Introduction

Do you absolutely love classical music? Do you love music but are getting bored of the same genres? Do you need a completely new and unique type of music? Carnatic music is a type of music most commonly associated with Sri Lanka and the South Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and the state that my parents are from – Tamil Nadu. Though carnatic music is massively different from Western music, there are many similarities that can be seen by the average music lover. 

Comparisons with Western Music

Which groups of music are considered western classical music? Western classical music usually describes types of music ranging from Bach to Mozart to Steve Reich. Classical music often includes instruments and voices. Similarly, carnatic music often includes one-five people who are singing accompanied by five-six instruments that are native to India such as the percussion instruments of the mridangam and tabla and some western classical instruments such as a violin. 

My Personal Experience

I have been learning and performing carnatic music for a little over five years. Throughout these years, I have been improving greatly by learning new pieces about Hindu gods such as Ganesha, Raama, Krishna, and Saraswathi. I have also learned songs from many popular composers such as GN Balasubramanian, Papanasam Shivan, and Saint Thyagaraja. In order to express my love for music and share this talent that I have been able to develop with the help and motivation of parents and gurus (teachers), I perform in competitions and performances in areas throughout the valley and online during the pandemic. 

Influence of Carnatic Music in My Life

To me, carnatic music has always been more to me than an extracurricular. It has been an activity that has helped me concentrate and stay motivated in life. Music, itself, is something that I have always used to not get distracted or bored when doing tedious homework. Before I started singing carnatic music, I used to listen to popular pop artists such as Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, and Ed Sheeran. Although these prevented me from getting bored (like how can one get bored listening to Ariana Grande), I would occasionally get distracted by the lyrics. Carnatic music, on the other hand, has words that I unusually don’t understand since the pieces are often written in Indian languages, and even if a certain piece is written in my mother tongue Tamil, I would probably not know the majority of the words since the language has developed quite a bit over the years. This means that I will most likely not get distracted, and this music will allow me to complete my work efficiently. On the other hand, carnatic music can also be a much needed distraction, especially in the extremely tiring BASIS environment. 

Conclusions

In my opinion, carnatic music is one of if not the best type of music since it can truly change someone’s life when they listen to it or sing it. Carnatic music is both ancient and sacred, and it is worth learning about. That’s a wrap about the topic of carnatic music.