Spic Macay talk-demonstration of Hindustani classical music

On 21 April 2018, Avreen Kaur and Srinjoy Mukherjee of class X D attended an enchanting musical morning with Ustad Mazhar Ali Khan and Ustad Jawaad Ali Khan, grandsons of the great maestro, Late Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, doyen of the Patiala Gharana.

The lecture cum demonstration was jointly organised by SPICMACAY and G D Goenka School, Sarita Vihar.

The audience sat spellbound as the two Ustads presented a medley of pieces of this genre of music starting with the morning raga, Jaunpuri. This was followed by a soulful rendition of the famous thumri, Yaad Piya Ki Aaye, originally written and composed by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan himself.

Interspersed with the mellifluous rendition of verses, were explanations of the nuances of the music with examples of several ragas. were teachings in the intricacies of the ragas. The two maestros demonstrated to the eager learners, the art of identifying the ' vaadi swar ' (the most important note of a raga) and the ' samvadi swar' (the second most important note of a raga).

Ustad Mazhar Ali Khan, the senior speaker is a proponent of the Gamak, also known as gamakam. The children were delighted to witness a performance on the finer nuances of the gamak too. ( Gamak refers to the ornamentation that is used in the performance of a raga. It is the graceful turn, curve or finishing touch given to a single note or a group of notes, which gives the raga its individuality.

Avreen Kaur and Srinjoy Mukherjee X D.!