Singing in key or minding your sruthi is one of the first things that you learn as a singer. Sruthi is after all considered Maatha (mother) to classical music and at one point of time getting a tambura as a prize from The Music Academy and the Tamil Isai Sangam was considered very prestigious.
Historian V. Sriram said the first musicians to get the tambura prize at The Music Academy were S. Rajam and Bhavani Swaminathan. “They instituted it from the 1930s itself and many sabhas followed suit. Recently, an elderly woman came to the Academy and presented us back the Tambura she had won as prize. She said it had given her a new lease of life as a music teacher and did not want it to be disused after her passing,” he said.
Vocalist Madurai Mani Iyer used to tell vocalists to carry their tamburas visibly since only then they would be identified as vidwans. Composer Harikeshanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar had four tamburas that he had named as Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shathrughna. M.S. Subbulakshmi’s tamburas were known as Lakshmi and Saraswati, said Mr. Sriram, who is also the Secretary of the Academy.
However, after the advent of the electronic sruthi box and more recently mobile apps, not many musicians prefer to use the tambura. They do not know to tune it or even play it, lamented a musician.
When participants to The Hindu Margazhi Music Competition send in their videos to thmargazhi@ thehindu.co.in, they must ensure that they maintain sruthi. Those interested may send in 5-minute video entries on or before December 12. For details: www.thehindu.com /news/national/tamil-nadu /the-hindu-announces- margazhi-competition-for- young-indian-classical- musicians/ article33231111.ece/amp/
