Ancient Tamil music

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Topics in Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Agattiyam	Tolkāppiyam
Eighteen Greater Texts
Eight Anthologies
Aiṅkurunūṟu	Akanāṉūṟu
Puṟanāṉūṟu	Kalittokai
Kuṟuntokai	Natṟiṇai
Paripāṭal	Patiṟṟuppattu
Ten Idylls
Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai	Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu
Malaipaṭukaṭām	Maturaikkāñci
Mullaippāṭṭu	Neṭunalvāṭai
Paṭṭiṉappālai	Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai	Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Related topics
Sangam	Sangam landscape
Tamil history from Sangam literature	Ancient Tamil music
Eighteen Lesser Texts
Nālaṭiyār	Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai
Iṉṉā Nāṟpatu	Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu
Kār Nāṟpatu	Kaḷavaḻi Nāṟpatu
Aintiṇai Aimpatu	Tiṉaimoḻi Aimpatu
Aintinai Eḻupatu	Tiṇaimālai Nūṟṟaimpatu
Tirukkuṟaḷ	Tirikaṭukam
Ācārakkōvai	Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu
Ciṟupañcamūlam	Mutumoḻikkānci
Elāti	Kainnilai
Bhakti Literature
Naalayira Divya Prabandham	Ramavataram
Tevaram	Tirumuṟai
edit

The ancient Tamil music is the historical predecessor of the Carnatic music during the Sangam period spanning from 500 BCE to 200 CE.^[1]

Many poems of the classical

, belonging to the post-Sangam period (5th or 6th century) also mentions various forms of music practiced by the Tamil people.

Music was an integral part of the compositions of the Tamil Saiva saints such as

Hindu

revival period between the 6th and the 10th century.

Sangam music

The Sangam age grammatical work

Musical instruments

Poems of the Sangam literature contain numerous mentions of the various musical instruments such as the Seerkazhi, a stringed instrument of the

Pattuppattu

. However, we have no further information on their actual appearance, mode of playing and the kind of melody generated by these instruments.

The

Kurincippattu

as the instrument on which the shepherds played the ambal pann. Among the other wind instruments were the Pili, a small trumpet and Kanvidutumbu a larger flute), perhaps producing lower octaves. The flute also acted as a drone providing a constant pitch for vocalists and other instruments 'as long as the trunk of an elephant'.

The Murasu, or the drum was the most popular percussion instrument. During festivals, the sound of Murasu conveyed joy and gaiety. Muzhavu, another percussion instrument accompanied singers. The drum was also used as the war-drum, calling people to arms.

Malaipatukatam

describes the method of constructing and tuning the murasu. The sides were covered with skin, which were kept in position by leather straps. Malaipatukatam also mentions other percussion instruments such as udukkai, a palm-sized drum, Muzhavu, Siruparai and Tattai. The sound tattai resembled the croaking of a frog. This was a crude folk instrument made using a bamboo stick. Numerous slits were made across the stick and sound was produced on it by striking it on a stone or any other hard surface. In the Kurincippattu peasant women use tattai to scare the birds from the paddy field. A well-known percussion instrument is the mridangam (mathangam). It's a double headed drum used to accompany the veena (Yaazh) and the flute among other instruments.

List of Musical instruments used by ancient

, Veelai, and Venkural.

Thannumai

Musical notations

In Tamil music, the

Moods

Raga, which defines the mood of the Indian classical music was described by the Pann. Specific panns were sung during worship and during religious and royal ceremonies. Maduraikanchi refers to women singing Sevvazhi pann to invoke the mercy of God during childbirth. In Tolkappiyam, the five landscapes of the Sangam literature had an associated Pann, each describing the mood of the song associated with that landscape.

The Sangam landscape was classified into five regions to describe the mood of the poem and to describe the intangibles of human emotions. While describing life and romance, the poets employed the background of the natural landscape and used the pann specific to that landscape to provide the mood. The neithal landscape, which is employed to convey the grief of separation of lovers had the associated sevvazhi pann expressing pathos.

Post-Sangam music

Evolution of panns

The post-Sangam period, between the third and the fifth centuries CE, Tamil music evolved to a different level of sophistication. Cilappatikaram, written around the fifth century CE, describes music based on logical, systematic and scientific calculations in the arrangements of the dancers on the stage to represent the notes and panns. Cilappatikaram contains several chapters dedicated to music and dance, of which the most famous is the kanal vari which is a duet between the hero

.

