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Carnatic lessons... online
GEETA PADMANABHAN
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`Ghatam' Suresh teaches intricate rhythms to students across the globe, staying in Chennai. In an interview, he talks about this novel method of imparting training.
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COME AUGUST-September, Benjamin Gras of France will have a new routine. When he sits down cross-legged, ghatam on his lap, for practice, it will be in front of his computer. He would love to have his guru `Ghatam' Suresh guiding him, but he'll have the next best thing.
He'll flip on the audio and hear the day's lesson in his master's voice. He can stop, repeat the rendering and learn at his own pace. If he has doubts, he can e-mail the teacher in Mylapore, Chennai. Or call.
Now, Carnatic percussion teaching will soon connect with students worldwide.
Already a number of overseas students such as David Fernandes (Brisbane, Australia) and Sachidanandam Subramaniam (Toronto) are learning ghatam and mridangam through correspondence. Four years ago, when webindia created his website, Suresh didn't imagine his plan to teach rhythms through Internet would receive such an enthusiastic response. Since then his lucidly written notation for the beats has been his teaching tool; he marks the thalam on the `tha dhin dhin na' at the end of every avarthanam with unique signs for the pause using colons and semi-colons so his continents-away student can keep time as he plays. "Written notation is not for a novice," says Suresh. But for his College Station students, it is a way to keep in touch with the music they miss on this Californian coast. "They ask me for material when I perform there." Students such as Gras stay in Chennai and take lessons for several months before they can learn through notations alone.
It was Suresh's friend Dasarathi, who was first off the block in sending tapes and e-mail to students abroad. "I was shy," admits Suresh. "I had to know my students well before I could tune them in. But for four months, I've successfully e-mailed structured notes that my disciples in distant lands have no difficulty practising with."
How exactly does the tuition travel across time zones? "I spend several hours on Sunday mornings putting down the talas on paper. I say them, play them on the ghatam and mridangam, tape them and upload them on the web site, with the help of a technical expert. But my online teaching is open only to serious students. You register, pay the fee and you are given a password. You can listen to the thala vadyam rendering, and download the written material. There is provision for play, record and upload. You can tape what you play, put it on a CD, switch to hard disk, then convert it into a wave file and send it to me for comments." Suresh expects a `hit' parade as soon as the site is commissioned. "Whenever the mridangam and ghatam are advertised in our concerts abroad, the halls fill with western audiences. In 1989 when I fumbled to describe the instrument as a clay pot in a recital abroad, a girl shouted `ghatam'. In 1998, screeners at the Sydney airport detected tan unusual blimp in my hand luggage and asked me to open it. I talked about the ghatam and ended up playing at the airport!"
One of the first to log on to the web club will be Kyle Jones of Nashville, who learns both ghatam and mridangam. French film director Raphael O'Byrne (Suresh scored the background for his film "Yati") is planning organise a ghatam workshop for his friends.
"I use a metronome, match the beats to it so they are internationally recognised. I also scan the thalam and send it on e-mail. Mine is a standard format that anyone can follow. I record the lessons I teach during my classes."
"I have been playing the ghatam since I was ten. My guru TVG says, "You have to respect the guru and the lesson to get the best". I want a genuine exchange of ideas. Before a student goes online he will learn theory through e-mail and chat lessons."
Can cutting-edge technology replace the guru's personal touch? "Definitely not," says Suresh. Yet the question raises its rounded head in an area where the guru-shishya parampara is still strong. Suresh can be contacted at 224984233 or e-mail ghatamsuresh@hotmail.com
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