hrhmusic

There are some important points to be kept in mind to become a good singer either professional playback or stage performer.

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1. A fairy good tonal quality & voice range.

2. Selection of a good guru or teacher

3. Good control over the swars (notes) & laya (tempo)

4. Perfect diction & expression of words

5. Continuous & right way of Riyaz (practice)

6. A fairy good knowledge of atleast some of the ragas.

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Now, let us dicuss each point in details.

1. A fairy good tonal quality & voice range

           

       One who is gifted with a melodious voice and a good tonal quality is definitely God gifted & undoubtedly very fortune. But any kind           of voice or tonal quality can be improved by regular practice under the guidance of a competent Guru(teacher). One should always             try to sing in a natural, open voice without causing unnecessary strain on the vocal cords. It should always be kept in mind that                   whatever is said or sung should be clearly audible to the audience, that is, to put it in other words, the singer should be able to                   connect with the audience.

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       There are mainly 3 types of voices or tonal quality.

1. The first is the thin or shrill voice type. Singers having the type of voice quality can easily sing in the higher octaves effortlessly.

2. The second is the base voice type. This voice is deep, thick, having a good base & is clearly audible even in the lower octaves.

3. The third type is the middle one, i.e., neither too thin nor deep based. This type of voice can slide through all the octaves (lower, middle, higher) quite comfortably.

 

        But by, will power, determination and the right method of practice, anyone can cultivate and develop their tonal quality and voice              range.

 

   2. Selection of a Good Guru (Teacher)

        It is often said that fortunate are those who find the perfect Guru in their life. The relationship between a Guru (teacher) and                        shishya (student) is considered to be very sacred and divine and is based on mutual respect & understanding.

 

So now, who can be called a perfect Guru?

 

A perfect Guru is one who understand the finer, detailed aspects (barikis, in musical terms) of music, who has a complete knowledge, both theory and practical, and the ability to impact this knowledge to the students in an effective way. He should be a good performer, too. Here, it can be said that there are many great musicians but a great musician need not always be a perfect teacher. He may have the knowledge but may not capability of delivering the same to the students.

Secondly, the Guru should be able to analyse the capabilities and drawbacks of the student and most important of all, he should be able to assess the voice range of each student, that is, the scale in which the student can sing comfortably. Choosing the wrong scale or pitch can completely mar the voice quality and destroy the vocal cords, in the long run.

Text books and notation can help to some extent but music education is a lot more practical than theoretical and the best way of acquiring it is by Guru mukhi Vidya, that is, the knowledge imparted orally by the Guru to the students.

 

    3. Control on Swar (notes) and Laya (Tempo)

The basic elements that Indian Classical music is comprised of Swar and Laya.

There are 12 notes in an octave, that is 7 shuddha(natural) notes – Sa, Re, Ga, ma, Pa, Dha, Ni of which Sa & Pa are always constant, as they do not change their position, 4 Vikrit (Movable) notes – Re, Ga, Dha, Ni & 1 Teevra (sharp) note ma.

All our musical compositions are based over these 12 notes by Swar Sadhana (Practice of these notes) is very important as it helps in building a strong foundation for advanced training.

Swar Sadhana can be defined as the early morning practice of these 12 notes on an empty stomach. This practice should be done 1 or 2 notes below the original. Assigned scale.

The mouth opening and breathing is very important during this practice. Full breath should be taken before singing each note and the breathing should be through the diaphragm and not the chest. Or, to put it in an easy way, during inhalation, the stomach should move out naturally and vice versa. The mouth opening is very important as the throw of the voice depends entirely on it. It should approximately be 1 inch open at the first note “ Sa”, 1.5 inches at the middle octave “Pa” & 2 inches at the upper octave “Sa”.

The practice should be done in an open, natural voice without unnecessary strain on the vocal cords. In the initial stages, it would be advisable to practice this in front of a Guru, or if this is not possible, do it in front of mirror.

 

So, how does one do this sadhana?

 

To begin with, one should hold the note “Sa” of the assigned scale, in one breath, in the natural voice, as long as one can do it, without putting any pressure on the vocal cords. This timing should be noted and the same should be repeated several times for approximately 2 minutes.

 

The next is to processed , in the same manner, to the lower octave notes. (The practice of the lower octave notes is also called as the “kharja Sadhana”)

Now, the notes thatone can sing in the lower octave depends upon the range of the voice. In the initial stages, one should not strain the voice by going beyond its range and the holding of each note should be done comfortably, without any stress for smaller time periods.

Now, after the lower octave notes, one should gradually proceed onwards towards the middle and higher octave notes. Here, too , one should practice according to one’s capacity, without any pressure, for smaller time periods, in total, holding each note for approximately 1 minute each.

