Feature a Guru
JULY 2017 - GROUP PRESENTATION BY BAY AREA GURUS
Carnatic Chamber Concerts thanks Vidwan Shri Shivakumar Bhat, Vidwan Shri Natarajan Srinivasan, and Vidwan Shri Shrikanth Chary for sharing, as part of the Feature a Guru Series, very valuable insights about one of the most important traditions in Indian culture, the Guru-Shishya relationship. From ancient times, teachers have been held at a very high esteem in Indian society and are revered. The Teacher or Guru, is the embodiment of knowledge and the disciple, the Shishya, gains the knowledge from the Guru by practicing respect, humility, discipline, obedience, and devotion to the Guru as well as the art form. Shri Shivakumar, Shri Natarajan, and Shri Shrikanth also spoke about how this ancient learning tradition is fading away with changing times, technological advancements and a globally distributed community, and how new methods of learning have evolved. They compared the academic institutions in the USA which are culturally very different wherein students learn in an informal and independant atmosphere to the traditional gurukulam way of teaching. The teachers explained how the Guru-Sishya parampara is still being followed in Carnatic music teaching as much as before, if not adhered to as strictly as in ancient times, and how parents would like their children to imbibe great values like humility, respect, discipline, and obedience by way of putting them in music classes. The teachers elaborated that the Guru-sishya sacred bonding in Carnatic music is deep and continues lifelong and unlike the academic institutions, the Carnatic music gurus not just impart musical knowledge to the students, but also become another parent to the students, nurturing them with a kind heart and imbibing great values of life and philosophy with their masterly mentoring. Gurus through their rigorous discipline make the students realize their fullest potential but also create an emotional and intellectual bond with them that makes the students look up to their Gurus whenever they need help, guidance, and advice. The teachers also invited students Kavya, Akshay, and Gaurav to share their perspective about learning in modern day academic institutions versus learning Carnatic music in the traditional way. Our sincere thanks to Shri Shivakumar Bhat, Shri Shrikanth Chary, and Shri Natarajan Srinivasan for their valuable time preparing this presentation for our CCC children and parents and emphasizing that a selfless, hardworking teacher with a respectful, obedient, dedicated student would reinforce the Guru-Shishya relationship and make learning very effective.
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SEPTEMBER 2017 - SHRI ARVIND LAKSHMIKANTHAN
   CCC thanks Vidwan Shri Arvind Lakshmikanthan for his presentation on the importance of practice, which is the secret for attaining mastery over any art form, especially Carnatic music. Shri Arvind Lakshmikanthan explained how relentless practice forms the solid foundation for the quest for excellence. Shri Arvind also talked in detail about the 5 essentials of a successful practice session: finding the best time to practice productively, setting a goal to accomplish with each practice, being patient to do hours of repetitive work and reach your milestones, having the determination to accomplish your goals, and last but not the least, doing smart practice to ensure that all the effort you put in is valuable. Following these 5 essentials of a successful practice session makes you learn to analyze your practice and seek consistency in your performance. It was an intriguing presentation which greatly benefited our CCC children by having them understand that practice is an intensely personal experience which requires repetition and perseverance, and which, in tandem with self-evaluation, will enable them to try new ideas and commitments. Our thanks to Shri Arvind Lakshmikanthan for his wonderful presentation and for his thought-provoking advice to our budding talents, telling them not to practice until they get it right, but to practice until they cannot get it wrong. This mantra will help them not just in Carnatic music, but in all the other fields they aspire to succeed in. Thank you Sir! |
JUNE 2017 - SHRI HARI DEVANATH
Carnatic Chamber
Concerts thanks Vidwan Shri Hari Devanath for his wonderful presentation on
structural elements of a composition with a focus on how to distinguish an Anupallavi from a CharaNam in a composition. Carnatic music compositions are the creations of composers who
