice in order to discover their voice potentials because the western concept of voice stratifies the voices as soprano, alto, tenor and so on. Where as in the Indian musical context every voice is accepted (although good voices are delightful to hear). It is also true many instrumentalists may not remember words but can play. Knowing the words of the songs and having the ability to sing is much more demanding. Having the versatility of the technique of the instrument and being able to sing is a great accomplishment and an ideal to be followed.

• Who can be a good performer?
  A performer needs a good guru, (there are exceptions). But the guru is essential for guidance, direction and to check on the learner’s ego. A performer needs complete command over sruti-sthana-laya, good listening experience, a vast repertoire, command over improvisatory techniques, presence of mind, good memory, sense of proportions, ability to gauge the audience, affable nature, capability to appreciate others and the stamina to practice assiduously to sustain a concert for 3 hours and finally a certain business acumen. A singer should have good control over voice and should have clear diction. An instrumentalist needs technical versatility to interpret songs and to improvise.

• Who can be a good musicologist?
  One who is intellectually oriented, linguistically versatile, has vast knowledge over wide range of disciplines, has the ability to abstract, write well, to sing or play an instrument or instruments for an experience and understanding.

• Where and how do you start music?
  If you do not have prior experience in music or do not have a musical family background, go to a teacher who is thorough in the fundamentals of music. Good performers often start at a higher level and would make one perform. You might come to fundamentals when needed. But a good performance depends on the ability for correct practice. If a student is not consistent with the teacher (for reasons from both the student’s or the teacher’s points of view) the student has lesser chances of correction later. One who has started music correctly with the correct practice of the fundamentals has a good chance of coming back to music at any time.

• But what are those fundamentals? Are these the Sarali, jantai, alankaram and gitam of Carantic music?
  The real fundamentals are those elements in music making, which have universal application and not exclusive to Carnatic music. These are the exercises to realize the svarasthanas (12 tones), talas (the larger rhythmic framework within which a melody is set) and rhythmic phrases used in melodic contexts. The creative use of those rhythmic units in new melodic situations also becomes part of the foundation in music.  One who has realized the need of this would teach the fundamentals in an appropriate and creative way. If such a teacher is available to start with, even if you change teachers for one reason or other you need not start from the beginning once again (which is quite common a complaint among students who change teachers). Brhaddhvani has a way through a system of education developed over the years. The COMET method of Brhaddhvani makes the fundamentals interesting and challenging both for the children and adults.

• How can music be taught through distance education? (Is it possible to learn through tapes?)
  Sending materials by tapes or videotapes will not be helpful unless there is a systematic way to use the tapes effectively. If you can use the tapes to learn Carnatic music without a system to support you are already a wonderful musician. You are not a beginner! A personal direct link should be established with a teacher who knows how to handle the media for effective communication. A course is needed towards effective listening useful in distance education-that should be the emphasis of the fundamentals in music.

• Is there an age limit to learn music?
  No age limit. But you should know what it is that you want in music at any starting point. An 82 year old man was a student of correspondance music at the University of Madras! If you set the objectives clear there could be specific courses for everyone suiting the individual objectives.

• What is the right age to start Music?
  Of course when you are young. With some exceptions the ideal age to start music would be 6. But any one can start music education from the growing fetus in the womb. The child is definite to be musical and that is good. One can expose the growing child to music in many different ways.

• For a normal student how long would it take to perform professionally?

Without a proper training it may take more than 10 years, but with the right kind of training, in the contemporary electronic age, an acceptable performance capability can be attained within 6 years. For a talented music student, with special and systematic training coupled with assiduous practice one can perform well within 4 years. But that is only a beginning for performance.

• After learning music for sufficient time if the student quits learning and practicing for some reason or other, should s/he once again start from the beginning?

If the student has had a good basic training there will be no need for training once again. The student would need only to brush up and go further.

• Is one-to-one in music learning efficient?
  Only at an advanced stage. In the beginning one to one learning may tend to isolate the student from a more meaningful group context where the student will have psychologically more secure environment and a challenging partnership with other learners. Special individual cases (who may be weak in many aspects) would need special individual attention before they can be put in a group.

• Can one learn music efficiently in a group?
  Normally the group situation is better both for children and adults when the composition of the students is fairly compatible. If there is less compatibility (for example joining a student in a group in the middle) it will not be productive. The intake of the students in a group should be carefully chosen. The gradation should be such that the learning time for each student from the master should be within a reasonable time of repetitions. A passive student in a class is likely to develop psychological barriers in learning. When the group is heterogeneous the group learning will not be efficient. The group may conveniently begin to think it is doing well but the students will not be confident coming out of the group. Most of the time the composition of the groups tends to become haphazard.

