{"id":791,"date":"2010-02-21T22:06:41","date_gmt":"2010-02-22T02:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.warrensenders.com\/journal\/?p=791"},"modified":"2013-10-20T23:07:32","modified_gmt":"2013-10-21T03:07:32","slug":"practicing-inside-rhythmic-cycles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.warrensenders.com\/journal\/practicing-inside-rhythmic-cycles\/","title":{"rendered":"Practicing Inside Rhythmic Cycles"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most challenging areas for many students of Hindustani music is working within rhythmic cycles. The ready availability of tabla machines has not solved this problem, because the core issue has more to do with not knowing how to practice<\/em> than with not having a tabla player available all the time<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It is helpful to spend some time analyzing the various components of rhythmic-cycle practice. Once a singer begins this work, the cognitive load goes waaaaaay<\/em> up; a lot more brain cells are required to keep all the elements of the musical equation under control. While holistic, gestalt-oriented practice is a must, it can be very helpful to break things down into smaller components and approach them with reductionistic ruthlessness.<\/p>\n

To be competent in rhythmic-cycle-based improvisation, a singer must:<\/p>\n

1 – be able to process rhythmic information concurrently with intonational information. That is to say, you have to be able to hear and feel the beats without getting distracted by them to the point that you go out of tune. <\/p>\n

2 – be able to recognize important beats in the cycle and recalibrate according to position. That is, you have to hear crucial structural points and have enough cognitive strength available to lengthen or shorten your melodic line if necessary.<\/p>\n

3 – be able to make coherent melodic shapes of specific lengths. In performance, it’s not enough to start an improvised melody at a specific point in the rhythm and finish it at another point \u2014 the melody you’re making needs to make sense. And (as if that weren’t enough) it needs to make sense at several levels; it has to be correct in raga terms, and it has to have gestural integrity.<\/em> Those two are emphatically not the same thing.<\/p>\n

Let’s take those distinct skills in turn, and I’ll discuss some ways of approaching them in the course of your practice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Processing rhythmic and pitch information simultaneously.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the factors in developing this skill is that the percussive sounds of the tabla are at first a distraction, taking your limited attention away from the pitch dimension. So the way to work with this is to turn on your tamboura and your tabla machine…and then set the tabla at an almost inaudibly low volume. It should sound like somebody playing in the building next door. Of course, at that level, you won’t be able to recognize beats, but that’s not the point of this exercise.<\/p>\n

With the tabla turned down as low as possible, sing freely. Sing slow alap, making sure you’re in tune, and making sure you’re not distracted. Take a long time doing this practice; it can be part of your daily routine for months.<\/p>\n

Every so often, sing a long tone, and while you’re singing, train your attention on the sound of the tabla. Can you listen to the distant tapping of the drums without losing your intonational focus? Practice shifting your attention back and forth between your long tones and the sound of the tabla.<\/p>\n

Put your hand on the volume control of the electronic tabla, and try turning it up very slightly while you’re singing long tones \u2014 and then back down again. Attempt slightly more involved lines in the raga\/scale of your choice (an easy one is best; keep the cognitive load as low as you can) while shifting the tabla volume freely.<\/p>\n

Another approach to this is to turn on your tamboura and tabla machine (at full volume) \u2014 and do domestic tasks. Don’t sit down; don’t practice. Let the tabla be part of the background environment. Do the dishes or the laundry, and every so often, sing a snatch of melody. <\/p>\n

Eventually you’ll be able to ignore the tabla when you need to focus on what you’re doing in melody-space.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the next necessary skill:<\/p>\n

Recognizing important beats, and recalibrating according to position.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you haven’t already read my advice on theka<\/em> recitation, you can find it here<\/a>. Clear and flowing recitation is hugely important for beat recognition. Once you’ve developed a good spoken tabla sound, try recording your own voice reciting theka<\/em> for a few minutes, and use this recording instead of your tabla machine to accompany your practice. Hearing your own voice providing theka<\/em> is hugely useful. Use sound manipulation software to make an accompaniment recording that’s as long as you need it to be.<\/p>\n

If you have a practice partner, switch back and forth between reciting theka<\/em> and singing a simple composition. Here is a sargam composition in Raga Bhoopali that is admirably uncomplicated.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While you sing the melody, your partner recites theka<\/em>; then switch.<\/p>\n

Practice singing only fractions<\/em> of the melody: the first half but not the second; the second half but not the first. Sing from the 13th beat through the 4th beat, leaving beats 5-12 open. Make up other combinations of singing and silence…all while your partner continues reciting theka<\/em>. Switch frequently. When you’re not singing, listen carefully to the recited theka<\/em> \u2014 don’t let your attention drift!<\/p>\n

Sing from khali<\/em> to the sam<\/em>, then from the 10th beat, the 11th beat, the 12th beat, etc. Practice each combination of singing and silence multiple times. Getting it accurately once is not enough; you need to be able to get it accurately 85-90% of the time. When you feel comfortable with some of these combinations and can do them without mistakes, practice switching freely between two or three, while your partner recites. Then switch.<\/p>\n