To have clarity and better understanding of the notes, one can practice the shuddha (normal) notes in the ascending order and Vikrit/Teevra (Flat/sharp) notes in the descending order.

 

There are different types of Swar Sadhana:

One can practice the normal way with mouth open or with water in the mouth. Practising with water in the mouth has a good, stimulating effect on the brain.

 

Importance of Swar Sadhana:

 

Everyday Riyaz(practice) cultivates and develops the voice, makes it matured, refined and flexible.

 

Control of breath comes naturally and the voice gets a good base.

 

It helps the air circulation in the lungs and good circulation in the heart, intestines, lungs and brain.

Regular Sadhana(practice) helps one gain mastery over the notes and keeps the voice melodious at any age.

 

Alankars:

For a beginner, it is very essential to practice some alankars to gain knowledge of laya(tempo). Alankars are different combination of the notes, sung in rhythm, in ascending and descending order.

In the initial stages, practice of alankars should be done in slow tempo and gradually increased to faster tempos.

At first, one should practice the easy alankars and then proceed towards the difficult ones, (like jumping notes) For e.g.:

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4. Diction and Expression of words:

Proper diction and expression of words is the most integral aspect of singing, A person can never become a good singer if his diction is not perfect. The right diction helps in expressing the meaning of the song in an w=effective way and gives greater flexibility when singing.

 

Some singers are extremely good in Sur (Notes) , Laya (Tempo) and Tall(Rhythm) but yet their singing does not create that magical effect and they find it difficult to connect with the audience.

 

So, what went wrong with the sound produced?

To analyse this, a singer should be a good listener, too. Developing self-awareness will help him judge himself.

Expression of words, too is very important. in Indian classical singing, some singers make the Aalap and Bandish, too monotonous and expressionless. There is repetition of words and no clarity in their singing. the khayal and thumri pattern of singing depends entirely on expression and diction. It is found, in most cases, the sur(notes/pitch) is perfect but the expression remains the same, unchanged throughout.

 

A composition to sound good depends on the way it is presented. So, care should be taken that along with the right sur (correct notes/pitching), the singer should have the ability to bring out the right emotions of the word in a song. When one sings, it should be the heart that speaks. The voice has to emote. For this, regulation and modification of the voice is necessary to bring out the desired effect of each note.

 

Some singers do not possess an extraordinarily voice, but due to their expressive interpretation of words and presentation of perfect sur and tempo, they can carry off any composition very easily and effectively.

 

Summing up, it can be said, that proper diction and delivery of words is very important to strike the right chord with the audience.

 

 

1. Riyaz (practice)

Regular and continuous practice is essential to achieve a certain level in performance.

Practice develops the vocal cords and gives self-confidence to the singer.

Listening to different genres of music is very important as listening, too, helps a lot in improving one’s singing.

The breathing should be through the diaphragm and abdomen and not through the chest.

A healthy, balanced diet as well as physical and mental fitness is very important.

A student not having a musical atmosphere at home should come to the Guru often for practice.

To prepare one’s voice , one should practice sargam patterns (alankars), taan (Singing notes in a fast tempo), meend (stretching the sound from one note to another ) , khatkas(when 4 to 5 notes are sung very fast with a jerk that it appears to be a single note) , gamak (singing the notes with force) , murki (short taan of 4 to 5 notes ) etc. in slow tempo at the first and then increase it to a faster tempo.

 

One can also practice each single note, in slow and gradually fast tempo. Like , foreg , let us take the note “Sa”.

“Sa” should be sung as Sa, Sa, Sa, Sa, Sa, Sa as many times as one can , in one breath in slow tempo and gradually increased to medium and then faster tempo. This should be done in Aakar too; Aakar practice will help in developing one’s voice and also in singing taans. This practice can be done with other notes, too, like Re, Ga, Ma, etc.

Persons having speech defects, like stammering, will find this practice very useful.

 

     5. A good knowledge of raags:

To become a good, professional singer, one should have a knowledge of at least some of the raags of Indian classical music. Learning some raags will give one a command over the 12 musical notes.

There are plenty of raags in Indian Classical music. Some reflect sadness or happiness, some are seasonal, time bound and the moods, too, different. It is very important to understand the mood of the raag. It is not necessary to practice the raag according to its time but the mood should be understood.

It is not necessary to learn all the raags but learning only a few with perfect gayaki can help a lot in singing . gayaki, that is how to interpret the notes of the raag can be learnt only from a Guru.

For e.g., Raag Kafi, has “Ga” & “Ni” as Komal notes but this raag can also be sung with all the 12 notes. This cannot be learnt from text books. It is possible only by Guru mukhi vidya, that is, learning the gayaki [pattern orally from the Guru.

 

So, command over some of the raags with correct mouth opening and gayaki will make the path easier to become an established singer.