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TRAINING IN INDIAN CLASSICAL
MUSIC
“RIYAZ”
Dr. Rajiv C. SharangpaniMS(General Surgery)
Diplom Sports Medicine (Germany)
WHAT IS TRAINING?
Repeated skillful movements with full awareness.
It is a stimulus which brings about desirable changes in neuronal circuits and musculoskeletal apparatus during rest.
There is no end or limit to training; i.e. Riyaz
BUT it has to be done with total awareness
AWARENESS
• Awareness is
continuous,
simultaneous,
nonjudgmental and
total perception of
internal and external
environment.
RIGHT ACTION
• Effortless Effort is the right action.
• Happens out of Awareness.
• Total awareness leads to absolutely
right action.
BODY
MIND
SPIRIT
BREATHING
ATTITUDE
MASTER
HOLISTIC RIYAZ
THREE STEPS to
HOLISTIC RIYAZ/
BECOMING A MASTER
Health
Fitness
Performance
HEALTH
Health is the ability to enjoy every moment of life without any cause.
FITNESS
Fitness is the enhancement of
all motor functions and mental capacities.
PERFORMANCE
Performance is the ability of total integration of mind and body functions leading to a spirited spontaneity in any given task.
PRINCIPLES OF RIYAZ
Individualization
Economization
Specificity
Optimization
Recovery
Doing and Happening
Not doing
Passive observation
INDIVIDUALIZTION
Every individual is different. Her
requirements are different.
Adaptability to training loads is
different. Thus choice or technique
of Riyaz has to be chosen
accordingly.
ECONOMIZATION
‘More is better’- This is not true in
Riyaz
Learning skill needs a pattern of
repetitions but this pattern should
be as near to exactitude as
possible.
The ‘Quality’ of Riyaz is important,
not the duration. Not one minute
extra of Riyaz is necessary.
SPECIFICITY
This is the most ill understood part of
Riyaz.
Muscles respond to loads in different
ways because the muscle fibers which
respond to training load are different.
A marathon runner and a sprinter, both
run but both use different type of muscle
fibers.
Thus a singer who trains his lower
octaves uses different muscles than
when he trains his upper octaves.
OPTIMIZATION
Any movement, if it is to be done
more and more skillfully, needs
mental as well as physical
repetitions.
This balance has to be correctly
reached.
Excessive mental or physical
repetitions do not help in actual
performance but lead to injury,
fatigue or both.
RECOVERY
After any activity, there is a time lag in which the human body recovers its spent resources as well as restructures its neuronal circuits & musculoskeletal apparatus.
Training should not be instituted in this phase.
In fact, the body changes for the better between two training sessions if properly placed.
Riyaz is just a stimulus.
DOING AND HAPPENING
When one understands the task of producing a skillful sound mentally ,one starts doing efforts to produce it at will.
Suddenly one finds that, by chance, one is able to produce that skilful action.
However, it is not possible to physically reproduce this happening by chance every time.
Here mental repetition is important because, although physical reproduction is not possible, mental reproduction is possible for few seconds.
DOING AND HAPPENING 2
Gradually this happening comes into the domain of doing. The artist is able to reproduce these sounds voluntarily.
The artist is now in search of further happenings.
Thus at every stage of his or her career, an artist comes across these happenings. If she accumulates them and brings them into doing she becomes great. If she fails to do the same, she remains mediocre.
NOT DOING
It is important to give complete break to Riyaz once in a while to give your body some time to recover. Surprisingly one starts performing better after the break.
PASSIVE OBSERVATION
Listening to others and observing their performance is essential to inculcate new ideas in one’s own repertoire.
ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS
Paradoxically Riyaz is all about repeated analysis.
This analysis should lead to various forms of synthesis. Like building a house and dismantling it. Using the same bricks and building a new house till one is satisfied in all its aspects.
Performance is all about presenting a spontaneous synthesis.
SPONTANEITY
Paradoxically spontaneity has to be trained.
It is controlled abandon.
The tools have to be polished and sharp; their use has to be with controlled abandon.
WHAT ARE WE TRAINING?
• Body: Strength, Speed, Flexibility, Skill
and endurance
• Breathing
• Mind: Concentration, contemplation,
Koan
• Attitude:
• Spirit: Meditation
Exercises
• Physical.
• Breathing
• Mental
• Attitudinal
• Spiritual
• Doing
• Happening
PHYSICAL TRAINING
• Static strength endurance training for
good posture.
• General strength training for good health
especially for females.
• Balanced training for instrument players
to offset disadvantage of excessive use
of one muscle group.
BREATHING
• Abdominal breathing leads to minimum
internal dialogue. This in turn effects in
increased spontaneity.
MENTAL TRAINING
• Concentration to be able to appreciate
the place of the note.
• Contemplation to comprehend the
intangible in Music.
• Koan to just stop the mind.
ETERNAL TRUTHS FOR CORRECT ATTITUDE
• Everything changes. Change is the only
thing that is permanent.
• Time to make decisions not for regrets
• This moment is the culmination of the life
lived so far.
• It is always ‘Here and Now’.
• Work is its own reward
SPIRITUAL TRAINING
• Who am I?
• What is happening around me?
• The awareness of the answers of these
questions is important.
• It has to be there 24 hours a day.
• Awareness before, during and after the
Riyaz is absolutely necessary.
COMPONENTS OF RIYAZ
Time: Rhythms of the Body, time and duration of performance.
