Practical Performance, Prescribed Ragas on the Instrument and Viva Voce
The practical/viva section is where marks are lost quietly: an untuned instrument, a gat begun off sam, a raga announced with the wrong vadi. Examiners test prepared ragas on your instrument plus your ability to explain what you played.
What is examined
- Tuning to your Sa and a short alaap showing aroha, avaroha and pakad.
- A gat in a prescribed taal (usually Teentaal or Jhaptaal), with sthayi, antara and, where asked, jhala.
- Sargam rendition and the ability to name matra, vibhag, tali and khali of the taal used.
- Viva: raga lakshan, time and prahar, vadi-samvadi, thaat, comparison of two ragas, instrument parts and maintenance.
Preparing a raga
- Fix the tonic, check the instrument, then plan: alaap on the vadi, pakad twice, gat with sam on the first note of the sthayi, antara, return to sam.
Worked example - a five-minute Yaman performance Tune to Sa; play a slow alaap: N R G, M^ P, M^ G R S, dwelling on Ga. State the pakad, then begin a Teentaal gat so that the sthayi's first phrase lands on matra 1. Play the antara touching taar Sa and Ni, then return to sam. Reasoning: the examiner checks that your playing demonstrates the same facts you would write in theory - tivra Ma, vadi Ga, samvadi Ni and correct sam placement.
Traps: starting the gat on matra 5 and calling it sam; playing shuddha Ma in Yaman; announcing Darbari as a morning raga; being unable to name the taal's khali; leaving the instrument untuned; answering viva with 'because it sounds nice' instead of using terminology.