Gamaka or graces of music

By
Sri Parameswara Bhagavatar,
Thiruvananthapuram
(extracted from the notes prepared for a lecture demonstration)

...... 'Variety is the spice of life'. And what is that, which saves the
monotony, which adds to the grace, sweetness and melody of our music? Of
course, there are several factors. But Gamaka or mode or grace as it is
called, is the life of our Carnatic music.
A clever musician can take his audience to the land of dreams, can lull them
to sleep, can take them to the wonderland, can thrill them with surprise, can
rouse them to action, can make them cry or smile, can even lift them to the
Heavens, can do all these, by a discreet use of the gamakas.
Gamaka is a very common term, so common that many lose sight of its
meaning. Very often, lovers of music, and even laymen, pass remarks on it.
They speak of Vina Seshanna's gamakas, talk of Maha Vaidhyanatha Aiyer's
brigas and ravas and pass comments on Ariyakudi's raga moorchanas and
so on. But, some may not even know that rava, briga and moorchana are all
gamakas.
A gamaka is defined as, "swarasya kambo gamaka: srotra chitta
sukhavaha:". That graceful movement of the swara, that fine pull of the
string, which brings happiness to the hearer is a gamaka. Different gamakas
arouse different emotions. Singing or playing the same kind of gamaka
throughout, makes it dull and monotonous. A happy combination and
intertwining of the various gamakas is what is wanted.
These gamakas are not at all independent, but, I would emphatically say
that they are interdependent. Knowingly, and very often unknowingly,
musicians in general, make use of the several gamakas. But a master of
music knows exactly when to use a particular gamaka and how to use it to
advantage. I have seen and heard that famous Thirukodikaval Krishna Aiyer,
the veteran violinist, keeping his audience in a perfect trance, by his various
kampitha and orikkai gamakas, and again rousing them by his sudden
flashes of ravas, pratyahatas and brigas. It is said that Vina Kalyanakrishna,
the great, who is spoken of as an avatar of Saraswati, owed his greatness as
much to his mastery of the gamakas as he owed it to his supreme
layagnana.
We have all heard of dasavida gamakas. Some are of opinion that there are
15 varieties, and some say that there are even more. Gamakas on the vina
are formed in three ways; and they can be grouped under three main
headings according to their modes of production.
 
• A set of gamakas is formed by pulling the string downward with the left
hand fingers, keeping them on a particular swara. This can be called 'the
kampitha type'.
• Those gamakas that are formed mainly by beating with the left hand
middle finger on a particular swara belong to the 'sphurita' family.
• The third is the 'moorchana' family, formed mainly by sliding the left
hand fingers along the string.

Kampitha family
Even the stress we lay on a particular swara in a particular raga is a
gamaka. This stress brings out the raga bhava clearly. We all know that
the stress is on the rishabha and dhaivata in Sankarabharana and in
madhyama and nishada in bhairavi. But if we misplace the stress there is
a jarring effect and the raga loses its expression.

Kampitha is the main gamaka in this group. It shines best when played in
the madhayamakala. It is a place of rest for the musician to enjoy. It is a
calm after a shower of brigas and ravas. Most of us have never failed to
enjoy the soothing effect of the dhaivata in Saveri, the gandhara and
madhyama in varali and the rishabha in gowla. Such examples are only
too numerous.
Kurulam with meetu (plucking) and without meetu is an essential gamaka,
very often resorted to in raga alapana. To produce this gamaka, we fix the
two left hand fingers on a particular swara and then by pulling the string
downward produce one, two, three or even four swarams, according to
the suitability of the raga and then coming back to the original swara.
Orikai is another essential gamaka that comes under this class. This is a
variety of kurulam in the descending order. This gamaka evokes sringara
rasa.
The Sphurita family
These gamakas are produced by beating with the left hand middle finger
on particular swaras.
Sphuritam and prathyahata are the two essential gamakas in this section.
Sphuritam is singing or playing janta swarams in the arohana. Prathyahata
is singing janta swarams in the avarohana. But the mode of fingering
(when playing on veena) is different. When we play these gamakas, there
is a slight touch of the lower swara (for example, when sa sa is played, it
sounds as sa nisa, the ni sounding for a very short duration). But this
touch should not be too clearly shown. These gamakas find an important
place in playing tanams.
The rava gamaka also comes under this class. It is most effective when
played fast. It can be played singly as saa ri sa saa etc as well as in
groups, such as saa ri sa saa ri sa saa and so on. These gamakas
especially when they come after the soothing kampithas arouses feelings
of wonder and surprise. They give life to the music and save monotony.
Usually a rava is followed by a prathyahata like ri ga maa pa ma ma ga
gaa.
Moorchana family
Now we shall proceed to the moorchana family, formed mainly by
sliding along the string. The chief gamakas in this group are:
 
1. Arohana: This is singing the arohana of a raga in
hakara.
2. Avarohana is in the descending order. This also must
be sung in hakara.
3. Briga is a combination of arohana and avarohana in full
speed.
4. Moorchanas are swara sancharas in both arohana and
avarohana so as to bring in the true colour and bhava of a raga.
5. Jaru is a sweep from one swara to a distant swara in
the same octave or to a note in a higher or lower octave. This is a
very difficult but very effective gamaka. It requires much practice.
Now, I shall speak of a few peculiar gamakas, which are of special
value.
Gumpitha It is formed by pulling and sliding simultaneously. (e.g.,
rii ga rii ga ,gaa ma gaa ma ... etc).
Andholam We all know that it is one of the dasa vidha gamakas. It
is formed by swinging from one swara to another. (e.g., pa da pa
rii ri, pa da pa saa sa...)
These two gamakas evoke veera rasa.
Mudritam is a gamaka, peculiar to vocal music. This gamaka is
sung with closed lips.