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My Approach to the Teaching of Music VASANTRAO RAJOPADHYE ~erewasatime inthe history ofIndianmusicwhenclassicalmusicwas treatedas an .1 art oflow class by the respectable strataofsociety.This might becalled the Age of Darkness.The ideaofbecomingamusicianwasnaturallyruledoutfromthenormalpursuits ofthe middle and upper-middleclassofsociety.Music was identified inthose days with moral disgrace and was consequently confined to the uncultured and uneducated people forming the lower strata of society.The musician had no social status or dignity, and respectfromsocietytohim wasnotatallfoundinthosedays.Thenoblean,soluminously glorifiedeveninoursacredbooksliketheVedasandPuranasbyrishis,hadnorecognition or social status. and music was not given its own place in the social life of humanity; personswho had devoted themselves to music were looked down upon by society. Under these circumstances this art could notgrowproperly,asnosystem of education inmusiccouldworkwherethesocietywasindarknessandwherefalsevalueswereapplied toartandculture.Thisstateofaffairscouldnotcontinueforalongtimeandfortunately,in courseoftime,acelestiallight appearedonthehorizonandgraduallythingsstartedlaking anew turn; theoutlookon music and itstraditionsstarted showing signsofimprovement. Englightened peopleengendered a proper understanding ofmusicand thisbrought about atotalchangeintheattitudeofsocietytowardsthisfineart.Improvementinthesystemof education was felt as a great social necessity along with development in the field of industries and the various branches of science. Iflife as a whole has 10 beharmonious, music has to begiven its right place in society: this was realized by some people and attempts in thisdirection were made by them to raise the general standard and status of musicasapartofthenation'seducationalprogramme.Progressineducationisimpossible without correlating it with the cultural heritage of the country, and the attention of the pioneers ofmodemeducation naturally turned to the.richnessofourtreasuresindifferent arts. In fact,our country was the homeoffourteen sciences and sixty-four arts during the golden age of our history. Enthusiasts from foreign countries rushed to our country to quenchtheirthirstforthefinearts;thosewhowereanxioustopursuetheseartsatahigher level madeaspecialstudyofthesevariousartsandsciences.Ifwelookatourancientand 18th-19th century paintings and sculptures, we can easily imagine to \..'hat heights our achievements in arts such as music. sculpture and paintings,dancing,etc., had reached. The frescos of the Ajanta caves and the immortal compositions of artists like Tansen, AdarangandSadarangarelivingproofsofourrichheritageandcivilization. Sangeet Natal Vol.XLI.No.4, 2007 34 VASANTRAO RAJOPADHYE Musichasagreateffectoneveryhumanbeingandonceyou areheldbyityou will know itscharmand beauty.The deeperand deeperyou go into it, the richerand richeryourlife becomes.Butthere are very fewpersonalities whoare wedded to music throughout their lives.Withtheirhelp,this arthasbeen abletogrow. Buttherewasawantofproperlytrained andappreciativeearsand ahealthyattitudetowardsthisart.Peoplewhodevotedthemselves tomusicbecame thetarget ofshameand wereoutcasts in society. Both theteaching and study of music were not as easily accessible as other subjects. The singers and instrumentalistsofatownwere themusicteachersandthefew musicloverswhoweremad aftermusic,whodidnot care what society thoughtaboutthem, were theironly disciples. Somevagrantmusicloverfrom theremotestvillageofRatnagiridistrictwouldgo roaming overtoGwaliortotake his lessonsinmusicfromaguru,as thougheducationin musicwas meant only for truants. This state of affairs underwent a change when pioneers of our society realized the culturalimportanceofmusicinoureverydayeducation.Theywereconvincedoftheessential and vital role ofmusic in the system ofeducation. Music is greatly indebted to the two notablepioneersinthis art, namely,Vishnu DigambarPaluskarandVishnuN.Bhatkhande, who are considered the two giants ofour times in classical music; their value is much enhancedbecause they devotedtheirlifetodisseminationofthis art in oursociety. Itwas thesetwopersonalitieswhoraisedthis arttoahigherandmoresociallyrespectablelevelso that peoplestartedrespectingmusiciansfor the first time. It is due to theirzealousefforts that music has been included in courses ofeducation at schools and