Asavari's aroha/avaroha

[AVK]

In my own attempts to learn what little I can about ICM, I have
increasingly come to realize that there is much truth to the adage
'Guru bina gyaan na pave'. My problem is further exarcebated by the
dearth of literature aimed at absolute novices and dummies, contrasted
with WCM where one can choose from literally hundreds of books on
music theory that can result in a deeper appreciation of non-simple
classical traditions.

While there are many socio-economic, political and cultural reasons
for the development of an oral musical tradition in India, one
possibility is the gurus trying to retain a monopoly on knowledge and
learning. Knowledge (or at least information) if freely disseminated
through books could possibly undermine the primacy of the Guru, at
least that might be the perception.

In any case back to my question - I was reading up on Asavari on
Parrikars website, and listening to the short clips on ITC Sangeet
Research Academy (ITCSRA) and I found much to my consternation that
the aroha/avroha tonal clusters listed by Parrikar do not match the
vocal sargams on ITCSRA.

Quoting from Parrikar's article (Asavari and Associates)

The Aroha/avaroha set for the r-only Asavari is:

S r M P (n)d, (n)d S" :: S", r" n d P, d M P (M)g, r S

Now compare the two audio links

Asavari http://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga.asp?raga_id=44

Komal Re Asavari http://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga.asp?raga_id=99

Why don't the aroha/avaroha match? Initially I figured it is because
of the curious naming convention - one gharana's asavari might be
another's komal re asavari and vice versa. But neither of the audio
clips match those Parrikar's.

I am sure there is a simple explanation that escapes me. Thanks for
the clarification.

[i***@gmail.com]

Post by AVK
In my own attempts to learn what little I can about ICM, I have
increasingly come to realize that there is much truth to the adage
'Guru bina gyaan na pave'. My problem is further exarcebated by the
dearth of literature aimed at absolute novices and dummies, contrasted
with WCM where one can choose from literally hundreds of books on
music theory that can result in a deeper appreciation of non-simple
classical traditions.
While there are many socio-economic, political and cultural reasons
for the development of an oral musical tradition in India, one
possibility is the gurus trying to retain a monopoly on knowledge and
learning. Knowledge (or at least information) if freely disseminated
through books could possibly undermine the primacy of the Guru, at
least that might be the perception.
In any case back to my question - I was reading up on Asavari on
Parrikars website, and listening to the short clips on ITC Sangeet
Research Academy (ITCSRA) and I found much to my consternation that
the aroha/avroha tonal clusters listed by Parrikar do not match the
vocal sargams onITCSRA.
Quoting from Parrikar's article (Asavari and Associates)
S r M P (n)d, (n)d S" :: S", r" n d P, d M P (M)g, r S
Now compare the two audio links
Asavarihttp://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga...
Komal Re Asavarihttp://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga...
Why don't the aroha/avaroha match? Initially I figured it is because
of the curious naming convention - one gharana's asavari might be
another's komal re asavari and vice versa. But neither of the audio
clips match those Parrikar's.
I am sure there is a simple explanation that escapes me. Thanks for
the clarification.

hullo . this is an attempt to clarify , after due consultation :rajan
parrikar defines the arohan/avrohan for komal rishabh asavari . subhra
guha sings komal rishabh asavari. shruti sings only asavari. the
arohan/avarohan of subhra's rendition is nothing but a simplified
version of what has been defined in the article, but komal rishabh
asavari, no less. hope this helps! ratnaboli bose (webmaster,
itcsra.org)

[Sanjeev Ramabhadran]

Post by AVK
In my own attempts to learn what little I can about ICM, I have
increasingly come to realize that there is much truth to the adage
'Guru bina gyaan na pave'. My problem is further exarcebated by the
dearth of literature aimed at absolute novices and dummies, contrasted
with WCM where one can choose from literally hundreds of books on
music theory that can result in a deeper appreciation of non-simple
classical traditions.
While there are many socio-economic, political and cultural reasons
for the development of an oral musical tradition in India, one
possibility is the gurus trying to retain a monopoly on knowledge and
learning. Knowledge (or at least information) if freely disseminated
through books could possibly undermine the primacy of the Guru, at
least that might be the perception.
In any case back to my question - I was reading up on Asavari on
Parrikars website, and listening to the short clips on ITC Sangeet
Research Academy (ITCSRA) and I found much to my consternation that
the aroha/avroha tonal clusters listed by Parrikar do not match the
vocal sargams on ITCSRA.
Quoting from Parrikar's article (Asavari and Associates)
S r M P (n)d, (n)d S" :: S", r" n d P, d M P (M)g, r S
Now compare the two audio links
Asavarihttp://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga...
Komal Re Asavarihttp://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga...
Why don't the aroha/avaroha match? Initially I figured it is because
of the curious naming convention - one gharana's asavari might be
another's komal re asavari and vice versa. But neither of the audio
clips match those Parrikar's.
I am sure there is a simple explanation that escapes me. Thanks for
the clarification.

Aaroha-avaroha need not be universal or uniform. It's a rough
"empirical formula" meant to serve as part of a sketch, not a
definitive recipe.

On another note, some folks treat the Komal-Re as the default Asavari
and simply sing Jaunpuri when they are looking for a Shuddh-Re version
in this raga-family (SRMPdnS vs. SRMPdS notwithstanding).

Sanjeev

[c***@gmail.com]

Post by AVK
In my own attempts to learn what little I can about ICM, I have
increasingly come to realize that there is much truth to the adage
'Guru bina gyaan na pave'. My problem is further exarcebated by the
dearth of literature aimed at absolute novices and dummies, contrasted
with WCM where one can choose from literally hundreds of books on
music theory that can result in a deeper appreciation of non-simple
classical traditions.
While there are many socio-economic, political and cultural reasons
for the development of an oral musical tradition in India, one
possibility is the gurus trying to retain a monopoly on knowledge and
learning. Knowledge (or at least information) if freely disseminated
through books could possibly undermine the primacy of the Guru, at
least that might be the perception.
In any case back to my question - I was reading up on Asavari on
Parrikars website, and listening to the short clips on ITC Sangeet
Research Academy (ITCSRA) and I found much to my consternation that
the aroha/avroha tonal clusters listed by Parrikar do not match the
vocal sargams on ITCSRA.
Quoting from Parrikar's article (Asavari and Associates)
S r M P (n)d, (n)d S" :: S", r" n d P, d M P (M)g, r S
Now compare the two audio links
Asavarihttp://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga...
Komal Re Asavarihttp://www.itcsra.org/sra_raga/sra_raga_that/sra_raga_that_links/raga...
Why don't the aroha/avaroha match? Initially I figured it is because
of the curious naming convention - one gharana's asavari might be
another's komal re asavari and vice versa. But neither of the audio
clips match those Parrikar's.
I am sure there is a simple explanation that escapes me. Thanks for
the clarification.

The simplest explanation that I can think of is that Aroha-Avroha is
not governed by any hard and fast rule, nor is that the sole standard
to explain a Raga. That's only an approximate skeleton of the scale,
which may vary from one artist, gharana, time to another. The way we
have learnt, not all Ragas have a skeleton that starts from Sa. For
example, Shudh Kalyan Aroha starts from Mandra Dha, Marwa's from
Madhya Re, etc. Obviously this won't match the book.

Parthapratim