April-May 2025 issue ft Karan Kanchan on the cover! | Page 24

Ten Useful Tips for Hindustani Classical Instrumental players to apply gaayaki style of music

Music is all about expressing the emotion in multitudes. Each dimension differs from one another and that’ s what makes Music innovative and appealing. As lyrics are one of the important along with melody and percussions, a big challenge comes up for Hindustani Classical instrumental players. Playing an instrument in lyrically based hues is called Gaayaki style in Hindustani Classical Music. The tough part is to bring in the vocal feel while playing an instrument. Fortunately we have ample such techniques to make instrument sound more emotional and bring vocal passion in an instrument. Here are ten useful tips on how to apply gaayaki style of music for Hindustani instrument players:
1. Become the instrument: For vocalists, the instrument is already made with vocal chords. But for instrument the source of music is in front of you and understand every bit of the instrument such as trying out different sounds, equalizers or even better by bringing vintage sound as well.
2. Work on the modulation especially in high pitched compositions: Modulation is the back bone of music and understanding the graph, and the pathway is highly crucial. Modulation narrates a story in the form of music and does it the magical way. 3. Play the composition in the mind and then implement it in the instrument: Make sure you sing in an undertone like a warmup just before getting onto the stage. This actually impacts the output of the composition.
4. Try using different equalizers in which one equalizer is assigned to the lyrical melody: Using too many equalizers in live music has always been a debatable aspect but the best way is to stick to one equalizer per
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5. Get deep into the emotional aspect of the composition: Understanding the composition in a technical manner is the first step in learing a composition. But to bring in Gaayaki style, the artist needs to dwell deeper into the emotions that are conveyed in the form of the melody.
6. When it comes to popular compositions, experiment with the sound: Though sound comes secondary when it comes to the actual music performance, many young musicians are understanding the importance of various forms of sound design.
7. Choose one motif for the song that is repeated in regular intervals of time: Motif is a piece of the melody in the composition that arrives recurringly throughout the composition. It is like a title for the composition to bring a sense of familiarity and connect to the audience.
8. Think of ways in how a different sound can be produced from your instrument: The conventional sounds that produce Hindustani Classical Music have been there since thousands of years. But with global gateway opening for instruments with never before heard sounds.
9. While repeating the line with different gamakas, make sure it doesn’ t sound repetitive: Gamaka is an important aspect in Indian Classical Music. But with instrument, there is a risk of sounding repetitive. There should be strong difference with gamaka and it can be attained by selfawareness.
10. Transcend the borders by collaborating with other instrumental players: Remember the magical band Shakti? With instrumentailsts from diferent regions coming together to create mastery, such collaborations are wonderfully appreciated by the audience and also expands the graph of the music.