Caesurae Music Workshops

The workshop focuses on the voice training methods of dhrupad which are based on practices derived from yoga and the sāma vedic mantra chanting tradition.

The teaching starts with the fundamental practice of the ākār – the long vowel ā and its use in dhrupad for developing the voice and goes on to the concept of variation of voice resonance through the use of various positions and energy channels in the body, the use of gestures of the hand or mudrās in controlling sound, different aspects of vowel and consonant pronunciation in dhrupad, the use of the breath and silent internal processes through changes of position.

It introduces the tonal system of dhrupad with the concepts of grāma and mūrcchanā - scales made up of 22 śrutis or microtones, which are generated by the iterative process of shifting the starting point or origin within a scale and also shows how śrutis or microtones can be employed in a practical music only through a system of colouring them through changes of resonance. The workshop deals with the relation of śruti, grāma, and mūrcchanā to the concept of rāgas, and how subtle changes in intervals are used in dhrupad to create feelings and sentiments in the treatment of various rāgas. The workshop also explains the concept of laya or the flow of time and its relation to the vedic svaras and its role in the concept of tāla or rhythm cycles.

All concepts are introduced and taught through actual practice using singing exercises. The workshop introduces practices that are fundamental to dhrupad singing but also have a universal significance for the training of the voice. The methods and concepts that are taught can be used in general to understand the voice and its development through systematic training and could be adapted and used in various kinds of singing.

The workshop also deals with the evolution of Indian music from the vedic chants and how aspects of the vedic chantings are used in a very fundamental sense in dhrupad through the tonal system of śrutis or microtones and the system of vedic svaras or changes of resonance.