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Aids to the Teaching of Music P. SAMBAMOORTHY Visualaids are animportantfactorintheteachingofmusic.Pupilsareenabledtograsp musicalfactseasily whentaughtwiththehelp ofcharts,diagramsandotherteaching devices.Inthiscase, the eyecooperates with theear in the assimilation ofmusicalfacts. Many pupils learn things more satisfactorily and quickly through visual methods than through auralmethods. Aids to the teaching ofmusic may be classified into: 1.Graphs; 2. Charts: 3. Maps; 4.Pictures,illustrationsandportraits;S.Demonstrationinstruments;6.Books. Graphs Everysongtaught isinsomeragaortheother;andthemostfundamentalthingrelating10 araga isiLSarohanaandavarohanaor the orderinwhich theS1-'aras ascendanddescend. Thearohana and avarohana are thebasisuponwhichthewhole embroideryoftheragais developed.Thereareheptatonic(sampumat,hexatonic(shadava),andpentatonic(audalla) scales.Thereareragas wherein thenotesregularly ascendanddescendandragas wherein thenotestakeazigzagor vakracourse.Thesefactscanbeillustratedthrough scale-graphs or arohana-avarohana graphs.Through these graphs, a pupil is able to see visually,not only the nature of the arohana and avarohana of a raga, i.e., whether it is sampurna, shadava, or audm'o and \'akra or non-\'Qkra. but also the varja (deleted)svara and the l'Qkra Sl'ara, i.e.• the Sl'ara at which the arohana or avarohana takes a zigzag course. Graphsbased on the frequencies ofnotes figuring inragascanbeprepared fortheuseof more advanced students. Scalegraphsare oftwo kinds: 1.Those based onSVQras. 2.Those based onsvarasthanas. In the svarasthana graphs. the graphs are drawn on the basis ofthe kinds ofs\'aras takenbyeach raga.Inthesegraphs.theverticalarm bears the 12divisionscorresponding tothe 12svarasthanasofthefinger-boardoftheVina.Itmayincidentallybementionedthat these 12notesofa sthayi are metwith inall countries possessing adeveloped system of music.Ontheverticalann,the solfa lenersareplacedagainstthosesvarasthonasusedina raga. It is possible to have graphs based on 22 shrutis, but the svarasthana graphs will sufficeforall practical purposes.Inpractice,althougharaga isdescribedonly intermsof the12svarasthanas,still,everymusicianknowsthepreciseshrutis thatfigureineachraga andwhichgo tocontribute toitsmelodicindividuality.The svarasthana graphs showata glancewhether asemi-toneor amajor toneexistsbetweenany twocontiguousnotes. Sangul Natak Vol.XLI. No.4. 2007 24 P.SAMBAMOORTHY WhereasthesvaragraphsofSaveri.YadukulakambhojiandArabhiwillbeexactlyallike, takingas theydothe samearohana-avarohanapatterns(5 rillpd5- emdpillgrs), their svarasthanagraphswilldifferinasmuchastheirparentscalesaredifferent.Likewise willbe theSl'Qragraphs and thesvarasthanagraphsofthe following pairs ofragas: Dhanyasiand Abheri:Gauriand Kedaragaula; Rava-guptiand Mohana. The shrutisthana graphs are useful in showing the preciseshrutis employed in araga. ThesrutisthanagraphsoftheEuropeanmajorscaleandtheSankarabharanaragawillshow thatwhereasthetrishrutiDha (513)istakenbytheformer,itisthechatusshrutiDha(27/16) thatistakenbythelatter. The significance of the term 'janya raga' can be explained by pointing out that the svarasthana graph ofajanya raga follows the same contours as ofits me/a raga, except for the fact that the deleted notes are skippedover. Charts Explanatorychartsofthefollowing topicscan beprepared: 1.Notation; 2.Vinafinger-board; 3.35talas;4.Sangati;5.Compassofmusicalinstruments;6.Seatingorstandingplanofmembers ofconcertparties;7.Musicalkolam charts;8.Aerialkolam charts;9.Genealogicalchartsof famous lakslzanakaras, composers and musicians; and 10.Sishya-parampara charts. Musical Maps The musicalmapofacountryshowsthe importantseats ofmusicand the placeswhereher greatcomposers livedand wrote those immortal compositions which are the pride ofthe people. The map can also show the places hallowed by the memory ofgreat composers, places which have musicalacademies,conservatoriesandcolleges,placesnotedfor music festivals. and places notedfor the manufacture ofmusical instruments. In mostcases,the seatsofmusicwerethecapitalsofcountriesorstates, where therulers, who werethemselves musiciansand genuineloversofthe art, attractedtotheircourtsthe musicaltalentoftheir times. Seatsofmusic are the brightestspotson the cultural map ofacountry. Therelivedthe creamofthe country'smusicalgenius. Musicologistsand musicalthinkersspenttheirtime there, discussingproblems relating tothe theoryand practice ofmusic. The principalseats ofmusic in South Indiaduring the lastthree centuries are Bobbili, Ettiyapuram, Karvetnagar, Madras. Mysore, Pudukkottai, Ramnad, Sivaganga, Tanjore, Travancore,Udayarpalayam,Venkatagiri,andVijayanagaram. Demonstration Instruments Instruments like the Grahabheda-pradarshini and Pradarshana-vinaare important aids in theteachingofmusic.Many musicallaws.facts and phenomenacan beillustratedthrough them. The phenomena of sympathetic vibration. note frequencies of the 22 shrutis, the structure ofgamakas, the compass. speed and the intensity ofthe kampita gamaka. and AIDSTO THETEACHINGOFMUSIC 25 manyother interesting things can beexplainedthrough thePradarshana-vina. Textbooks Textbooksareanimportantaidtotheteachingofmusic.Unfamiliarsongsgiveninnotation inabook may begiven tostudents.Pupils maybegivenareasonableamount oftime to reproduce the song. In their attempts to reproduce the songs withraga-bhava, they get traininginsvarajnanaand ragajnanaandalsotrainingininterpretingthenotationsymbols.