IOSR Journl of Reserch & Method in Eduction (IOSR-JRME) e-issn: 2320 7388,p-ISSN: 2320 737X Volume 4, Issue 5 Ver. III (Sep-Oct. 204), PP 29-36 A Study of Asin Indin nd Asin Indin Americn Crntic Music Students on Emotive Responses to Six Crntic Rgs: Qulittive Anlysis of Student Responses *Dr. Klpn Mukund Iyengr, **Mrs. Veen Prsd,***Dr. Roxnne. Henkin *Dr. Klpn M. Iyengr is Sn Antonio Writing Project Techer Consultnt nd postdoctorl resercher in the deprtment of Interdisciplinry Lerning nd Teching (ILT) t the UTSA. Her PhD disserttion focused on Asin Indin Americn Students Expression of Culture nd Identity Construction Through Nrrtive Writing. **Mrs. Veen Prsd hs n MBA nd she is currently in her first yer of the PhD progrm in counseling t Texs A&M University t Corpus Christi. Ms. Prsd lso teches Crntic music to students of Asin Indin origin. Severl of her rticles re published in scientific journls. ***Dr. Roxnne Henkin is professor in the deprtment of Interdisciplinry Lerning nd Teching t the UTSA. She is lso the director of the Sn Antonio Writing Project nd Limpopo Writing Project in Afric. Dr. Henkin hs severl publictions to her credit. Abstrct: In order to ssess Crntic music students emotive responses to few selected Crntic rgs, two interdisciplinry reserchers nd music techer conducted qulittive study supported by Gee s definition of discourse. The reserchers nlyzed the nrrtives written by Crntic music students from Indi nd mjor city in the southwest of the United Sttes. The study prticipnts were six young dults between the ges of eleven nd sixteen who hve lerned Crntic music for more thn five yers. Some of them hve performed their solo debut recitls fter lerning music for more thn 4 yers or more with trined techer. The prticipnts recorded severl emotions such s hppiness, melncholy, nger, etc. fter they listened to songs bsed on the selected rgs the reserchers provided to the students. Prticipnts lso described their observtions on the preselected rgs. Key words: Crntic music, rgs, emotive responses, feelings, Asin Indin students. "God is running towrds me nd I m trying to welcome him thro this Rg nd lso sounds like somebody is in deep thought on topic or is remembering person" (Prticipnt 3, 204). I. Introduction Music nd dnce re importnt for progression of culture (Wlker, 2007). Performing rts lso bring hrmony mong cultures nd cn be envoys between cultures. A ntion is hppy when people enjoy dnce nd music becuse performing rts ply n importnt role in the overll hppiness of people including children. Ro (984) posits tht, musicl child is sympthetic child, nd its tender qulities grow with ge. (p. 7). Further, ncient cultures like Indi, Greece nd Rome hve contributed to the performing rts. Some of these rt forms re not well known in the western world. One such genre is the clssicl form of Indin music clled Crntic music. This rt is usully pssed on from techer to the student nd requires culturl medition (Cole, 996). This medition cn hppen only if culturl events re prcticed through genertions nd kept live through stge performnces. Culturl wreness through dnces is fr more common thn music becuse dnces hve visul ppel nd music is integrted into the dnces. For exmple, dnce forms such s Bhrtntym mke use of complicted rhythmic ptterns nd rgs to enhnce esthetic ppel of the dnces. Audiences need not pprecite music if they py ttention to the words being sung nd the nrrtive music rendered through the percussion nd string instruments. According to Eisner (998): Eduction cn be regrded s process concerned with expnding nd deepening the kinds of mening people cn hve in their lives. The construction of mening depends upon the individul s bility to experience nd interpret the significnce of the environment, including the wys in which others in the culture hve constructed nd represented mening. Forms of representtion visul, uditory, kinesthetic, linguistic, mthemticl re wys in which members of culture [Discourse is] socilly ccepted ssocition mong wys of using lnguge, other symbolic expressions, nd rtifcts, of thinking, feeling, believing, vluing nd cting. 29 Pge
uniquely encode nd decode mening. The menings tht cn be secured from music, for exmple, hve no identicl counterprt in ny other form (p. 76) Music is lnguge of emotions nd needs to be situted s representtion of culture to lrger udience becuse music needs enhnced pthwys of cognitive sensory interctions (Ro, 984). According to Bhrgv, et l (204), mthemtics, music nd poetry together feel like very complete experience All kinds of cretive thoughts come together when [we] think bout ll three. Two of our study prticipnts, who re pssionte bout Mthemtics, recognized this spect of creting rgs. One of the singers commented, I know hundreds of rgs through yers of studying Mthemtics behind how rgs re formed (Prticipnt 6, 204). Thus music helps crete curiosity nd form new knowledge in the children if they re exposed to it. There re severl differences between western nd Indin music. While western music mkes use of hrmony, Indin music uses melody or rg. Audience needs to work hrder by pying undivided ttention to the singer nd by keeping the bet or tl, nd follow the mening of the