Shyamala Miss walked into the class amidst a lot of laughter and excited chatter. She smiled and asked, “Why are you all so excited?”
“Miss, we are happy about our trip to Hampi during the summer holidays, and are still discussing the various things that we saw and experienced there,” said Mukund.
“I am glad that most of you could come and learn so many musical, historical, architectural and sculptural facts from the ruins of Hampi and the Vijaya Vittala Temple,” said Miss.
Quick recap
“As we had a long break, we will do a recap of the basics we have learnt before moving on. Can one of you tell me what are the Svaras which help us in taking pitch,” asked Miss.
“Sa and Pa,” chorused the children.
“Very good. The Svaras Sa and Pa are also known as the Achala Svaras , or the Mystic Syllables of vayu or air. We also know that the air enables breathing and sound production. Thus, they have a special place in the octave. Achala , also means steady and balanced. So, these two svaras provide steadiness and balance to the octave from Sa to Sa. Most importantly, there is only one Sa and Pa in any given octave,” explained Miss.
“This is a new term we learnt today - Achala,” said Rasa.
“All major systems of music are based on a Basic Scale. This scale has seven svaras or notes, as we all know,” Shyamala Miss finished.
“Yes... Sa... Ri... Ga... Ma... Pa... Dha... Ni...” went the children.
“I think you all deserve an applause for remembering the facts so well. We will continue this in the next class too...” Shyamala Miss clapped and the children joined her!
Game: Take note
Try your hand at he game we have for you.