• How long should one practice to be a professional performer?
  The following are the steps before practice:
  1. You first get the part you want to practice accurately from the master and get his/her approval that what you learnt is correct or within correctable range.
  2. You should remember or have all the points you need to perfect written down.
  3. Then you try to understand what you got from the master. Then begin to practice. A singer should practice a minimum of two to three hours with calculated periods of rest. An instrumentalist should practice two to three times more than that of a vocalist. An ideal instrumentalist (in the Carnatic Tradition) should try to coordinate voice and the instrument in every possible way.

• How would it affect a student when s/he changes music teachers? .
  Change of teachers in the initial stages of learning will not be productive. An advanced student may learn from different teachers when s/he has already attained certain intellectual maturity to discriminate and absorb the best from the teacher. A student whose training is systematic with sufficient analytical capability will benefit learning from different masters to integrate into his or her musical personality.

• How do you measure the real success in learning music?
  To see that the student is able to follow the master's instructions accurately and is able to incorporate in his/her individual practice. To see that the student is able to apply the principles learnt in similar musical situations. To see that the student develops his/her individuality eventually.

• How much does a University degree help a musician?
  Unless backed by a strong performing tradition with a family background or through learning from a musician outside of the institution University degrees, will not help performance of music. But the University degrees will certainly help in securing Government jobs. But unfortunately in such cases where the degrees weigh more than the individual's performing accomplishments the teacher may tend to perpetuate mediocrity and spread a fear psychosis among students developing in them a cynical attitude towards music and they may become drop outs. (But for the girls after the degrees the security will be provided through matrimony!) Unfortunately the University degrees till now are not measurements in judging musical accomplishments (except in modest theoretical musical understanding). However, the University degrees empower performing musicians greatly.

• Now there is much talk about Music therapy. What are the effects of music?

Music is the ideal health tool…Proper singing regulates breath, which in turn controls blood pressure, hypertension and unproductive emotive states of the mind such as fear, insecurity and rejuvenates breath related ailments, allergies such as asthma. One can develope concentration, sensitivity towards many different areas in day to day life, which sets the mind at rest and brings peace. Music is a good individual companion when any thing else is not possible, bringing a certain mental security.
Music soothes the nerves at different centers through specifically activated nerve centers.

• Do you think there is good and bad music?
  Yes there is. Although good and bad, right and wrong are contextual, the music can be good and bad according to the specific effects the music produces on the individual. Certain music may not be good for some individuals due to many different associations. The effect of music may be detrimental depending on the decibel level of the music heard. In this respect even many classical concerts where there is competitiveness towards the audibility through the manipulation of the levels in amplification may not qualify for good music in bringing peaceful emotive states, although the concerts may cater to the thrill and intellect! The decibel level of hard rock music is rated next to the sound of the jet engine! Although there is what is called soft rock, rock music is not rock music unless it is alarmingly loud. The music shows a kind of a rebellion of the mind. But that is what seems to attract many youngsters nowadays!

• How can you measure the effect of music?
  How exalted the listener and the performer feel together after the performance (not exhausted together!)

• Is concert performance the end point of music?

No. You may perform for yourself and share your music with any one with confidence and enjoyment without a career as a performer. Balance of emotion intellect, proportions in the aesthetic arrangement in the musical materials brings a state of mind, which is valuable in any career along with accomplishment in music. Performance as a career may bring along with it its own frustrations, competitions, playing for the gallery, gradually bringing a shift from your own personal values and objectives. The feeling of being related to everything in life brings a certain peace indescribable. But a lucky few are successful performers without sacrificing their own musical values. But why don't we be all lucky! Perhaps too ambitious!

• Can we trust music for a profession?
  Yes, of course, if you really believe in the values of music.

• What and where is the market for music?
  If you are smart, everywhere! The right type of music education will open up chances for many different kinds of performance situations even while learning. Any thing well done is well done and music is music. So make a good beginning to learn music. Classical music is the concentrated essence of what is best. But when you realize the best you can use the skill in many small ways and have a career. Easy things get to the masses. And through easy things you can make a living and still you will be in music. You do not need to be an accountant as a goal for living and practice music for your soul. But finally classical music will make a big come back.