Mullaippann further evolved into Sempaalai, a scale based on seven notes. The ancient Tamils also derived new panns by the process of modal shift of tonic and by the process of reallocating the pitch and beat of the notes. Cilappatikaram has an example of this in the chapter Arangetrukadai, where the Pann Mercharupalai is changed to derive a new Pann. The four original panns of maruthappann, kurinchippann, sevvazhi and sadari thus evolved into 103 panns with varying characterisations. Some of the panns and their equivalent Carnatic ragas were:

• Panchamam – Ahiri
• Pazham Panchuram -
  Sankarabharanam
• Meharahkkurinchi - Neelampari
• Pazhanthakka Ragam - Arabhi
• Kurinchi - Malahari
• Natta Ragam –
  Panthuvarali
• Inthalam - Nathanamakriya
• Thakkesi - Kambhoji
• Kausikam -
  Bhairavi
• Nattappadai – Gambheeranaattai

The Important Modes of Tamil Music are grouped as Seven Great Modes (Ezh Perum Paalai). From them, 2 Modes are removed and remaining 5 are employed in Tolkappiam, there they are mentioned as Yaazh instead of Paalai or Pann which is meant to denote Musical Scale or Raaga. Also the 5 Small Modes of Tamil are derived from those 5 Great Modes. All of them are listed below, along with their Western and Carnatic equivalents :- (This doesn't mean that these Systems predate Tamil Music System.).

Tamil Modal system

7 Great Modes / Heptatonics	5 Tinai Tolkappiam	Eq. Carnatic Raga	7 Western Modes	Western Scales	5 Small Modes / Pentatonics	Eq. Carnatic Raga	Eq. Western Scales
SemPaalai	Mullai	Harikambodhi	Mixolydian		MullaitheemPaaNi	Mohanam	Major Pentatonic
PadumalaipPaalai	Kurinji	Natabairavi	Aeolian	Minor Scale	Sendhurutti	Madhyamavati	Egyptian_Suspended
SevvazhipPaalai	---	Todi with 2 Ma	Locrian		---	---	---
ArumPaalai	Paalai	Sankarabaranam	Ionian	Major Scale	Konrai	Suddha Saveri	Blues Major
KOdipPaalai	Marudham	Karaharapriya	Dorian		Aambal	Suddha Dhanyasi	Minor Pentatonic
ViLaripPaalai	Neidhal	Todi	Phrygian		Indhalam	Hindolam	Blues Minor
MerchemPaalai	---	Kalyani	Lydian		---	---	---

The 7 Mode Set is self generative, with the 1st Mode, if we apply a method called Kural Thiribu or PannupPeyarttal (which is Tonic Shift, or Rotation), we will get the rest of 6 Modes. The Last mode will yield back the 1st Mode, its Cyclic in same order. Same applies for the 5 Pentatonic Scale set, too. The English Term 'Tonic Shift' is 1st coined by one Mr. VPK sundaram who was an important Tamil-Music Theorist and author of several Books and Articles in this topic. He coined the term in his book, Pancha Marabu, in 1991(Page 3).

Musical instruments

Cilappatikaram makes reference to five types of instruments: Tolkaruvi (lit. 'skin instruments' = percussion), Tulaikaruvi (lit. 'holed instruments' = wind instruments), Narambukaruvi (stringed instruments), Midatrukaruvi (vocalists) and Kanchakaruvi (gongs and cymbals). The flute and the yaazh were the most popular instruments, while there were numerous kinds of percussion instruments suited for various occasions. Cilappatikaram also contains detailed instructions on the art of tuning and playing the yaazh.

Devotional period

Between the fifth and the sixth centuries the Tamil literature was dominated by a moralistic age during which a number of literary works of didactic nature were produced. These poets did not attach much importance to music in their compositions, being more concerned with ethics and morals of the people. However the underlying musical culture was not forgotten. For example,

contains numerous allusions to music and the enjoyment of music. One famous example is the kural compares unfavourably the sweetness of the flute and the yaazh with the voice of children.

Tevaram

Tamil music revived with the advent of the Saiva and

were instrumental in the revival and the popularisation of Tamil music. In addition to the panns for the melody, the Tevaram poems used santham (rhythm) such as thaana-thana-thaanaa-thanaa in their lyrics, providing a complete musical experience to the listener.

The traditional of religious singing continued for many centuries during which singers known as Othuvars sang the Tevaram songs in temples. The musical knowledge and skills were orally passed on through generations.

Thiruppugazh

In the fifteenth century poet Arunagirinathar composed a series of poems known as

. Arunagirinathar represents a remarkable blend of Tamil literary genius, a high degree of devotion to Murugan and a musical expertise. Arunagirinathar was one of the first poet to set all his compositions to reverberating music in the style of "Santham" which means setting the verses within a certain length to conform with rhythm (thala). Arunagirinathar was the pioneer in the art of setting his poems to the sweet sounds of music. Just like the seven octaves in music, Arunagirinathar, is known as a santhakkavi – musical poet, uses certain repetitive phrases rhythmically to achieve movement and colour in his poems. By combining the Tamil hard or soft consonants and long or short vowels in different ways, Arunagirinathar produces hundreds of compound rhythmic words such as, tatta, taatta, tantha, thaantha, thaiya, thanna, thaana, thanana, etc. At the beginning of each poem in the Thiruppugazh, Arunagirinathar gives the rhythm notations.

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See also

• Sangam literature
• Tamil literature
• Tamil music
• History of Tamil Nadu
• Carnatic music
• Dance forms of Tamil Nadu
• Naattupurapaattu
• Pancha Marapu

References

External links

• TamilNation