Space
Posture
Breathing
Duration
Dreaming
COMPONENTS OF VOCAL RIYAZ
All notes In natural octaves In a, aa, e, ee, u, ae,o and with mouth closed. In all volumesHave to be trained for
Ability to move and stop at will Ability to express permutations and
combinations of all notes. Good pronunciation of the words of a
composition Training the “a” and “h” component
PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
All individuals strikes a different “Sa”
Even the same individual has slightly different “Sa” every day.
Lowest note on a day should be taken as “Pa” and the rest of the notes should be adjusted accordingly.
This leads to effortless singing.
Training a false voice is strenuous.
Damage to Physical Health
Hypokinesia
Bad Posture
Addictions
Wrong breathing: Breathing through the
chest as opposed to the stomach.
Damage to Mental health
Desire
Anger
Conceit
Temptation
Avarice
Jealousy
Fear
S
T
R
E
S
S
DAMAGE TO SPIRITUAL
HEALTH
Unawareness
Inability to search for the answers to the
question - “Who am I?”
PREPARATION BEFORE PERFORMANCE:
Starts on the day of the programme
Managing internal and external environment.
Internal: Nature of presentation
External: Coping up with the accompanying artists, stage, hall, cultural background of the place.
ON THE DAY OF PERFORMANCE
Correct breathing: Through the Stomach
Correct eating
Inspecting the stage, mike, volume etc.
No discussions with anybody, especially no laughing.
Getting into the zone of the performance.
QUALITIES OF A TEACHER
Always a student.
Without ulterior motives
Minimum attachment
Knowing the two aspects of training : skill and general training of Individual
Able to adjust and adapt his training according to every individual student’s needs.
Egoless.
QUALITIES OF A STUDENT
Ability to completely trust and doubt a teacher at the same time.
Aware of his own shortcomings and strong points.
Egoless
LEARNING
Making new neuromuscular connections and musculoskeletal adjustments.
Younger the age quick is the learning process as there are no established patterns of movement.
Unlearning is extremely difficult as the set patterns refuse to break.
Simple to complex but not necessarily.
One can learn from almost everything around us
TEACHING
Nobody can teach.
Everybody can learn.
Teacher just produces a conducive environment for learning.
UNLEARNING
Unlearning is the breaking of pre-established neuromuscular connections.
It is rather difficult to break these connections.
Thus, it needs great awareness to unlearn.
In a sense, unlearning can be a great training in Awareness.
VIOLIN PLAYERS ADJUSTMENTS
Sit higher than the ground level. Press violin between chest and stand.
Lumbar lordosis. Right hand pronated with pressure on second phalanx of index finger. Left hand supinated,palmar flexion and ulnar deviation without holding the violin tight. Left hand correct position and light pressure, right hand variable pressure.
General adjustments of shoulder, knee etc.
Mistakes of a Teacher
Pretending to know something when ignorant about it.
Egoistic.
Ceases to be a student
Unaware
Attached to his art and students
Rigid in his outlook
Excessively methodical.
Suppressing spontaneity of his students
Excessive and continuous criticism or out of place praise of himself and his students.
Mistakes of a student
Inability to doubt and trust a teacher at the same time.
Gullible
Prone to excessive effort or little effort
Has ulterior motives
Gets disheartened quickly
Compares his or her progress with others
CAUSES OF MEDIOCRITY
Wrong person in wrong type of discipline
Wrong training as far as intensity and extent is concerned
Lack or suppression of spontaneity during training
False ideas regarding individual talent
Affected by six enemies and fear
CAUSES OF POOR PERFORMANCE
Poor or no preparation.
Poor appreciation of space and time
Poor choice of presentation
Technically incorrect presentation
Technically correct but non-spontaneous presentation.
All attention to result and not process.
Analyzing the performance instead of synthesizing it.
STATE OF PERFORMANCE
Excellent posture, peripheral vision
Still mind with no “internal dialogue” and an effortlessly moving body.
Pleasure in the body of the performance and joy in the mind leads to a blissful experience to all concerned.
Allowing the spirit to perform with no hindrance from either the mind or the body.
PERFORMANCE
Today's performance is audiovisual. Thus, the performer must have a pleasant expression on his face.
He or she must be well-dressed
Performer must observe time schedule assiduously.
Practice should be done keeping in mind, that a mike is present during performance though it is not there during Riyaz.
QUALITIES OF GOOD PERFORMANCE
Technically and theoretically correct presentation
Spontaneous happening
Correct selection vis-à-vis the audience
Correct duration of each presentation
Controlled abandon
EFFECTS OF WRONG RIYAZ
Pain in various body parts especially backache, neck pains and knee pains and specific pains like wrist pains for tabla players.
Increased blood pressure found in vocalists who are doing wrong breathing,
Menstrual disorders in female singers due to wrong breathing.
Sleep disorders. Anxiety and mood disorders Disinterest, fatigue, irritability Loss of spontaneity in performance. Performance is
technically correct but their is no fun or joy. This is the most serious effect of a wrongly done riyaz.
WRONG POSITION LEADING TO BACKACHE AFTER MANY HOURS OF PRACTICE
CORRECT POSITION
WRONG POSITION
CORRECT POSITION
WRONG POSITION FOR SINGING
CORRECT POSITION FOR SINGING
All our endeavours are in the known.
We do riyaz to bring something of the unknown in our repertoire but very few even venture to comprehend the unknowable.
We can perceive the world through our five senses.
There is lot more to this world beyond these five senses andthis is the unknowable.
A master gets in this realm through his riyaz.