The Hindu Margazhi Music competition | When competing, avoid common compositions: vocalist

‘There is such a large number of songs one can choose from’

An average musician will easily know around 500-600 songs at a time. This is a small number when one takes into consideration the number of compositions created by vagyeyakaras over the centuries.

“When preparing for a competition, one must avoid both common and at the same time very rare songs. There would a maximum of 30-odd songs like that. There is such a large number of songs one can choose from. The more the number of songs you know, the more you will be able to delineate the ragas in a better manner,” said renowned vocalist Nithyashree Mahadevan, who has watched hundreds of contestants perform in various competitions. Apart from the trinity, krithis in varied tempos of composers like Swathi Thirunal, Nandanar, Papanasam Sivan, Annamacharya, and Purandaradasar can also be chosen, she added.

Those sending in their 5- minute long entries for

The Hindu Margazhi Classical Music Competition, too, could choose something different and not oft-repeated songs. The entries must be sent using Google Drive or Dropbox links. Details must include the contestant’s name, age, complete postal address, e-mail address, contact number, name of guru and the number of years of training, and the category under which the entry is being sent. Ensure that the access rights to the videos are kept open to all so that the panel of judges can access them. The last date for sending in the entries is December 12, 2020. Entries can be sent to

thmargazhi@thehindu.co.in