Dr. (Smt) Geetha Ravikumar, B.Sc., M.A., Sangeet Acharya, employed with Reserve Bank of India, had her early training in Vocal Music (Karnatic) under her mother Smt. Mangalathammal and later in Vina under her sister Smt. Lakshmi Krishnaswamy, a reputed Vina player of long standing in A.I.R., Mumbai. She was a disciple of Shri Ramachandran for Vocal (Karnatic) and Sangeetha Kalanidhi Late Prof. K.S. Narayanaswamy (Vina), Principal, Sangeetha Vidyalaya of Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai. Her present guru is Vidushi Smt. T.R. Balamani.
She had her initial training in Hindustani Music (Vocal) under Shri W.H. Ranade of Gwalior Gharana through B.R. Deodhar's Indian School of Music, Mumbai. Later she completed M.A. (Vocal) in Hindustani Music under the able guidance of Dr. Prabha Atre and Smt. Meenakshi Mudbhidri of Kirana and Agra Gharana from S.N.D.T. University, Mumbai.
She was groomed under the able guidance of three gurus of Agra Gharana viz., Smt. Meenakshi Mudbhidri, Pt. Yashwant Bua Joshi and Padma Bhushan late Pt. C.R. Vyas. She has been awarded Doctorate in Music (Sangeetacharya) from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalay, Mumbai.
A graded artist in All India Radio, Mumbai, she is an accomplished singer both in the Karnatic and Hindustani styles and is gifted with a declarative but intensely musical voice, which is also marked by depth and range. She is also a musicologist and an instrumentalist (Vina).
She was awarded Justice K.T. Telang Fellowship for her post- doctoral research. She is also the recipient of the Fellowship of the Department of Culture, Govt. of India. She has authored a Book on shree Ganesha Temples in India and Abroad, launched at G.S.B.mandal during the Ganesha chaturthi celebration in Mumbai in the yr 2017.
Dr.(smt) Geetharavikumar have done a research on the Rare krithis on Shree Ganesha of different compositions composed by 50 composers. Composition were varnam, kruthis, folk songs, Tarangam, Naamavalis, Slokas, Dance music, Bhajans, Abhdngs, Great saint compositions Karnataka, Maharshtra.
She has unearthed numerous compositions and she has also composed many of her compositions which are sung by her. She released 11 Cds covering around 175 compositions was sung by her.
These many varieties of compositions were so far not sung or performed by any Musicians till today.
She has sung the compositions covering in seven languages namely, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi, Hindi nd Marwari dialect which needs to be mention to give due credit to her work and singing. She wants to popularise these songs (krithis) in India nd Abroad, by teaching music students, musicians, teachers to learn songs to teach, perform and popularise globally.
So far unearthed 200 songs researched nearly 4yrs on the Rare compositions on Shree Ganesha...
I have combined in this volume five chapters from my doctoral thesis 'The Concept & Evolution of Raga' (published in 2002), three chapters from Vol.II ('Appreciation of Music A Guide', 2011) and six chapters from Vol.III (Appreciation of Music A Guide Hindustani, 2015). The 'Introduction' contains material from Vol. I (Appreciation of Music A Guide, 2009).
The intention is to help learners and laymen not only to appreciate Indian music, Karnatic and Hindustani, in all its richness and variety but to acquire adequate knowledge of its theoretical aspects. The coverage is wide enough to encourage music-lovers and learners to burrow deeper into the gold mine that is Indian music.
In view of the additions made, the title has been changed to convey, correctly the contents of the book.
Music has been defined as the art of expression in sound, in melody and harmony, both in composition and execution.
Only two systems of music are possible, one in which there is progress by succession of single notes (called the melodic system) and the other in which the music progresses by groups of notes called chords. The latter is known as the harmonic system.
It is the genius of India that contributed to the music world the Raga system, which is, perhaps, the highest peak to which a melodic system could reach. The outstanding feature of Indian music is this system, in which Raga is a distinct musical entity by itself and possesses well-defined characteristics. The ideal of absolute music is realized in the concept of the Raga.
The term 'raga' first occurs in the "Brhaddesi" of Matanga who describes it as "that which is beautiful or decorated by the tonal excellence of svaras and varņas and which gives pleasure to the mind of the listeners." This verse is quoted by later writers with slight variations. It is, however, strange that the word Raga is added to many Panns of ancient Tamil music which are earlier to Matanga e.g. Takka Ragam and Megha Ragam.
Such being the status of raga in Indian music, it is no surprise that a voluminous literature has grown around it, particularly in Sanskrit.
"Music is the art and science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds or tones in varying melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre, especially so as to form structurally complete and emotionally expressive compositions."
- Webster's New 20th Century Dictionary
"The concept and evolution of Raga in Hindustani and Karnatic Music" is intended to give the Raga profile, its image or svarupa in detail. It is the result of my regular training, knowledge and continued interest in both the systems.
The concept of the raga and its elaboration, 'raga alapana', are something unique to be found only in Indian music. There is no raga alapana in Western music or in any other system. An overwhelming majority of the creations in Western music employ only one Raga called the Major Scale which corresponds to our Sankarabharaņam. A Minor Scale does exist in Western music though its usage is sparse compared to that of Major Scale. Different Schools of Western music use a slightly different combination of notes for the Minor Scale. Kiravani in our system corresponds to the Western Minor Scale. There are schools which call our Natabhairavi as the Minor Scale.
Coming to the Eastern World, the scale of our Mohanam is widely prevalent in China, Japan and other countries. In major parts of the globe, the music world is thus sustained by one or two scales.
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