"Theory and Practice of Mridanga": A book
Rmdharmala
" The Theory and Practice of Mridanga", written by Late Sri. Dharmala Rama
Murthy, is a translation of the Telugu book "Mridanga Tatwam, a much acclaimed
book and winner of the national Sangeeth Nataka Academy award. This book is
written specifically to help learn Mridangam even with out a teacher. This book
is also useful to the performing artistes in Vocal, Violin, Veena etc. for its
extensive treatment of muktayees and pallavis. A notation has been developed in
this book to better illustrate muktayee lessons in English language. This book
has been divided into five sections whose contents are as below.
Section I: (Theory) The theory of Tala, seven principal of Talas. Angas, Beats
for 35 Talas, Tala Dasa Pranas (10 elements of Talas) - Explained in detail
with vivid examples.
Section II: (Theory) The design and construction of Mridangam - The various
steps involved in teh construction of Mridangam are illustrated along with
photos.
Section III(Practice): Various finger positions that are used in playing
Mridangam are explained clearly with the help of photos. Detail lessons are
devised to take the student thro' the learning process from basic levels
(Primary series) to higher levels (Mohara, Muktayee). This also includes
lessons in 35 Talas.
Section IV (Practice): A rich variety of muktayees are presented that includes
Trikaala, Shatkaala, Chaturasra, Trisra, Mishra, Khanda, and Sankeerna Gathis.
This section will be useful not only to mridangists bust also to students and
performers in other disciplines of Carnatic music.
Section V (Practice): Sabda pallavis are discussed along with the associated
Mridangam accompaniment in this chapter along with examples.
This book received great appreciation from many stalwarts including Sri Palghat
Mani Iyer, Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Sri Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna,
Sri P. Samba Murthy, to name a few.
Following is the appreciation given by Sri Mani Iyer on the original Telugu
version, Mridanga Tatwam in verbatim.
"Though I don't know Telugu, I could go through the substance of the book
"Mrudanga Tatwam" to a certain extent, written by Shri Dharmala Rama Murthy
with help of one who has a knowledge of Telugu and Tamil. As far as I could go
through the book, I find it quite excellent. In this book the art of
calculation has been presented in an easy and short-cut manner, i.e., things
are which are ordinarily learnt after a lot of experience can be learnt much
more easily by studying this book. From the beginning of the first lesson,
"Mohara" and "Muktayee" for all the five Jathis and other Talams, are all
written separately in a distinctive manner. It is impossible to write such a
book with out stupendous effort. This book will be extremely useful to those
who practise "Mridangam" and will be very useful in colleges also. "
This is a Calico bound edition, comprising of 312 pages and is priced at $20.
Late Sri Dharmala Rama Murthy's other music publications:
Mridanga Tatwam (Telugu) : The original version in Telugu. Price: $20
Muktayee Sutra Bhashyam (Telugu): Book for professional musicians that
discusses easy methods of
calculating muktayees. Price $20.
If anyone is interested in any of these books, please send mail to
rmdha...@hotmail.com
- Ram
Nick Haynes
rmdha...@aol.com (Rmdharmala) wrote:
>
> " The Theory and Practice of Mridanga", written by Late Sri. Dharmala
> Rama
> Murthy, is a translation of the Telugu book "Mridanga Tatwam, a much
> acclaimed
> book and winner of the national Sangeeth Nataka Academy award. This
> book is
> written specifically to help learn Mridangam even with out a teacher.
> This book
> is also useful to the performing artistes in Vocal, Violin, Veena etc.
> for its
> extensive treatment of muktayees and pallavis. A notation has been
> developed in
> this book to better illustrate muktayee lessons in English language.
> ... ...
> ... ...
> - Ram
>
>
This is a stunning book with unbelievable depth and detail: in review
speak' it should be on every mridangam student's bookshelf.
But, If anyone expects to buy it and play, well, that would be quite an
accomplishment.
Best Wishes,
N i c k
Nick Haynes.
Rudra School of Music
> " The Theory and Practice of Mridanga", written by Late Sri. Dharmala Rama
> Murthy, is a translation of the Telugu book "Mridanga Tatwam, a much acclaimed
> book and winner of the national Sangeeth Nataka Academy award. This book is
> written specifically to help learn Mridangam even with out a teacher. This book
> is also useful to the performing artistes in Vocal, Violin, Veena etc. for its
> extensive treatment of muktayees and pallavis. A notation has been developed in
Namaskaram
We would want the english version in large quantity,
I am interested to discuss in detail.
Pl email you contact details to uae.rud...@gmail.com