What is an Alankar?
ALANKARSx
Alankars are
different sets of the swars that will enable you to practice and
familiarize yourself with the different sounds. You should practice
these till you can play them correctly without looking at the
keyboard. While you practice how to play, please sing-along too so
that you can improve your voice and can learn how to sing more in
tune.
The term Alankar literally means an
ornament or decoration; it is the repetition of musical notes from a
Raga in a particular pattern.
Alankars are of four types:
1.
Asthai Alankars,
which returns to the initial note
2.
Arohi Alankars,
which is a ascending sequence of notes
3.
Amrohi Alankars,
which is a descending sequence of notes
4.
Sanchari Alankars,
which combines elements of the above types.
Alankars are extremely useful for practice and are a great way of
getting familiar with your keyboard or harmonium. Here are some Alankars
for practice; try to play them continuously for an extended period
of time; its extremely important that your fingers move smoothly on
the keyboard because when you are playing a metered melody, an extra
second's hesitation is enough to send you out of synchronization
with the taal or rhythm.
In the context of Indian classical music, the application of an
alankar is essentially to enhance the inherent beauty of the genre.
Or we can say when a group or cluster of notes embellishes another
swar, they form the alankar. There are almost 33 types of alankars
but few are being used these days, for example, meend, andolan
and murki.
Types of Alankars
Meend
The term meend has a wider implication. It is generally understood
as a glide from one note to another in instruments like sitar as
well as vocal music. Gliding from one note to another in a ghazal
brings beauty which Ghulam Ali and Mehdi Hassan have shown in their
performances. Proper rendition of meend not only depends on the
accuracy of the starting and ending swars but also on the exacting
knowledge of the kan-swars of the ragas. Only there types of
alankars have been survived in this era of music.
Andolan
The Andolan alankar is a gentle swing or oscillation that begins
from a fixed note and touches the periphery of an adjacent note.
Specialty about andolan is that in the course of the
oscillation, it touches the microtones or shrutis that exist in
between. The note that is being oscillated within an Andolan is
known as andolit swar. It must be noted that these andolit swars are
raga specific and should not be applied to any raga that uses these
notes.
Murki
Murki is cluster of notes that sounds like a short, subtle taan. A
murki can also comprise a series of such short clusters. A
combination like RRSnS could be a murki depending
on the force of delivery. Although some special murkis are used in
khayal singing, it is really a very handy device for a thumri
singer. In fact, the bols of a thumri, the ragas they are normally
set to and the mood of this form of singing especially demand the
usage of murkis. Thus, thumris are often built around this alankar.
General Message
Keyboard or harmonium are supposed to be same. First of all we select
best sound or voice in keyboard to play. Here we select strings which is
best for learners. Some keyboards are equipped with floppy drive and
some are without. For Harmonium first open at least 3 big knobs and then
blower. In alankar lessons we have used right hand for playing. In
Harmonium never blow air until any note is pressed, otherwise air
will not be able to go out from anywhere and the Harmonium will start
leaking air from sides or anywhere. In harmonium we use our left hand to
blow air and right hand is used for playing keys. Use right hand finger
to play black keys only and adjacent three fingers on black and white
keys both. Thumb is very rarely used on black keys. For keyboard you
need to use right hand.
About Diagrams:
Here we have shown arohi notes (ascending notes) and amroi notes
(descending notes) in madh saptak. We have shown one diagram in raga
yaman because there are seven notes in ascending and seven notes in
descending. In raga asavari we have shown notes in two separate diagrams
because there are five notes in ascending and seven notes descending. In
arohi of raga asavari two notes "ga" and "ni" are not used.
Note:- In any raga you will only practice ragas with a single diagram of
arohi and amrohi notes.
Raga Asavari Alankar:
Arohi: S
R m P d S'
Amrohi: S' n d P m
g R S
Note:- Click play button and let the music to fully download.
After fully download you can listen complete music smoothly. To
listen again press play button again.
Asavari
Do not forget to push blower to blow air otherwise no sound will be
heard. To push blower, use your left hand near the left edge of
harmonium. Play or sing-along below given five raga asavari alankars
with harmonium or keyboard. Sample raga asavari alankar 1audio file
is provided for your listening.
