Flute

Cross Fingering Technique - An In-Depth Analysis of the Revolutionary Technique No part of this presentation, either wholly or partially be used as references without the mention of the Vamshidwani institution !or the propa"ation and promotion of the arts, conditional ri"hts will be "iven upon written requests All ri"hts reserved

Pre-requisites  

 To  To complete reading of the following lectures

 Introduction to Carnatic Music

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 Introduction to Carnatic Flute  Th  The above pre-requisites must be fulfilled in order to understand some some of the the technical technical terms in this presentation presentation as well as to interpret the practical nature of this presentation with ease

Objectives  

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 To introduce commonly used techniques in flute playing  To understand the origin of the cross fingering technique in Carnatic flute playing  To appreciate the contribution & importance of cross fingering in Carnatic flute playing  To highlight the importance of Nadeswaram music in Carnatic music

Synopsis

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 Earlier Fingering Systems Nageswaram Tradition

 Cross Fingering Technique

Earlier Fingering Systems 1. Introduction . Three!Finger System ". #arallel Fingering

Introduction  

 The earliest music flutes in Indian music did not possess a sophisticated fingering system li$e today due to se%eral reasons  Limited understanding of musical notes

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 Differing fingering styles based on preference

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 nregulated design of flute ! no standard design

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Three-Finger System  

 This method is one of the earliest traditions in Tamil music. It was among the first accepted techniques in South Indian flute playing  "etter #nown as the Mundru $iral %adha#am& this technique allowed the flautist to reach up to the thara sthayi dhaivatha& off-setting the tonic note by one note'

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 Its tonic position for Shadjam is the current Kaiski Nishada position ( the Panchama is the current Suddha Madhyama position' "y transposing& the rest of the notes can be played in this order'

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Three-Finger System  

 Some of its notable contributions to the e%olution of Carnatic flute playing are  )dvocating the use of transposed fingering which lasted till the introduction of the cross-fingering technique by *Flute Mali*

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 +pening the avenue of playing semitone notes by its own limitations& leading to its eventual disuse'

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Parallel Fingering  

 Introduced by the blind flute prodigy' Sharaba Shastri' it became the first accepted standard in performance flute music  It involved playing the notes in a staccato manner 

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 Covered the full range of notes in Carnatic music

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 Classical compositions could be played cleanly on the flute without much difficulty

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Parallel Fingering  

 Some of its notable contributions to the e%olution of Carnatic flute playing are  It is the first time tested technique of serious flute playing& giving the competent flautist the status of a soloist

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 +pening the avenue of playing the gamakas ,oining slides between notes. semitone notes by its own limitations& leading to it losing popularity today

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ages!aram Tradition 1. Introduction . Significance ". #laying (ethod ). Influence on Carnatic (usic

Introduction  

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 )lso #nown as the Nadeswaram, this instrument is arguably the world*s loudest non-brass aerophone  Its made of a central wood body& carved out from a solid tree trun# with a metal slot at the top for reed placement ( a large flaring bell-shaped piece at the opposite end  The body tapers from the smallest point at the blowing point to the largest point at the end  Its /orth Indian equivalent is the Shenai & a shorter instrument

Introduction  

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 Designed li#e the flute& it consists of 0 holes with 1 additional holes at the bottom side of the central body  Its range is about two ( a half octaves& which is the range of the human voice  Modulations between notes are made by controlling the amount of air pressure blown in the instrument as the fingering is highly comple2 ( challenging to master   Its sheer si3e ( loud volume calls for great stamina ( respiratory strength on the part of the performing artiste

Signi"icance  

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 +riginally used in fol# music ( later on in Carnatic music& the instrument achieved prominence as an auspicious instrument because of its rich timbre volume ( resonating sound  In the past& temple processions in %outh India are accompanied by nadeswaram music during the opening time of the temple of each day  The full gamut of the ragas* characters are revealed in this sacred music ( till today& the world of raga alapana is ruled by nadeswaram artistes

Signi"icance  

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 %o great is the e2position of the raga& that great stalwarts of yesteryears would wa#e up early before dawn to listen to the nadeswaram artistes in the temple processions Nadeswaram artistes themselves are highly regarded ( remunerated for their mastery of the challenging instrument  "oth connoisseur ( laymen floc#ed readily to listen to great nadeswaram artistes ( their performances' +n the hand& vocal music at that time was at its infancy as a public performance ( had a very selective audience

Playing #ethod  

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 4hile the now-popular cross-fingering method is used in the flute& its origins undoubtedly came from the nadeswaram which aptly produced the vocal nuances of the human voice e2tremely well  4hile partial opening ( closing of the holes are used e2tensively in the Carnatic flute& the nadeswaram has finger wor# using the 1 additional holes is different while the sha#ing of the notes to produce gamakas are used in the flute ( the nadeswaram  This method of gamaka production was later used by Flute Mali to great success on the flute& with some changes

