TRAINING IN INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC “ RIYAZ”

1. TRAINING IN INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC“RIYAZ” Dr. Rajiv C. Sharangpani MS(General Surgery) Diplom Sports Medicine (Germany)

2. SCIENCE AND RELIGION • Science tries to reach the truth through tangible means. • Religion tries to reach truth through intangible means. • Music combines both; therefore those inclined towards science cannot appreciate the spirituality of music and those inclined towards religion cannot appreciate the dry objectivity of science.

3. BALANCE • Both are essential and complimentary to each other; the tangible and the intangible

4. AWARENESS • Awareness is continuous, simultaneous, nonjudgmental and total perception of internal and external environment.

5. RIGHT ACTION • Effortless Effort is the right action. • Happens out of Awareness. • Total awareness leads to absolutely right action.

6. WHAT IS TRAINING? • Repeated skillful movements with full awareness. • It is a stimulus which brings about desirable changes in neuronal circuits and musculoskeletal apparatus during rest. • There is no end or limit to training; i.e. Riyaz……………………………………BUT

7. HOLISTIC RIYAZ BODY BREATHING MIND MASTER ATTITUDE SPIRIT

8. THREE STEPS • Health • Fitness • Performance

9. HEALTH • Health is the ability to enjoy every moment of life without any cause.

10. FITNESS Fitness is the enhancement of all motor functions and mental capacities.

11. PERFORMANCE • Performance is the ability of total integration of mind and body functions leading to a spirited spontaneity in any given task.

12. PRINCIPLES OF RIYAZ • Individualization • Economization • Specificity • Optimization • Recovery • Doing and Happening • Not doing • Passive observation

13. INDIVIDUALIZTION • Every individual is different. Her requirements are different. Adaptability to training loads is different.

14. ECONOMIZATION • More is not better in Riyaz • Learning skill needs a pattern of repetitions but this pattern should be as near to exactitude as possible. Not one minute more of Riyaz.

15. SPECIFICITY • This is the most ill understood part of Riyaz. • Muscles respond to loads in different fashion because the muscle fibers which respond to training load are different. • A marathon runner and a sprinter, both run but both use different type of muscle fibers. • Thus a singer who trains his lower octaves uses different muscles than when he trains his upper octaves.

16. OPTIMIZATION • Any movement if it is to be done more and more skillfully needs mental as well as physical repetitions. • This balance has to be correctly reached. • Excessive mental or physical repetitions do not help in actual performance but lead to injury or fatigue or both.

17. RECOVERY • After any activity there is a time lag in which the human body recovers its spent resources as well as restructures its neuronal circuits & musculoskeletal apparatus. • Training should not be instituted in this phase. • In fact body changes for the better during two training sessions if properly placed. • Riyaz is just a stimulus.

18. DOING AND HAPPENING • When one understands the task of producing a skillful sound mentally ,one starts doing efforts to produce it at will. • Suddenly one finds that for no particular reason the skillful movement happens. • It is however not possible to physically reproduce this happening immediately. • Here is the importance of mental repetition, because although physical reproduction is not possible mental reproduction is possible for few seconds.

19. DOING AND HAPPENING 2 • Gradually this happening comes into the domain of doing. • The artist is now in search of further happenings. • Thus at whatever stage of his or her career an artist continues to have these happenings. If she accumulates them and brings them into doing she becomes great if she fails to do that she remains mediocre.

20. NOT DOING • It is important to give complete break to Riyaz once in a way. Surprisingly one starts performing better after the break.

21. PASSIVE OBSERVATION • Listening to others and observing their performance is essential to inculcate new ideas in one’s own repertoire.

22. ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS • Paradoxically Riyaz is all about repeated analysis. • This analysis should lead to various forms of synthesis. Like building a house and dismantling it. Using the same bricks and building a new house till one is satisfied in all aspects. • Performance is all about presenting a spontaneous synthesis.

23. SPONTEINITY • Paradoxically spontaneity is to be trained. • It is controlled abandon. • The tools have to be polished and sharp; their use has to be with controlled abandon.

24. WHAT ARE WE TRAINING? • Body: Strength,Speed,Flexibility,Skill and endurance • Breathing • Mind: Concentration, contemplation,Koan • Attitude: • Spirit: Meditation

25. Physical. Breathing Mental Attitudinal Spiritual Doing Happening Exercises

26. PHYSICAL TRAINING • Static strength endurance training for good posture. • General strength training for good health especially for females. • Balanced training for instrument players to offset disadvantage of excessive use of one muscle group.

27. BREATHING • Abdominal breathing leading to minimum internal dialogue leading to increased spontaneity.

28. MENTAL TRAINING • Concentration to physically appreciate the place of the note. • Contemplation to comprehend the intangible in Music. • Koan to just stop the mind.