Number of sequence (Beats)
Play Asavari Alankar1 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 33
Play Asavari Alankar2 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 32
Play Asavari Alankar3 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 34
Play Asavari Alankar4 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 32
Play Asavari Alankar5 Midi
Note:- More Alankar lessons of
important ragas are provided in Sargam Book for your practical
practice. Oder sargam book which is very essential for a
sing-along singer and harmonium player. You can also practice
these lessons with your electronic keyboards using strings
instrument. For Yamaha PSR keyboard owners, tabla styles with
teen taal is also available. You can enjoy more with alankar
using real tabla styles of Yamaha. Order now for sargam book and
tabla styles package.
Raga Yaman Alankar:
Arohi: 'N R G M D N
S'
Amrohi: S' N D P M
G R S
Download Yaman Alankar
(Adobe pdf Zip with mp3) 882 Kb
Mp3 links in pdf will work if Unzipped and opened
in same folder
Note:
Do not forget to push blower to blow air otherwise no sound will be
heard. To push blower, use your left hand near the left edge of
harmonium. Play or sing-along below given five raga yaman alankars.
Raga yaman alankar 1 sample audio file is also provided for your
listening.
Number of sequence (Beats) 18
Yaman Alankar1 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 18
Yaman Alankar2 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 38
Yaman Alankar3 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 42
Yaman Alankar4 Midi
Number of sequence (Beats) 42
Yaman Alankar5 Midi
PLAY ALANKAR MIDI MUSIC IN
VANBASCO NOTATION PLAYER
What is Vanbasco Midi & Lyrics
Notation Player?
When you will play our Alankar midi file in Vanbasco
Player then it will show real time notation lyrics being shown in
the Karaoke window of Vanbasco Player.
At the same time in Piano window of Vanbasco Player the
particular notes will be shown being played in real-time. Now there
is no need of music teacher. Vanbasco will teach how you will play
alankar in harmonium and keyboards.
Vanbasco Player with SMALL PIANO download link:
Download Vanbasco Player
Vanbasco BIGGER PIANO Skin download link:
Download Bigger Piano Skin
To install a bigger piano skin, first download the .zip file, e.g.
skin zip. Then extract the contents of the downloaded file to the
installation folder of van Basco's Karaoke Player. In other words
paste unzipped bigger skin file in the programme folder of Vanbasco
Player.
<
Vanbasco Piano and Karaoke Window
Practice according to raga yaman arohi and amrohi notes:
1. S R
G M P D N
S'
S' N D P M G
R S
2. SS,
RR, GG, MM, PP, DD,
NN, S'S'
S'S' NN, DD, PP,
MM, GG, RR, SS
3. SRG,
RGM, GMP, MPD, PDN,
DNS'
S'ND, NDP, DPM, GMP,
MGR, GRS
4. SRGM, RGMP, GMPD,
MPDN, PDNS'
S'NDP, NDPM, DPMG, PMGR, MGRS
5. SG, RM, GP, MD,
PN, DS'
S'D, NP, DM, PG, MR, GS
S R S S R G
R S S R G M G R S S R G M P M G R S S R G M P D P M G R S S R G M P
D N D P M G R S S R G M P D N S' S' N D P M G R S
This might look
extremely difficult, but its not, its actually a sequence of
Asthayee alankars. If you break it up you will see the following
pattern:
S
S R S
S R G R S
S R G M G R S
S R G M P M G R S
S R G M P D P M G R S
S R G M P D N D P M G R S
S R G M P D N {S}, {S} N D P M G R S
7.
S G R M G P M D P N D S'
S’
N D P M G R S
8.
S’ D N P D M P G M R G S
S R G M P D N S'
9. S G R S S M G R R
P M G G D P M M N D P P N D N S' S' D P M G R
S
10. S' D N P P D N M M P D G G M
P R R G M S S R G M P D N S'
11. S D P M R N D P G D P M M N
D S'
S' D N P D M P G G P M G R G R S
Raga Lessons
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