colleges. The introduction ofmusic ineducationas partof the regularcurriculum has, however, given rise to fresh problems. Students ofmusic in the past specialized in music only by devotingtheirwhole lifetomusic, andgenerallykeptthemselvesalooffromotheractivities, whereasmusic occupiesthepositionofonlyanoptionalsubjectinthesystemofeducation at present. Alack ofintensive study and degradation in the level ofmusic is the natural outcomeoftheinnovation,whichmustbetakeninto account.Musicdoesandshallalways need students who will madly prosecute study in this subject throughout their life. A bifurcation ofcourses is thus necessary in the present conditions. Education in music must of necessity be based on certain fundamental principles: Students should be divided into two classes: (I) students fully devoted to the art as a lifetimeoccupationasprofessionals;and (2) studentswho taketomusicas ahobbyorjust foraspastime.Thecourseofstudy andthemethodofeducationmustvaryaccordingtothe type ofthe student.Acourseofextensiveand thorough studymustbe chalkedoutfor the first category, and a condensed course for the second group. Anotherclassificationcan be made by applying the criterionofthe student's personal ability, gift and his talents in music. Ishoulddividethe studentsinto four groups: 1. Students gifted with a naturally good voice suited to classical music who, using theirintelligence,canmakeacareerinmusic; :"1YAPPROACH TOTHETEACHlNGOF MUSIC 35 2 Studentsgifted with anaturallygood voice butwith alow grasp of techniqueand practicalmusic; 3. Studentswhoarenotnaturallygiftedwithagoodvoice.butwhowanttobevocalists and are very intelligent; 4. Students lacking in both theabovequalitiesofvoiceand levelofintelligence. but nevertheless keen on music. Inthecaseofinstrumental music,the qualityofhavingagood,swifthandshould take the place ofagood voice. . I. Astudentofthefirstgroupisfullyeligibletobeavehicleofmusicandwillbeagood artist ifhe undergoestraining properly. 2 A studentfrom the secondgroup canraisehimselftothe levelofan artistbyhard work.. 3. A student from thethird groupcouldbeaprofessor inmusic; 4. Astudentfrom thefourthgroupcanbecomeacultivatedlistenerofclassicalmusic. Educationinmusicismadeavailable(0thecommonmangenerallythroughmusicschools. Someschoolsoffering generaleducationdoprovideeducation inmusic,butconditionsare notfavourablefor musicteachingatall places.Musicinstitutionshavebeencontinuously carryingouttheir missionofdisseminatingtheart amongthemasses.Theyarefosteringa cultivated interestin classicalmusic.Anincreasingnumberofmusicteachersarecoming forwardtomeltheever-growingdemandfromthepublicnowadays.Thus,musichasbeen brought within easy reachofthe middleclassthrough theefforts ofstalwarts inclassical music and institutions devoted to the upliftment of music. Music-lovers are definitely fortunateingettinggoodtraininginmusicwithoutundergoingthetrialoflearningitaccording (0 thewhimsoftheguruasinoldentimes,whenitwassometimeshumiliating10theperson whowanted to learn. Ofcourse.thatwasthecommonpracticeinthosedays. Deciding the particular order of ragas according to the abilities of the student is the primafacie duty oftheteacher.For thatpurpose, specialteststodeterminemusical talent should beevolved through cumulativeexperience andcontinuousexperimentationinthis field.The benefit would be that the studentcan be guided to hispropercourse from the verybeginning.Thosewhohave anaturalaptitudeformusicbutwhowishtolaketomusic onlyas ahobbyshould be led to theverycoreofthe an and shouldbe taughtthean ina condensedform withinashortperiodoftime.Newexperimentsshouldbemadeonthelines ofthoseinother branchesofeducation,andthe variousragas should bepresented tosuch studentsin the form ofconcepts. patterns, and personifications. Thefirst steptowardsthisaim isthechoiceofraga.ThescaleinIndianmusicisbased onprinciplesofhannonyofnotes.Theporvangaorthefirsthalfstandsinperfectharmony VASANTRAO RAJOPADIIYE 36 with the Iltlaranga or second half.The choice and order ofragas must be based on this fundamental aspect. The student should be introduced to ragas consisting of shuddba srarasonlyinthebeginningandshouldthenbegraduallyledtothosecontainingone.two, three or fourvikrita smras. From thisstandpoint,I havebeengrading ragasthus: 1. Bhoop,Durga,Sarang,Desh,Khamaj, Kafi,Bhimpalasi,Bageshree,Asavariand Bhairavi, 2 Ansa.Tilak-Kamod,TIlang,Dhani,Patdeep,Darbari,Malakauns,Pilu.Kalyan,Hameer, Kedar,Bihag. 