29. ETERNAL TRUTHS FOR CORRECT ATTITUDE • Everything changes or change is permanent. • Time to make decisions not for regrets • This moment is the culmination of the life lived so far. • It is always Here and Now. • Work is its own reward

30. SPIRITUAL TRAINING • Who am I? • What is happening around me? • In short “Awareness”. • It is 24 hours a day. • Awareness before, during and after the Riyaz.

31. COMPONENTS OF RIYAZ • Time: Biorhythms, time and duration of performance. • Space • Posture: • Breathing • Duration • Dreaming

32. COMPONENTS OF VOCAL RIYAZ • All notes in natural octaves • All notes in a, aa, e, ee, u, ae,o and with mouth closed. • All notes in all volumes • Ability to move and stop at will • Ability to express permutations and combinations of all notes. • Good pronunciation • Training the “a” component and “h” component

33. PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS • All individuals have different “Sa” • Even the same individual has slightly different “Sa” every day. • Lowest note on that day should be taken as “Pa” and the rest of the notes should be adjusted accordingly. • This leads to effortless singing. • Training false voice is strenuous.

34. Damage to Physical Health • Hypokinesia • Bad Posture • Addictions • Wrong breathing

35. Damage to Mental health S T R E S S • Desire • Anger • Conceit • Temptation • Avarice • Jealousy • Fear

36. DAMAGE TO SPIRITUAL HEALTH • Unawareness • Inability to search “Who am I?”

37. PREPARATION BEFORE PERFORMANCE: • Starts on the day programme is fixed. • Managing internal and external environment. • Internal: Nature of presentation • External: Accompanying artist, Stage, Hall, Cultural background of the place.

38. DAY OF PERFORMANCE • Correct breathing • Correct eating • Inspecting the stage, mike, volume adjustment etc. • No discussions, especially no laughing. • Getting into zone.

39. QUALITIES OF A TEACHER • Always a student. • Without ulterior motives • Minimum attachment • Knowing the two aspects of training : skill and general training of Individual • Able to adjust and adapt his training according to individual needs. • Egoless.

40. QUALITIES OF A STUDENT • Ability to completely trust and totally doubt a teacher at the same time. • Aware of her own shortcomings and strong points. • Egoless

41. LEARNING • Making new neuromuscular connections and musculoskeletal adjustments. • Younger the age quick is the learning process as there are no established patterns of movement. • Unlearning is extremely difficult as the set patterns refuse to break. • Simple to complex but not necessarily. • One can learn from almost everything around us

42. TEACHING • Nobody can teach. • Everybody can learn. • Teacher just produces a conducive environment for learning.

43. UNLEARNING • Established neuromuscular connections are difficult to break. • It needs great awareness to unlearn. • In a sense, unlearning can be a great training in Awareness.

44. VIOLIN PLAYERS ADJUSTMENTS • Sit higher. Press violin between chest and stand. • Lumbar lordosis. Right hand pronated with pressure on second phalanx of index finger. Left hand supinated,palmar flexion and ulnar deviation without holding the violin tight. Left hand correct position and light pressure, right hand variable pressure. • General adjustments of shoulder, knee etc.

45. Mistakes of a Teacher • Pretending to know something when ignorant about it. • Egoistic. • Ceases to be a student • Unaware • Attached to his art and students • Rigid in his outlook • Excessively methodical. • Suppressing spontaneity of his students • Excessive and continuous criticism or out of place praise

46. Mistakes of a student • Inability to doubt and trust a teacher at the same time. • Gullible • Prone to excessive effort or little effort • Ulterior motives • Gets disheartened quickly • Compares his or her progress with others

47. CAUSES OF MEDIOCRITY • Wrong person in wrong discipline • Wrong training as far as intensity and extent is concerned • Lack or suppression of spontaneity during training • False ideas regarding individual talent • Affected by six enemies and fear

48. CAUSES OF POOR PERFORMANCE • Poor or no preparation. • Poor appreciation of space and time • Poor choice of presentation • Technically incorrect presentation • Technically correct but non-spontaneous presentation. • All attention to result and not process. • Analyzing the performance instead of synthesizing it.

49. STATE OF PERFORMANCE • Excellent posture, peripheral vision • Still mind with no “internal dialogue” and an effortlessly moving body. • Pleasure in body, joy in mind leading to a blissful experience to all concerned. • Allowing the spirit to perform with no hindrance from either mind or the body.

50. PERFORMANCE • Today's performance is audiovisual. • Performer must have a pleasant expression. • He or she must dress extremely well • Performer must observe time schedule assiduously. • Mike is there during performance usually not there during riyaz.