Drone for a raga without Pa
A candidate is to sing a khayal in Raga Marwa in a twelve-minute slot in a small, carpeted classroom. The tanpura is a four-string instrument currently tuned Pa-Sa-Sa-Sa from the previous candidate's Bhairavi. The school's harmonium is stamped C sharp; the candidate's comfortable singing Sa is the C sharp above middle C, and the tanpura's Sa strings sound an octave below that. Marwa's aroha is S r G M^ D N S and its avaroha is S N D M^ G r S; Pa is not used, and the teevra Madhyam is the raga's most characteristic note. The candidate's teacher is not present. The examiner says only 'Tune it yourself, you have three minutes,' then asks, while she is still tuning, why she is not using Pa. The next candidate is waiting, and the harmonium is the only fixed pitch in the room. One string was replaced yesterday and the jawari buzzes on that string when it is plucked hard.
1. Which drone tuning do you choose, and why? Deal explicitly with the fourth string.
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Safe answer: Sa-Sa-Sa-Sa. If she wants a fourth-string anchor, use a swara Marwa actually rests on - never shuddha Ma.
The reasoning is a two-step check, and the second step is where candidates lose marks.
- Pa is out. Pa is not used in Marwa, so a Pa drone would sound against a note the raga does not contain - an audible conflict for the whole twelve minutes.
- The reflex fix is wrong. The instinct for a Pa-less raga is 'tune the fourth string to Ma'. In Marwa that fails, because Marwa's Madhyam is teevra. A shuddha Ma drone would beat against every M^ the singer produces, and M^ is the raga's most characteristic note. That is worse than having no fourth-string anchor at all.
So: either tune all three melody strings to Sa and let the voice carry the colour, or tune the fourth string to a swara that is both present in Marwa and used as a resting point - Dha or Ni in most treatments. As a general rule, the fourth string of a tanpura should be a consonant note the raga actually uses; for Pa-varjit ragas, check the raga's own scale before choosing between Ma, Ni and Dha.
2. Three minutes, a harmonium, no tuner. Which pitch do you trust, and how do you set the strings? Include what can go wrong with the new string.
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Trust the voice, not the stamp.
A school harmonium is stamped C sharp but drifts with temperature and use, and in any case nothing in this exam forces her to a fixed pitch: she is singing solo with tabla. Her comfort is the deciding factor, because an uncomfortable Sa costs intonation marks over twelve minutes.
Steps:
- Sing a comfortable phrase and find her Sa by ear; use the harmonium only as a rough cross-check. If the two disagree, follow the voice and note the small difference.
- Tune the three Sa strings to each other by unison - listen for the beats to disappear, not for the pitch to 'sound right'.
- Tune the fourth string against the Sa string by counting beats at the interval you have chosen; a perfect fifth (3:2) is the easiest to hear because the beat rate is slow and clear.
- Fine-tune from the playing position, not leaning over the instrument, then re-check the Sa strings.
The new string: it will still be stretching and will sag within a minute, so tune slightly, play, and re-check just before she begins. If it is still settling, tune it marginally flat rather than sharp - a sagging string goes flat, not sharp.
3. Diagnose the jawari buzz on the replaced string, in order of likelihood, and state what must not be attempted on the day.
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Order of likelihood.
- Seating at the bridge. A new string often sits imperfectly in its groove in the jawari - slightly off-centre, or not bedded along the flat surface. Reseating it and plucking across the flat of the bridge usually removes the buzz.
- The thread under the string. The silk thread at the bridge end shifts when a string is changed; if it sits wrongly the string rattles against the bridge rather than riding it.
- The string itself. New strings can have a loose winding or a kink; a string that buzzes only when plucked hard may simply be too thin for the tension it is carrying.
- The groove. A burr or an over-deep notch catches the string. This is the least likely cause on a string changed only yesterday, and the least appropriate to attack with limited time.
What not to do. Do not file or re-cut the bridge, do not apply oil or powder to the jawari, and do not over-tighten or raise the pitch to hide the buzz - each risks permanent damage or a worse sound. Immediate practical response: reseat the string, adjust the thread, pluck with a controlled stroke away from the bridge, and reduce the emphasis on that string. If it persists, retune to Sa-Sa-Sa-Sa and let the voice carry the drone.