3. Bilaval.Shankara.Bhairav,Kalingda,laijaivanti,Rageshri.Bahaar,KarnodandGaud Sarang. 4. Puriya-Dhanashri,Poorvi,Basant,Sohoni,Malhar,Gaud-Malhar,Chhayanal,logiya, Adana.Zinzoti. 5. Shree,Todi,Multani,Puriya,Paraj,RamkaJi,Marva,Hindol,Bibhas,LalitandPahadi. Byacquiringmastery over the above-mentionedragas.the student is fully prepared to entertheexpanseof complicatedragas.Forexample:Tilak-KamodfromDesh;Tilangfrom Khamaj;Patdeepfrom Bhimpalas;DarbarifromAsavari,etc.Foracquiringproficiencyin ragas,variousolankarasshouldbeproperlydrilled in. Before commencing any new raga,a skeleton of the whole raga (frame of the raga) should be given, instead of only the aroha and avaroha, so as to enable the student to graspthetotalConn,pattern.ornatureoftheparticularraga.\Vhenpresentedinthismanner, the student will at once take inthe weight and standard ofeach note and will galher the correct impressionandvalueofeachraga.Atthesecond stage,askeletonorformulaofthe whole raga should be built up to project an exact picture of the whole raga before the student's mind.The principalnotesin thearoha accompaniedbyotherconsecutive notes wouldgiveacorrectpictureoftheragaand direct the studenttoproper waysof raga/ap. Inaddition.the pictureof thewhole raga shouldbeassociated with some incident and emotion that is inherent in the raga. For example, Bhoop is serene in nature and we can outline its picture in this way: A holy sage has undertaken severe penance desiring to accomplishacertainnobleidealorsiddhi.He graduallyapproacheshisideal. Thecorrect gandhar and panchama pave the way to the aim.The correct shadja brings success in view. The tar gandhar, the ideal, is attained and the consequences follow suit [demonstration]. Such apresentation and personification of the raga givesit a freshness and life without which musical lessons would bedry and dull;the student may perhaps even loseinterestinmusicaltogether. The ragaDeshmightalsoberenderedinthesamefashion:Anewly-wedbride iswaiting withthe utmosteagernessfor herdear love.She has received a message from him but he MYAPPROACHTOTHETEACHL~GOF MUSIC 37 doesnotturnupintime.Sheisuncomfortableandiscontinuallywalkinguptothewindow orthedoorand is retracing hersteps sorelydisappointed every time [demonstration]. Manytimesastudentstrugglesunderthewrongimpressionthatacertainragaisdifficult forhim tomaster.Thesestudentsespeciallygetconfused overtherishabhawhilesinging Marwa.Atsuchacriticalstage,alinefromthemantra-jagarquitefamiliartoourstudents shouldbechantedwithitspropernotationandtherishabhathuspermanentlyfixedintheir mind[demonstration].Themusic teachershouldalwaysbeonthelookoutandshouldstore upsuchpiecesfrom familiarcompositionstobeutilizedwhendifficultsituationsarise. Besides,there aresomeragasofaparaJlelnature inevery that.andstudentspickthem up easily if they are offered such ragas in pairs. e.g., Hamir and Bhairav,Asavari and Sindhura [demonstration]. The object of the teaching of music is to give the student a correct understanding of the make-upandprukritiof various ragas. Music isnotso difficultor inaccessiblenowasinthepast.Classicalmusicisreaching the masses at large through the mediumoftheradioevery day.and people arebecoming music-minded; theyare gradually developinga keen interest inclassicalmusicand their earsare becoming trained inpickingupgood music.The missionoftheskilfulteacheris therefore10givethem theright kindoftrainingandtherightkindofcompositionsinorder togetthebestout ofthem.Manyworthy teachers areperformingthemissionandtheyare makingexperimentsintheirownindividualways.Musicwillbeimmenselybenefitediftheir experiences and knowledgearepooledtogether10 bring newmeansandmethodstolight. Inconclusion,Iwouldlike10saythatthegovernmentinourfreeIndiahastakenakeen interestinthisartbygivingiteveryassistancetoenableittogrowinhealthysurroundings. SangeetNatakAkademi isonesuchbody whichiscreated tolookafterthecultural lifeof India.The daysofmusicians, sculptorsand painters have nowchanged,and artists with capabilitiescancounton[theAkaderni]togivethemanyhelpneededtokeeptheiranalive and fresh. . Newexperimentsinrenderingclassicalmusicandtheleachingofclassicalmusicshould becarried out so thatour music never grows old and monotonous, but attractsthe new generation10itsstudyandpractice.HwelookaroundusincitieslikeBombayandDelhi.we willseemanyperformancesbeingconductedwhichshowmuchenthusiasminthepeople and thatshould not beallowed to dieout.