Venkat Mukhi Swami (17th century) is the grand theorist of Carnatic music. He was the one who developed the melakarta system. This is the system for classifying south Indian rags.
Carnatic music is said to have acquired its present form in the 18th century. It was then that the "trinity" of Carnatic music, Thyagaraja, Shamashastri, and Muthuswami Dikshitar composed their famous compositions. In addition, numerous other musicians and composers have enriched this tradition. Some notable ones were; Papanasam Shivan, Gopala Krishna Bharati, Swati Tirunal, Mysore Vasudevachar, Narayan Tirtha, Uttukadu Venkatasubbair, Arunagiri Nathar, and Annamacharya. These are songs are handed down through generations of disciples and are extremely popular, with a strong accent on rhythm and lively melodic patterns.
Carnatic music has a very highly developed theoretical system. It is based upon a complex system of ragam (rag) and thalam (tal) that describe the intricacies of the melodic and rhythmic forms respectively.
The ragam (rag) is the melodic foundation, which is basically the scale. The seven notes of the scale are Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha and Ni, as in any system of Indian Music. However, unlike a simple scale there are certain melodic restrictions and obligations. Each ragam has a particular way to moves from note to note.
The ragams are categorized into various modes. These are referred to as mela, and there are 72 in number. The mela are conceptually similar to the thats of North Indian music.
There is however, a major difference. South Indian scales allow chromatic forms that are not allowed in Hindustani sangeet.
For instance it is perfectly acceptable for the first three notes (i.e., Sa Re Ga) to all be roughly one semitone apart. It is these permissible forms, which allow there to be so many mela.
The tal (thalam) is the rhythmic foundation to the system. The south Indian tals are defined by a system of clapping and waving, while this is much less important in the north. North Indian musicians define their tals by their theka.Nomenclature is one of the biggest differences between North and South Indian music. It is normal for a particular rag or tal to be called one thing in the North and something totally different in the South. It is also common for the same name to be applied to very different rags and tals.
Vocal music forms the basis of South Indian music. Although there is a rich instrumental tradition that uses vina, venu and violin, they revolve around instrumental renditions of vocal forms.
There are a number of sections to the Carnatic performance. Varanam is a form used to begin many south Indian performances. The word varanam literal means a description and this section is used to unfold the various important features of the ragam. The kritis are fixed compositions in the rag. They have well identified composers and do not allow much scope for variation. However such compositions are often preceded by alapana. The alapana offers a way to unfold the ragam to the audience, and at the same time, allow the artist considerable scope for improvisation. The niruval and the kalpana swara also provide opportunities to improvise. Another common structure is the ragam, thanam, and, pallavi.
South Indian performances are based upon three major sections. These are the pallavi anupallavi and charanam. These roughly correspond to the sthai, antara and the abhog in Hindustani sangeet.
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