Singing

Indian classical music is one of the oldest as well as complicated music forms in the world which is considered to be originated during the Vedic period. Indian classical music is regarded as pure and was primarily used as a mode to realise God in olden times and hence was performed only in the temples.

Around 17th century, music became more open, flexible and accessible to common people. Indian classical music is deeply rooted in Indian culture and tradition and each place has great impact on music.

There are two branches to the traditional Indian classical music; they are Carnatic and Hindustani music. The Carnatic music is complex and is mostly practiced in the Southern part of India with particular form of Ragas and Talas. Carnatic music basically contains 7 Ragas and 72 Talas and is used in a rhythmic pattern. The three saints in Carnatic music are Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shashtri who have composed thousands of Krithis which are still favoured by musicians. Here more emphasis is given to vocal singer, hence the training in this form of music is started from a very early age and a well qualified master is also needed for teaching Carnatic music. These compositions are also taught in all Carnatic singing classes in Pune to train the students who want to excel in this style of music.

Hindustani music unlike Caranatic music is greatly influenced by Persian and Islamic cultures and is more prominent in North India. The heritage of Hindustani music goes back to Sufi age. The melodic pattern is brought in to the music with intelligent use of Ragas known as Aaroha and Avaroha. The main styles of vocal Hindustani classical music are Dhrupad, Khayal and Tarana. At Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, students are given training in these forms of music.

Gandharva Mahavidyalaya is one of the reputed singing classes in Pune. Gandharva Mahavidyalaya established by Pt. V. Patwardhan, the most senior disciple of Pt Vishnu Digambar Patwardhan who wished to spread music to the common people, aims at educating and promoting music like Hindustani and instrument music like Harmonium and Tabla to the common people.

Here special care is given to bring out the best in a very student so that they can perform Hindustani classical music at international levels. Here the students also get the opportunity to perform and participate in well acclaimed concerts which is not available in any other singing classes in Pune. With years of experience and dedication GMV is preferred as one of best singing classes in Pune. GMV also introduces Sugam Sangeet into the various music courses which cover Bhavgeet, Natyageet and more. There is music courses organised for kids who are more than 5 years of age and the course is named as Balgeet.

Course Objectives:

• ‘Praarambhik’ is the first level. The aim of this course is to acquaint the student with the basics of Indian classical music. Thus, concepts like swar, raag and taal are introduced here, and the student is expected to learn some basic raags.
• It is only when these concepts are strong that the learner can take his/her next steps confidently.

  Course Contents:

• Swar - To begin with, the student is introduced to the shuddha swars, which are taught through simple alankaars.
• Raag - In this course, the student is familiarised with eight basic raags. These are Bhoopali, Durga, Kafi, Khamaj, Kalyan, Bhimpalas, Des, and Bageshri. Here, the aaroha-avroha of the raag is taught, along with a bandish. A lakshan-geet will also be taught in two of these raags. Apart from this, the student is given information about some theoretical details of the raag, such as the vaadi-samvaadi, jaati and the time of the day when the raag is performed.
• Taal - The two basic taals, Tritaal and Jhaptaal are introduced in this course.
• Theory - As part of theoretical knowledge, the course includes some definitions of music terminology such as sangeet, swar, taal, sam, kaal, maatraa, taali, vaadi-samvaadi, and aaroha-avroha.