Appreciating Music the Betterway

Trained in carnatic music since her childhood, DR. Lakshmi sreeram has been a performer for over 25 years. She also learnt hindustani music from leading guru-s in mumbai During her 15 year stay there. Her training in bharatanatyam adds a subtle dimension to her music. She has received a ph.D. Degree in philosophy from the university of bombay for her work in alankara sastra. Besides many concert performances, she has given Lecture demonstrations to explain the nuances of the music. She has been a guest faculty at the renowned indian institute of technology, madras (iit, chennai) where she Introduced students to various aspects of classical music. She also writes for prestigious publications like sruti and the hindu. Her father s.V. Ramakrishnan runs the shri krishna fine Arts society (nanganallur-chennai). Her husband p sreeram is the dean at iit (madras). Dr. Lakshmi sreeram shares her experiencesas a perfomer and teacher with M P Saravanan

- M P Saravanan

People 'hear' music, but not everyone' listens' to it actively. But it is a fact that one can never be taught how to listen to music. Learning to listen to music and more importantly appreciating music is very similar to how a child learns to speak and understand a language. By constant exposure to it.

But appreciating classical music is seen as particlualry difficult and we have many appreciation courses these days. Dr. Lakshmi Sreeram says, 'Whether it is Hindustani or Carnatic music, appreciation courses can only scratch the surface. These courses can only give a glimpse for an intellectual understanding of the form; true appreciation can only come from sustained exposure to it. Classical music is inherently challenging and makes demands on the listeners of the kind that are not made by popular music. Film music, for example, is immediately entertaining because there is a great deal of variety in terms of simple lyrics, attractive sounds from percussive and other orchestra. There is no issue of appreciating this kind of music because the very intent of such music is to be immediately appealing. On the other hand, a carnatic musician is concerned with artisitc handling of the musical material within the bounds of a tradition. Moreover, it is knowledge system which the musician and informed listener must internalise. A cine musician can take a set of notes, a raga even and explore it with no constraints – he can use another note not allowed in the raga etc. But in Carnatic music there are restrictions on content and presentation -one has to perform within the grammar. Only with sustained exposure or, even better, some training, a listener can really appreciate classical music. Appreciation courses can help one understand terms like Keerthana, Alapana, Raaga, Swaraprastharam and how they figure in a concert. But to enhance appreciation, one needs to listen to a lot of such music.'