Veena is said to be the most ancient among the musical stringed instruments of India It has undergone a long evolution before reaching the present state and condition. It is the most ideal instrument that could produce the subtle nuances of Carnatic music.
Among the different schools of Veena that were existent in South India the Mysore school enjoyed a special, Mysore status. It was the great Maestro, Mysore Veena Sheshanna who added new special techniques of his own to the already existing sophisticated technique, and made the Mysore style of playing most widely acceptable It is in the fitness of things that Vainika Vidwan C.K. Shankaranarayana Rao, a disciple of Veena A.S. Chandra Shekharaich, grandson of Veena Sheshanna, is bringing out a book on Veena, and its special techniques that are found only in the Mysore school of Veena. It is certainly a laudable venture.
In this book he has dealt with the evolution of Veena with the help of photographs of various temple sculptures. Another unique feature of this book is the explanation of the left hand and right hand techniques to be mastered by the students at the very early stage of learning. My own personal feeling is that these explanations would be worthwhile if the fingering techniques are presented through video recording. In the chapter on Tana otherwise known as Madhyamakala, the author has explained the correct techniques to he adopted while rendering Tanas on veena.
The theoretical and practical aspects of the art of Veena playing that are dealt with in this book are complementary to each other and have made the book a comprehensive one.
Veena, Veena, Veena. The word Veena itself sounds sweet, pleasant and musical. While referring to the musical instruments from times of yore, we are used to the three main musical instruments i e. Veena, Venu and Mridanga. While Veena represents the string instruments, and Venu i.e. flute represents the wind instruments, Mridanga represents the percussion instruments String. wind and beaten instruments are the three main sources man has devised to reproduce the musical sounds (Naadothpatthi). These three types of instruments are termed as Thatha, Sushira and Avanaddha. Thatha indicates thanthi vaadyas (string instruments), Sushira indicates Marudvaadyas, ie wind instru ments and Avanaddha indicates thaadana vaadyas, ie instruments producing sound by being beaten. There is one more catergory called Jala Tharang where music is produced by water, though it also can be termed as a Thaadana Vaadya ie, under Avanaddha Category.
Jalatarang is one of the Avanaddha type instruments (thaadana vaadya) where music is produced by beating a series of ceramic vessels of different sizes kept in semi circular form, containing varying amounts of water in them, which when beaten with a specially prepared striker, produces sounds of different notes By varying the quantum of water, the required frequency could be obtained. After tuning them to the correct octaves needed, melodious music could be played by experienced men of art.
The three instruments Veena, Venu and Mridanga have been mentioned even from the Vedic times (more than 4000 years). The other instruments of the three categories are all of later origin. Now there are hundreds of instruments in each of the three categories.
Veena is called the King of Instruments, since it is believed to be the perfect instrument, which pebble of producing music almost equal to that of vocal rendering From time immemorial Veena of ali musical instruments is the most honoured and respected one. This may be the reason why Goddess of learning Saraswathi is depicted adorned with a Veena. She is also called Veena Paani Right from Vedic Ages Veena has been acclaimed as the King of Instruments. It has been glorified to such an extent that it is deemed as an incarnation of God. Let us look at these slokas written by 'Sarngdeva' in his colossal treatise "Sangitha Ratnakara", in which he says that Veena is an instrument which eradicates all evils and sins and bestows all good things in life.
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