Flute_Basic

BASIC LESSONS FOR THE BANSURI
Aim of this to give you some useful tips in order to help you get used to your flute.
following are the name of the notes.......

LEARN INDIAN NOTATION
 You should begin to familiarise yourself with the Indian notes.(which differ from the western notes Do Re Mi...) and learn them so that you know exactly which notes you are playing. This will also help you to do some of the practice exercises on this page. The Indian notation system is called "saregam".
The notes are called the following (Full name in brackets) as we cover holes one by one beginning from the top of the flute and working our way down until all holes are covered.


Ma (Madhyam) - no holes covered
Ga (Gandhar) - 1st hole covered
Re (rishab) - 2 holes covered
Sa (Shadja) - 3 holes covered
Ni (Nishad) - 4 holes covered
Dha (Dhaivat) - 5 holes covered
Pa (Pancham) - 6 holes covered

The Notation System

We need one system for the lower octave, one for the middle octave and another for the upper octave.

For the lower octave, we write;

,S ,R ,G ,m ,P ,D ,N  

However, bansuri cannot play the first 4 of these notes, and so you will not see them notated in bansuri music. The first complete scale on the bansuri starts in the 'mid octave' at S.

The full basic scale is;

S R G m P D N

Even though this scale is notated without lower or upper octave marks, on bansuri, the first 4 notes are made by blowing the lower octave, but to reach the next 3 notes you will have to alter your embouchure to find the next octave for those finger positions. This seems counter intuitive at first, but makes sense if you keep in mind that the scale begins with 3 holes closed.

'S 'R 'G 'm 'P 'D 'N  are used for the octave above.

Half notes (called 'Komal Swara')  are frequently played, and are notated using small letters (lower case alphabet), as in 'ma' in the basic scale.

,d  (Five and half holes closed, lower octave)

,n  (Four and a half holes closed, lower octave)

r  (Two and a half holes closed, lower octave)

g  (One and a half holes closed, lower octave)

m  (Half a hole closed, lower octave) * Although this note is a half note, it is not considered 'Komal Swara, as it is included in the natural scale.

M (All holes are open, lower octave) * The natural scale is played with the note 'm' as a half closed note. But sometimes scales will call for this note to played totally open. This is notated as 'M'. So during the practice sessions, if you see 'm' you will know this is maplayed with the first hole half closed, and 'M' is played with the first hole totally open.

Exercise 1

Arohan (Ascending):      'P 'D 'N S R G M P D N S' R' G' M' P'

Avarohan (Descending):    P' M' G' R' S' N D P M G R S 'N 'D 'P

'P----mean Pa in lower octave

and all as I show above.

Exercise 2

Arohan:         'P 'D 'N S     'D 'N S R     'N S R G     S R G M     R G M P     G M P D

                      

                       M P D N      P D N S'     D N S' R'     N S' R' G'     S' R' G' M'     R' G' M' P'

Avarohan:      P' M' G' R'     M' G' R' S'     G' R' S' N     R' S' N D     S' N D P     N D P M

                       D P M G     P M G R     M G R S     G R S 'N     R S 'N 'D     S 'N 'D 'P