within the Wesleyan community and beyond, gave me faith that a second book, made up of more advanced material, might be worth writing. I wanted to present material that unlocked some of the apparent mysteries in the Karṇāṭak rhythmic system so that these and other musicians could participate in the development of their own new material.
With that purpose in mind, I present here exercises and compositions, many of which are based on those found in Solkaṭṭu Manual, that demonstrate the modes of transformation Karṇāṭak musicians use in their rhythmic creations. I also describe some of the techniques I use in teaching and learning this challenging music. The book includes descriptions of all of its contents, as well as notation and more than one hundred fifty video examples of individual exercises, compositions, and full konnakkol performances.
What exactly is konnakkol? The word is from the Tamil language, as is solkaṭṭu, but unlike the latter, which can be translated into English as “words or syllables (sol, or sollu) bound together (kaṭṭu),” konnakkol does not have an agreed-on English equivalent. I use it here to mean solkaṭṭu intended for performance. Within the book, then, I consider the exercises in chapter 5, “Exercises in Tiśra Naḍai and Khaṇḍa Naḍai,” as solkaṭṭu, while the tani āvartanams detailed in chapters 6, 7, and 8 are konnakkol, since they are designed for performance.
I invite the reader to enjoy working through this material, either as self-study or as a group endeavor, and to enjoy the voyage into a new world of rhythmic behavior. Remember that your imagination is limitless, constrained only by your effort and interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Following the time-honored tradition of Indian music, I am honored to begin by thanking my principal teacher, T. Ranganathan (1925–1987), for his lavish generosity in, as he put it, “showing me the inside of the patterns.” My collection of lesson recordings from 1983 is a treasure house I will never exhaust. I also bow to the memory of his brother, T. Viswanathan (1927–2002), who was my most important musical mentor after Ranga died.
I am deeply grateful to Wesleyan University for supporting the study and performance of Karṇāṭak music for more than fifty years. The university, and particularly the Music Department, have been unflagging and unparalleled patrons of South India’s performing arts in North America. I am proud to be a graduate of the ethnomusicology program, and equally proud to be a member of its faculty.
I thank Suzanna Tamminen and Stephanie Elliott-Prieto at Wesleyan University Press for taking a chance on Solkaṭṭu Manual, and for their enthusiasm for and support of this project.
Members of Wesleyan’s information technology services have provided invaluable support through both projects. My thanks to Allynn Wilkinson, Mariah Kleneski, John Wareham, Ben Travers, and Melissa Roche.
I thank the students and colleagues who have read this manuscript and commented, each in his own way. Fugan Dineen, Gene Lai, Poorya Pakshir, and Christian Scheuber provided invaluable comments and suggestions along the way.
My thanks and admiration go to the performers on the videos featured in part II, “Videos of the Three Tani Āvartanams.” Gene Lai, Poorya Pakshir, Ben Klausner, Bram Wollowitz, Brian Fairley, Tano Brock, and Tomasz Arnold learned the material so thoroughly that they performed it for the videos without any written notes. I admire their commitment and energy.
Shima Etminan, one of Poorya’s colleagues featured in the video from Iran, created the stunningly beautiful cover art for this book. I am honored by and grateful for her contribution.
Finally, my love and thanks to Kim, for thirty-three years of nonstop emotional, physical, and mental support. I treasure you always.
A sad footnote: As I worked through the editing process of this book, I became increasingly impressed by the copy editor who had been assigned to it, Elizabeth Forsaith. I honestly marveled at Elizabeth’s ability to follow my logic, on a subject about which she could not have had any substantial knowledge. Her attention to detail was admirable, and I deeply appreciated having her as a colleague on this project. I had intended to write her a letter at the end of the process to tell her all this, and to thank her for making it all so smooth for me. So I was shocked and saddened to hear of Elizabeth’s sudden and unexpected (albeit peaceful) death before she had a chance to complete her work. I join her friend and colleague Ann Brash, who has taken over for Elizabeth, as well as her other friends and family, in mourning her loss. We will miss her care and intelligence.
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TEXT AND CONTEXT |
1 · STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE
The material, processes, and notation conventions in this book are based on those found in Solkaṭṭu Manual. Your understanding of the previous volume will contribute greatly to your success with the material I present here. This book is designed for people interested in the inner workings of the Karṇāṭak rhythm system. It is grounded in more than fifteen years of experience teaching students in an American university. The great majority of these students are not hoping to become professional musicians in the South Indian tradition. Rather, they have become interested in the rhythmic forms and processes that Karṇāṭak drummers use and want to know how they can generate material that makes use of these methods in their own compositions and instrumental performances.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK
As a professional mṛdaṅgam player thoroughly trained in the Palani style, I am committed to passing along the material and modes of thought for which this style is justifiably revered among Karṇāṭak musicians. I do not feel it is necessary or appropriate to present material here specifically designed to prepare a student for life as a professional mṛdaṅgam player. Any student who wants that type of training is welcome in my studio, which is a much more appropriate venue and context than a book that provides solkaṭṭu and not instruction in playing the instrument.
If this book were designed to present the next canonical stages of Karṇāṭak rhythm studies, a reader might expect to see lessons in the following three tāḷas: rūpaka, miśra capu, and khaṇḍa capu.1 But given the context in which I teach, I have chosen to present material here that expresses the spirit of the canon, rather than the letter of its detail. The exception is miśra capu, a very important tāḷa in Karṇāṭak music. I include two other tāḷas here, the ten-beat miśra jāti jhampa2 tāḷa (7 + 1 + 2) and the nine-beat khaṇḍa jāti tripuṭa3 (5 + 2 + 2). Nine, as the reader will discover, is not considered an extension of the three-beat rūpaka tāḷa, which would be the canonical choice. Nine is considered a separate jāti,4 or rhythmic kinship group. Ten, on the other hand, is firmly in the world of five-ness; all the material I have included for this tāḷa will translate easily into khaṇḍa capu tāḷa if the reader wishes to adapt it. I also present exercises here designed to help students develop control and proficiency (even comfort, to the most dedicated) in naḍais other than the default, catusra (four pulses per beat). These are logical extensions of the material in the first five chapters of Solkaṭṭu Manual. Throughout the text are symbols in the form (00-000V) that indicate video demonstrations of notated patterns and compositions. The two-digit prefix indicates the chapter number. The videos can be found at https://www.wesleyan.edu/wespress/konnakkol/.