Music Musings

One of the most popular ragas in Carnatic music, Kharaharapriya is also a wonderfully flexible scale that lends itself to a variety of expression, covering a range of genres. We discuss some of the important aspects of the raga, and go through a small selection of songs in it. The bonus in this episode is a look at how Kharaharapriya works as the background score for a scene in a movie.

India abounds in stories. And Carnatic music does not lag behind. Dozens, if not hundreds, of songs have stories behind their creation. This episode looks at a few such songs. The singers of the songs used in this episode are: Vatapi Ganapatim (Hamsadhwani) - Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar Namo Namo Raghavaya (Desya Todi) - M L Vasanthakumari Sri Naathaadi Guruguho (Mayamalavagaula) - R Vedavalli Devi Brova Samayamidey (Chintamani) - Palghat K V Narayanaswami Jagadodhaarana (Kapi/Peelu) - Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam Omana Thingal Kitaavo (Arabhi) - Sikkil Gurucharan & Anil Srinivasan Praananaathan (Kamboji) (from the movie Enippadikal) - P Madhuri

A rambling, sometimes distracted, discussion about ragas - classifications, characteristics, oddities, interesting raga clusters and raga names.  (Two song excerpts have been used in the podcast. Ardhanaareeshwaram in Raga Kumudakriya is by Madurai T N Seshagopalan, and Raga Kurinji is by Dwaram Mangathayaru.)

Back to some basics. An episode that discusses the building blocks of music - the octave, the note, and the microtone. Nothing much else, actually!! (The music for the intro and outro is from a piece for piano composed by Madhura Sundararajan.)

Well, why not?! We've had two different kinds of journeys with ragas. Here's a third, where we have a kind of musical chairs with the notes of Raga Chakravakam. (The music for the intro and outro is from a piece for piano composed by Madhura Sundararajan.)

A new kind of musical journey awaits you in this episode centred around trains and film music. Here is a YouTube playlist where you watch/listen to all the featured songs - and a few not featured: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKYZQd76hY3kXjqUWI-wJ4qxMH6habEEK

If you have been part of our journey through Raga Mohanam, here is a little journey away from it. On this podcast, we see how the mood shifts when the notes of the raga are changed, and what ragas we end up with. It's not easy to resist the lure of Mohanam, though, with its cheery, sunny face beckoning us back.

Raga Mohanam has one of the most universal of scales and is one of the most expressive ragas. On this podcast, we go on a journey through the various shades of feeling that the raga portrays, covering the entire spectrum with reference to appropriate songs, mostly from movies.

This episodes addresses questions on Tamil music and Carnatic music, and depiction of seasons in Carnatic music. Also: where do playback singers stand vis-a-vis classical musicians on the point of rigour of training? Ragas in film music - what goes on and how do composers approach it?

How do moods and music relate to each in the realm of ragas? How do notes and scales work to bring out a particular mood or rasa? A fleeting look at the navarasas (the nine emotions or feelings) through ragas.

This episode covers questions on Ragas - Classification of Melakarta, Janya & Bhashanga and their properties; the Origin & Associations of Ragas with Moods and Feelings.