are great scholars and prolific poets with a command over the language whose
songs are immersed in devotion but at the same time have verses with poetic
mastery and intricate rhyming word patterns. Shri Hari Devanath in his
presentation beautifully explained how to enjoy the lyrical beauty of the
compositions along with its musical aspects to get the fullest experience as
envisaged by the composers themselves. Shri Hari Devanath delved into an important
part of Carnatic compositions, its structure, and how to identify an anupallavi
in a composition, which might in general sound like a charaNam. It was a great
learning for the CCC children and the audience to know about the rhythmic
pattern called Praasam, how the great composers used various types of praasams
like prathama akshara, dwitiya akshara, anthim akshara and many more in their
compositions, and how observing them could help us to identify anupallavi. Shri
Hari Devanath in his own humorous and captivating way explained the different
types of praasams by singing several compositions like Bhajare gopalam, Manasa
sancharare and examples from Dikshitar kritis, Purandaradasa kritis and
Bhadrachala Ramadasa kritis and explained how to compare and contrast the
syllables based on praasams and distinguish the anupallavi from charaNam. CCC immensely thanks
Shri Hari Devanath for introducing our young musicians to the concept of
praasam, giving them valuable knowledge to research further, and enabling them
to better understand and enjoy the poetic and emotional intricacy of Carnatic
compositions. |
MAY 2017 - SHRI RAVINDRABHARATHY SRIDHARAN
Carnatic Chamber Concerts thanks Vidwan Shri Ravindrabharathy
Sridharan for his Feature A Guru Series presentation to the CCC children on how
to extend longevity in music. While applauding the budding artists for being
associated with this divine art, and appreciating the encouraging, thriving
eco-system Bay Area's music associations are offering to nurture their talents,
Shri Ravindrabharathy Sridharan talked about the very important aspect of how
to keep up the flame of passion for music and
continue music for lifetime. He gave several valuable insights as to how the
children should observe and learn from the great masters' view point, and
regularly listen to their guru and guru parampara concerts and be inspired.
Shri Ravindrabharathy Sridharan beautifully explained how the Great Masters
followed SravaNam, active listening, and Saadhagam, practice in depth. These are
the two methods that helped them to master their art as well as enjoy the
process such that they continued to be inspired by music all their lives. Their
successful performances was only the tip of the iceberg, whereas as their lives
were filled with hard work, sacrifice, and humbleness. Shri Ravindrabharathy
Sridharan gave several valuable suggestions on how to ensure longevity in music
and advised the young talents to actively listen to the great masters' music as
a group and analyze their work, discover unique aspects of their music, learn
about their lives and journey with music, and practice with focus to push the
boundaries to improve more. Shri Ravindrabharathy Sridharan also suggested
books on/by the great masters for our children to read this summer and benefit
from. Thank you Shri Ravindrabharathy Sridharan for taking your time to
put together this wonderful presentation and share your profound and reflective
thoughts with the CCC audience. |
MARCH 2017 - SHRI VIVEK SUNDERRAMAN
CCC thanks Vidwan Shri Vivek Sundararaman for his humour-filled
presentation on the appreciation of music, "Rasikathvam". As part of
the Feature A Guru series, Shri Vivek Sundararaman gave an engaging,
informative presentation on the importance of rasikas and rasikathvam in live
concerts and how appreciation of music combined with knowledge elevates the
experience and gives satisfaction to the listener both as a rasika and as a
learner. He kept the audience engrossed with his
brilliant puns when detailing how the rasikas, with their unparalleled love for
music, express their appreciation, by feeling nostalgic about the same
renditions performed by the legends in the past, identifying ragas and keeping
talam along with the musicians. Shri Vivek also insisted to the young music
learners the benefits of listening to live concerts (kELvi Gyanam) and how to
maximize and take away some key learning with each concert they attend which
would make them familiar to ragas, songs and help them to enjoy the process.