• What is the future of Carnatic music?
  Very bright when we take proper steps now. Carnatic music will reach more and more through systematic training in institutions. Personalized learning supported by the electronic media will become the norm. Without proper training one cannot make use of the available media. Skill in notation will accelerate self-learning.

• Why do you think vina is important for a singer and in fact for any one who has not yet taken to an instrument?
  The vina is the best teacher. One can become smart students of music. To take to any other instrument you need some gift in music of some sort. Gifted musicians also do well on the vina of course. But any one can take to vina. Vina is to Carnatic what Piano is to Western music. Vina is visual too. Vina and voice are highly therapeutic!

• Is there a career in Music besides performance?
  Of course.
  1)Art management - This is now becoming a possible area for work for those who are art lovers. Art institutions would need special expertise in this area. Artists or scholars, in general, head the Music institutions, with little expertise in management. The future of educational institutions increasingly would depend on self-sustaining schemes rather than just philanthropy. Even Universities are not exempted from this trend.
  
  2)Specialization in teaching-children, foreigners, professionals etc
  Teaching music will no longer be left to untrained professionals. Teaching music also is becoming a lucrative career in music. Teaching children needs an understanding of psychology and a flare to teach with a child's view of everything. The children who are left with an array of distractions by the media, their attention span for a serious art like music has become less and less. You need different methods to educate children. It is difficult to teach music in the old gurukula method. Children ask hundreds of questions. Teaching music can be one of the very good options for girls who have a flare for music. The majority of the modern parents' goals invariably seem to point to America or other far off places for better financial prospects for their children, music has a tremendous role to play in their lives. A housewife in America, if she is very good in teaching music can earn quite easily $3000/ per month by being at home. (In America NRI-s have high standard of expectations, as our top ranking musicians are easily available to them!) Teaching foreign students need a special way of communication with a basic knowledge of the comparative understanding of Indian and Western music. The work of great musicians such as Prof. T. Viswanathan, Mr. T. Ranganathan, Prof. Trichy Sankaran, Prof. Jon Higgins, the world famous dancers, T. Balasaraswathy, Ms. Lakshmi Knight in America for decades and many great Carnatic musicians who have consistently visited America spreading our culture, have promoted our Carnatic tradition to such an extent that now the Universities wish to continue their legacy. The faculty positions available for old experienced Carnatic musicians in the sixties, to nineties in America are now becoming available for youngsters with the right kind of a music educational background. Now the westerners are beginning to turn their attention to Carnatic music.
  
  3)Archiving
  Since the decline of gurukula music has come to stay with institutions.  The curriculum demands the use of music libraries (or archives) by the students. Many top ranking young performers are well versed in the use of archives, either from the private collections or professional archives. Brhaddhvani is an archive of an institution, meaning the growth of an institution is well documented for the first time. The music archive is integrated into Brhaddhvani as an educational institution. There will be an increasing number of professional archives in our country. Archiving is a specialized study connected with music. Brhaddhvani is one of the founding members of the National body of 13 prominent archives in India, called Archive Resource Community. (ARC). Music researches need the techniques of documentation.
  
  4)Transcription
  The music documentation needs a specialized skill in transcription. Transcribing music is an important skill. Even a performer needs. It is likely the internet based education will make use of transcribers of music. Although many early experiments have failed due to lack of expertise and lack of proper takers, increasingly nowadays we find music teaching through internet. There are many websites for music. But a German scholar and writer on South Indian Music, Mr. Ludwig Pesch, is spreading Carnatic music in Europe through e-learning collaborating with a University in Germany (Universitaet Lueneburg )! His website: www.carnaticstudent.org This trend will open up new opportunities for employment for music students.
  
  5)Musical productions
  If one is a performer, if s/he knows the technique of recording one can easily bring one's own recordings. The home studios are becoming popular. You do not need to go to commercial studios with big money. A smaller budget will be sufficient for productions.
  
  6)Music Therapy
  This is a fresh area for exploration. This discipline will require a combination of skills. Institutions offer professional courses in other parts of the world in this discipline. Nordolf Robbins in London is one famous music therapy institute. As we think in India music therapists do not only give music in cassettes to cure diseases. The patients are treated with therapeutic skills with lot medical knowledge as well. The patients learn musical skills in specific ways for different types of ailments. Here the music therapy can be wedded to yoga, ayurveda and other types of medicines. Music becomes an alternative therapy. This is sure to open up new areas in employment.