Krsna Kirtana Songs
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How To Read Musical Notation:
In
the KKSongs Notations to Vaisnava
Songs, the songs will be in a special form called the Bhatkhande
notation. This notation is considered to be the most accepted standard in North
Indian classical music.
The
Bhatkhande notation is made of four rows:
X |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
S |
R |
G |
m |
P |
D |
N |
S’ |
ha |
re |
kr |
sna |
ha |
re |
kr |
sna |
The first row is red: This row is the tala symbols. The
tala symbols indicate special points in a cycle for emphasis
or de-emphasis in rhythmic flow. Unless you are a mridanga player or tabla, this
may not mean much to you. Keep in mind that the sam,
shown by the X, indicates the first beat in any cycle.
The 2, 3, 4… represent accents that are after the sam, X. The 0
represents points of de-emphasis.
The second row is black: This is the matra numbers. In Indian music, rhythm is measured through a cycle. The
length of cycle depends on how many matras or beats there are. In the above example, the second
row indicates that one cycle has eight beats or eight matras.
The second row shows you where in the cycle you are at. This also helps
identify at what points of the cycle a note should be struck.
Matra 7 is divided in half. This indicates
that two notes will be played in the same matra.
The third row is inside
the top boxes: These
are the swar boxes. The swar
boxes will indicate which notes will be played. There are special notations to
watch for.
On matra 1 (sam),
there is a ‘N (mandra N).
This means N below middle S, or madhya S.
On matra 8, there is a
S’ (tar S). This means S above middle S.
On matra 6, an empty space or a dash (-)
indicates the holding of a note. Matra 6 is just the
holding of a note for one extra matra from matra 5.
If there are any questions about what the actual notes are or what
they mean, please visit the page on the how to interpret melody on the main
page of KKSongs Notations of Vaisnava
Songs.
The fourth row is inside
the bottom boxes: These
are the where the words for the songs are. Sometimes, syllables will be
extended. Either a trail of the letter (e.g. o, o, o, o if the syllable “o” had
four matras) for each matra
block existing, or a series of dashes (-) will appear for holding of a syllable
or a vowel sound.
If there is a blank space, there is no word or syllable sung at
that point.
UPDATED: June 16, 2009