THE ART OF tAnam

by S. SOWMYA

Part II

   
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tAna in hindustAni Music

tAnas are defined in hindustAni music as open-voiced, running-note passages in quick tempo. A tAna consists of 2, 3, 4 or more notes and are usually set in various layAs or rhythms. While rendering a tAna, the vAdi, samvAdi and vivAdi notes of the raga should be kept in mind. tAnas are usually rendered while singing khyAl, TappA and Thumri. It is not sung with dhrupad and dhamAr.

A tAna sung in the same tempo as the song is called barAbar-kI-tAna, double speed duguN-kI-tAna, triple speed tiguN-kI-tAna and so on. A tAna that takes notes in a serial order is called .suddha tAna or saraL tAna or sapAt tAna. A kUT tAna is one that takes notes in irregular order and one that is a mixture of kUT and .suddha is naturally called a mi.sRa tAna!

An ala.nkarik tAna is one that is composed of embellishments (ala.nkAR) or paLTAs. When the vowel sounds of the successive syllables of words in the song are rendered in different ways, it is known as a bOl tAna. A chUT-ki-tAna is one that begins from a note of the higher octave and reaches the sA of the middle octave in quick tempo. When the tAna is sung pronouncing the solfa syllables as they are, it is known as sargam-kI-tAna. A tAna sung using rapid oscillations of the jaw is called jabDE-kI-tAna. TODAs are the tAnas played on a sitAr or sarOD.

Other Observations

  • It is very interesting that there is a lot of similarity between the tAnam structure mentioned in the Tamil treatises and the present day rendition. There also seems to be a great similarity between the definition of tAnam mentioned in the Sanskrit treatises and the hindustAni interpretation of tAnas.
  • While some scholars are of the opinion that tAnam should be sung using the words, ananta and Ananda, there curiously seems to be no reference to these in any of the texts. One must also note that many legendary musicians of the Golden period of music have predominantly used only the syllables nom, ta, nam and so on for singing tAnam.
  • While akAram is a very integral part of the tAnam singing, it should be noted that the akAram is actually sung using the jaw, as is the case with the 'jabDE ki tAna' in Hindustani music. Only then can one get the complete and best rendering and that is also one factor that contributes to the beauty of the tAnam. This gives a punch to the tAnam singing and keeps it going lively.

Appendix 1 - More audio samples

Sri. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, interestingly, has begun a concert with a short tAnam in nATTai, followed by the kr.ti, mahAgaNapatim. Click here to listen.

Among instruments, the vINa enhances the melodic beauty and rhythmic patterns of a tAnam. As examples, here is a tAnam in Bhairavi and another one in Kharaharapriya, by eminent vaiNika, sangIta kalAnidhi Sri. K. S. Narayanaswamy.

Here is a demonstration of tAna-vil, a bowing technique that embellishes the beauty of a tAnam, in a wonderful rAgamAlika tAnam, on the violin, by vidwans Prof. V. V. Subramanyam and Sri. V. V. Ravi. 

A tAnam in harikAmbhOji, by Sri. M. D. Ramanathan.

 

[Note: The audio clippings included in this article, are strictly for informational and illustrative purposes. These are extracted from private collections. The author and editor would like to acknowledge artistes and/or their families, private collectors and music organizations for their support]

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