Then try doing this with the tabla machine. Play with your ability to pay attention to the rhythm at different volume levels; occasionally practice the ignoring-the-tabla activity discussed above for a little while…and then return to the compositional activity.<\/p>\n

As you do this, you’re gaining facility in switching from listening mode to singing mode and back again, while simultaneously getting better at correlating the bols<\/em> of the theka<\/em> with particular positions in the rhythmic cycle. That is to say, you’re getting better at figuring out where you are and recalibrating accordingly.<\/p>\n

I’ll post more such exercises in the future. This is sufficient for the moment.<\/p>\n

Let’s move on to the last area of competence:<\/p>\n

Making coherent shapes within a set time-span.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A truly robust definition of “coherence” in a musical context is probably unachievable. For the moment, let’s agree that a “coherent melodic shape” is one which has a clear beginning, middle and end, which obeys the melodic rules of the raga, and which is rhythmically consistent throughout.<\/p>\n

Notice that a lot of the shapes that meet this definition are, um, kind of dull<\/em>. As they say in the computer industry, “that’s not a bug, that’s a feature.” Dull is good in this context. You are striving for coherence within a fixed time-frame, and at the beginning, that means simplicity above all else.<\/p>\n

Here’s how to approach that process. Pick a time-span. For example, two complete cycles of tintal<\/em> from khali<\/em> to khali<\/em> to khali<\/em>. There is nothing inherently special about this one, it’s just the first one that came to mind. Here are some others:<\/p>\n

One complete cycle, from beat 13 to beat 13 \u2014 and joining the last 4 beats of the mukhda<\/em>;
\nOne and a half cycles, from sam<\/em> to khali<\/em> to khali<\/em> \u2014 and joining the complete mukhda<\/em>;
\nThree-quarters of a cycle, from sam<\/em> to beat 13 \u2014 and joining the last 4 beats of the mukhda<\/em>;
\nTwo and a quarter cycles, from beat 5 to khali<\/em> to khali<\/em> \u2014 and joining the complete mukhda<\/em>;
\nOne and thirteen-sixteenths of a cycle, from sam<\/em> to khali<\/em> to beat 14 \u2014 and joining the last 3 beats of the mukhda<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pick a rhythmic value: two beats per note (BPN), perhaps. Pick a time-span that works (you can’t fit 2 BPN into 1 & 13\/16 cycles, for example).<\/p>\n

Begin with a basic arch shape \u2014 the default melodic gesture of Hindustani music. How many notes have to go up before you have to come down again? Make a melody that fits this stipulation. Remember, it should be dull<\/em>. Don’t try for fancy, don’t try for twiddly, don’t try to do something that will earn daad<\/em> from the invisible listeners in your head.<\/p>\n

Eventually, try the same shape, but starting on a different scale-tone. Try a different shape. Try the same shape, but using a different rhythmic value. Once you get four or five different phrases memorized, practice moving from one to another \u2014 always, of course, with the appropriate version of the mukhda<\/em> in between.<\/p>\n

A similar exercise is very helpful in learning how to make meaningful melodic gestures inside vilambit<\/em> cycles. Here, rather than working with specific numbers of beats, simply pick a length of time: 40 seconds, 32 seconds, a minute…and use a watch to time yourself. Make simple shapes that last precisely the stipulated length \u2014\u00a0and follow them with the mukhda<\/em> of whatever vilambit<\/em> piece you’re working on.<\/p>\n

In these exercises, you are not involved in making art<\/em>. You are teaching your muscles to measure time precisely.<\/p>\n

Which is why it’s important to temper the time that you spend in this activity with time spent making art. <\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t confuse the two activities. If you’re going to do art-making and muscle-training in the same practice session, get up and stretch in between; drink a glass of water. Change your posture; change the direction you’re facing \u2014 all of these will help you avoid accidental art-making when you’re muscle-training, and accidental muscle-training when you’re art-making.<\/p>\n

When you’re making art, just try stuff. By now you’ve got a lot of stuff to try. See if you can get lost in the rhythm…and if you can get found again. See if you can make wiggly and unpredictable shapes. Don’t be afraid to make things that go out of tune or out of raag; fear of such an outcome is a potent inhibiting factor.<\/p>\n

When you’ve done some art-making, think back on it. Remember areas where you were strong or weak. Strong areas don’t need as much focus in your next muscle-training session…but the pathway to mastery, as always, is in practicing the things you’re not good at.<\/p>\n

Have fun.<\/p>\n

Finally, a word on a related subject. <\/p>\n

If you’re studying or teaching music, you’re engaged in the long, slow, work of taking parts of our past and preparing them to travel into the future. <\/p>\n

Therefore, you owe it to yourself and to the music you cherish \u2014 to educate yourself about climate change. <\/p>\n

No stable climate – no music. It’s as simple as that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nMUSIC IS A CLIMATE ISSUE<\/strong<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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