(Learning the simple elements - the 'Kalpita' aspects)
If you are a Carnatic music lover and if a good teacher happens to be around, try to LEARN Carnatic music formally. Seriously. You may not be gifted like some other people and your voice might sound like a vacuum cleaner (many famous Carnatic musicians have lousy voices) - and you may think you are 'tone deaf' or have no musical aptitude. But none of these should come in the way of your attempting to learn music. If people can be trained to learn foreign languages or to ski or to become software programmers, they can be eqully well trained in Carnatic music. Even if you don't become a concert grade musician, you can learn enough to develop a deeper appreciation for music. Nothing like hands on experience.
The Intermediate Student...
Once the basics like singing in-tune, keeping talam etc are mastered, the student is then ready for the more serious compositions. At this point, in addition to learning a particular song, the student is also trained to think in terms of ragams etc. Even at this point, improvisation is not introduced. Faithful following of the Master is strongly emphasized so that pre-existing songs are reproduced the way they were meant to be - tune, talam and all. However tempting it may be and however nicer it may actually sound, it is a big no-no for the intermediate student to introduce his own 'stuff' and distort the song. You cannot improve on a perfection like a Beethoven Symphony or a Thyagaraja Composition. (What is your reaction to this ?)
The Advance Student...
After several Varnams and Kritis are learnt, it is time for the student to learn to improvise - remember the technical term for improvisation in Carnatic music is Manodharma. At this point, it is also apt to call the student a 'musician' !
In Carnatic music, improvisation is an 'add-on' to pre-existing music. In other words, you cannot distort a song like 'Roop Tera Mastana..', but you can ADD to it. There are several ways to improvise. Some of them can be examined as such as (1) Alapanai (2) Neraval and (3) Kalpana Swaram.
The Concert Musician...
If you have ever been to a Carnatic concert, you would have noticed that the ensemble sitting on the stage is usually only a few people strong. If the main performer is a vocalist (let us assume this, for the time being !) he is usually accompanied by a violinist and a Mridangam player. If he is lucky, there is also a Ghatam player tapping on a clay pot for accompaniment. There is, of course, a person strumming the Tanpura or the Sruti box and if the musician is a senior artiste, some of his disciples too sit on the stage and sing along - sometimes camouflaging the flaws of the Guru and reaching higher notes their Gurus cannot reach.
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