In"luence on Carnatic #usic  

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 )t the dawn of the 56 th century& the era of performing music called for new methods for presenting the art to the public as opposed to the limited audience of royal patrons of the past century Nadeswaram music itself became the answer& with the step-by-step delineation of a raga to the clima2 of sweeping brighas appealed to one ( all' The compositions remained crisp ( alluring with a madhyama kala tempo generally  7articularly all the great titans& including %emmangudi %rinvasa Iyer& M' %' %ubbula#shmi ( 8'/'" professed the influenced of nadeswaram music in their renditions

In"luence on Carnatic #usic  

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 7robably& the greatest phenomenon in nadeswaram music is the legendary T' /' 9aarathnam 7illai& a celebrated genius of the instrument as well as a competent vocalist ,he was a disciple of Thiru##odi#aval :rishna Iyer.  ;is renditions influenced many great stalwarts to adopt his approach' Flute Mali ( T'/'9 shared a special friendship& ( often practiced together e2changing musical #nowledge  In the vocal arena& %emmangudi Iyer& among the many greats& adopted T'/'9*s performing approach significantly' 8'/'" completely assimilated the technique almost singing li#e a nadeswaram performance with his 8od-given voice

In"luence on Carnatic #usic  

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 /eedless to mention& the trio< %emmangudi %rinivasa Iyer& M' %' %ubbula#shmi ( 8'/'" perpetually left an indelible influence in the performing era of Carnatic music  The many disciples of %emmangudi %rinvasa Iyer ( 8' /' "alasubramaniam have over the years modified ( refined their gurus* techniques to suit the new-age audience while retaining the core techniques of their gurus  )lthough nadeswaram musicians once numbered in the hundreds because of the music*s appeal& today& their numbers dwindle ( rising stars li#e the Inu##udi brothers ( %embanar#ovil brothers are #eeping this art alive

In"luence on Carnatic #usic  

 /adaswara Cha#ravarthy T' /' 9aarathnam 7illai

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Cross Fingering Technique 1. Introduction . E*planation ". Future ). Conclusion

Introduction  

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 In simple terms& cross-fingering is a method where air is allowed through a finger hole,s. left open between closed finger holes  In cross-fingering technique& semitones ,sharp ( flat notes. ( quarter-tones ,altered sharp ( flat notes for sruthi  specific playing. can be played appropriately  %emitones can be played alternately with different fingering

E$planation  

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 The production of semitones of some notes will be discussed  )ssuming suddha rishaba ,9?. is played with ?& @& A& 1& B& ( 0 finger-holes closed& it will be the same as playing ?st finger-hole closed ( the 5 nd partially closed  7laying suddha dhaivatha ,D?. with ? ! A& B ( 0 fingerholes closed& leaving the 1 th finger-hole open& will yield the same note as playing ? ! A finger-holes closed ( leaving the 1th partially opened

E$planation  

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 The production of semitones+ janta svaras will be discussed  7laying 9? with cross-fingering as discussed earlier& will yield a double note< 9& 9& when the 5 nd finger-hole is tapped ( released' In conventional play& 9& 9& is obtained by sliding the finger to % position ( bac#< 9?& %& 9?  7laying D? with cross-fingering as discussed earlier& will yield a double note< D& D& when the 1 th finger-hole is tapped ( released' In conventional play& D& D& is obtained by sliding the finger to % position ( bac#< D?& 7& D?

E$planation  

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 The production of quarter!tones will be discussed  uarter-tones are produced by altering the e2tent of opening the finger-holes for the note for specific sruthi  ,pening -ole

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Shruthi

 opened

E#ashruthi

 opened

Dvishruthi

G opened

Tisruthi

opened

Chautsruthi

Due to the nature of this topic& further details on the 55sruthi  system will not be discussed

Future  

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It is therefore important to ta#e note& that Flute Mali did not completely assimilate the cross-fingering technique from the nadaswaram& but adapted appropriately to certain notes to improve the ease of playing the flute while producing the vocal nuances of Carnatic music appropriately  The current flute prodigy %hashan# further added a new dimension to the Mali*s technique by introducing HTransposed Fingering which is discussed separately from this topic& ,a lin# is provided on the Tutorial site.

Conclusion

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The importance of cross-fingering in flute playing should never be forgotten& for almost all avenues of Carnatic music has witnessed the Hvocal capacity of the Carnatic flute  Evolution on the other hand has to progress ( refine the current techniques of flute playing' +ne such approach is the HTransposed Fingering introduced by %hashan#& which is a modification of the Mali*s technique ( also corrects some subtle limitations of the Mali*s technique

The End%%%