His presentation was riveting with informative and humorous visuals and audio
clippings played to the children to interactively explain them how to slowly
build their knowledge and appreciation of music by paying attention to the
details of the song, make a connection to the ragas they know and do an emotional
mapping as well as observe the musicians' synergy. We immensely thank Shri Vivek Sundararaman for taking his time
to prepare this very interesting topic and explaining how to listen to a
concert to become a better musician and a rasika. The CCC audience thoroughly
enjoyed the presentation and had a lot of learnings to take home. |
FEBRUARY 2017 - SHRI SARAVANAPRIYAN SRIRAMAN
CCC thanks Vidwan Dr. Saravanapriyan Sriraman for giving a
thematic presentation on "How to Approach a Raga", a topic that is
broad, deep, and very important for all budding musicians and music lovers to
understand. As part of CCC's Feature A Guru Series, Shri Saravanapriyan
elegantly explained the vast topic into easily understandable parts by
demonstrating with songs, phrases, and a slideshow presentation. He spoke about
how each raga is identified by the gamakam associated with its
swaras and how the gamakams and kaalapramaNam differentiate the ragas even
though some ragas might have the same swaras. He eloquently explained how the
gamakams associated with the notes create the mood and characteristics of a
raga. Shri Saravanapriyan also briefed about the Trayodasha lakshaNaas of a
raga, giving examples of some of its parts and also how to identify the allied
ragas. The tips he gave on how to build manodharmam within the rules of a raga
and practical methods on how to become proficient in a ragam were priceless to
every budding musician. We immensely thank Shri Saravanapriyan, for taking the time to
prepare and present this key topic to our members. |
JANUARY 2017 - SMT. KASTHURI SHIVAKUMAR
Carnatic Chamber Concerts thanks Vidhushi Smt. Kasthuri Shivakumar for
the engaging presentation as part of CCC's Feature A Guru Series about an
important topic which has become integral part of music learning today. Smt.
Kasthuri Shivakumar eloquently presented interesting details about how students
in the past learned Carnatic music without a recording device and contrasted it
with the current generation of students who have recording devices to help by
discussing the advantages and disadvantages in each method of learning and
sharing personal experiences with both methods. Smt. Kasthuri Shivakumar gave
valuable tips on how to effectively use the recording devices and be well
organized. It was an interactive presentation with valuable information for all
music learners. |
DECEMBER 2016 - SHRI GOPI LAKSHMINARAYANAN
Carnatic Chamber Concerts thanks Vidwan Shri
Gopi Lakshminarayanan for his support and encouragement to CCC and for giving a
creative, insightful presentation to the budding musicians about the benefits
of attending Live Carnatic music concerts, a topic which comes at a perfect
timing when Margazhi music season is happening. This interactive audio/visual
presentation, "Why Lyve?" was very engaging and had thoughtful
questions for the children. It was very interesting to listen to the children's answers and their perspective about
live concerts. Shri Gopi Lakshminarayanan beautifully elaborated that attending
live concerts help in observing the musicians' stage presence, get inspired by
their confidence, playing style and see the synergy between the performers and
to top it all, to listen to the music without distractions. The presentation
was very valuable to the CCC children and parents and we are sure it would
inspire them to attend more live concerts. |
NOVEMBER 2016 - SHRI SRIKANTH CHARY
CCC thanks Vidwan Sri Srikanth Chary for his great support to CCC from its inception. CCC also thanks Sri Srikanth Chary for sharing with our upcoming young musicians and parents several valuable pointers on accompaniment and the importance of teamwork and collaboration between the artists. His practical and easy to follow tips and advice on some of the key aspects of accompaniment, from preparation for concerts, preparing for improvisations, stage presentation to interaction on stage with fellow musicians were immensely helpful to all the budding talents. |
SEPTEMBER 2016 - SHRI NATARAJAN SRINIVASAN
Carnatic Chamber Concerts thanks Vidwan Shri Natarajan Srinivasan for
his support to CCC and for sharing with our budding musicians, mridangists and
audience, a very valuable information on time, tempo and speed, one of the very
important, key elements of Laya Dasa PraNas. The presentation with clear
pictures showing how aksharas, Mathras, kaLai and Gathi relate to time, how to
mathematically calculate the mathras and gathi and how to represent korvais in
a tala chart were very interesting and intriguing. We are sure the segment
would have helped our budding mridangists understand the theory aspects of the
layam and motivate them to learn more!. |
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