songs rendered to pprecite Crntic music. In ddition, pitch, rhythm, lnguge of the lyric dd to complexity of listening to Crntic music. But if one goes beyond these complexities, music cn directly ppel to one s inner most feelings nd the bstrct conception is left to the listeners imgintion. Tble lists the notes in Crntic music style nd the western notes for compre (see tble below). Tble : Scle/Notes Western Notes/Scle Crntic Notes/Scle D o S R e Ri M i G F M Sol L Ti Sridhr & Geeth (2009) noted tht, Crntic music is much more complex in the wy the notes re rrnged nd rendered Rg is much more complex thn melody nd scle in western music (p. 57). There re hundreds of rgs including Melkrt (prent) nd Jny (child) Rgs in Indin music. Melkrt Rgs re on the complete scle of s, ri, g, m, p, d, ne notes while Jny re the derivtions from the Melkrt Rgs. However, for the purpose of this study, we will utilize the six populrly sung rgs by Crntic music students (see figure below). The six rgs tht were incorported in this study re s follows: P Dh Ne Figure Crntic Rgs II. Rg A Rg is one of the ncient trditionl melodic ptterns or modes in Indin music. A Rg is bsed on scle with given set of seven notes or spt swr, typicl order in which they pper in melodies, nd chrcteristic musicl motifs. According to Sridhr & Geeth (2009), Rg cn be thought of s sequentil rrngement of notes tht is cpble of invoking the emotion of song (p. 57). There re severl hundred Rgs in present use nd thousnds re possible in theory. The concept of rg, introduced sometime before the 9th century, becme influentil throughout South Asi, nd it remins centrl to the region's clssicl music. 30 Pge
According to Ro (984), Crntic musicl notes produce the following moods: S nd P re trnquil notes R nd D indicte disturbnce R2 nd D2 re perceptions G nd N indicte disgreebleness G2 nd N2 indicte enquiry M denotes optimism or egoism M2 denotes degrdtion (p. 23). The following description provides detiled explntion of the six rgs used in this study including their rohn nd vrohn ptterns. Arohn is the scending pttern nd vrohn is the descending pttern. ) Revti ārohṇ: S R M P N2 S vrohṇ: S N2 P M R S Revti is considered jny rāgm of Rtnngi 2) Shnkrbrnm: It is the 5th rāg in the 5th Chkr Bāṇ. ārōhṇ: S R2 G3 M P D2 N3 S vrōhṇ: S N3 D2 P M G3 R2 It is Jnk rgm. 3) Mohn: ārohṇ: S R2 G3 P D2 S vrohṇ: S D2 P G3 R2 S Mohnm is considered jny rāg of Hrikmbhoji, the 28th Melkrt rāg, 4) Mymlvgowl: is the 3rd rg in the 3rd chkr, Agni. ārohṇ: S R G3 M P D N3 S vrohṇ: S N3 D P M G3 R S 5) Vsnth: Vsnth is derived from the 7th Mel Suryknthm. Swrs used by this rg is Shudd Ri, Antr G, Shudd M, Chtusruti Dh nd Kkli Ni. Arohnm: S M G3 M D2, N3, SA* Avrohnm: S, N3 D2 M G3, R S 6) Klyni: It is the 5th rgm in the th Chkr Rudr. ārohṇ: S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S vrohṇ: S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S. Purpose The purpose of this study is to evlute Asin Indin nd Asin Indin Americn Crntic music students emotive responses bsed on the songs set to six pre-selected rgs they lern in music clss. Becuse of the long history of orl culture in the Asin Indin communities, the reserchers would like to explore the impct of music on Asin Indin children s emotionl experiences. V. Hypothesis Children who re exposed to music eduction will be more prepred to distinguish or cknowledge emotions thn those who don t lern music. A follow-up study will be conducted to test this hypothesis. We will choose Asin Indin students with nd without music eduction nd conduct comprtive nlysis of the responses. V. Method Procedure We used Culturl Historicl Activity Theory (CHAT) tht is bsed on Vygotsky s constructivism to evlute Crntic music students perception of the six rgs we chose for the purpose of this study. Crntic music is n exmple of Culturl Historicl Activity Theory. The following methods were used with the prticipnts () Songs bsed on the chosen rgs were plyed using recorder or YouTube so the prticipnts could 3 Pge
her the songs clerly. We used quiet room to do this nd Crntic music students re fmilir with listening to songs while they lern prticulr rgs in music clss (2) A post survey questionnire with five questions ws used to elicit music students nrrtive responses. The instrument ws given to the prticipnts. (3) A 7-question scle bsed on singers likebility or preference to rgs ws developed. The study prticipnts were Crntic music students of one of the reserchers of this study nd two other Crntic music techer in the US nd Indi. Their gurus trined these music techers for period of time before they begn teching students. Both the techers tech music t their homes s out-of-school-ctivity becuse prents wnt their children to lern music for culturl mintennce nd heritge connection. The study prticipnts nswered the seven questions (see below for list of questions) nd provided the investigtors with nrrtives wherever explntion ws needed (see ppendix A). Questions. Wht is the totl number of songs you hve lerned so fr? 2. How mny rgs do you know? 3. Wht is your fvorite Crntic song? 4. Wht is the nme of the rg of your fvourite song? 5. How does this song ffect you? 6. Do you sing other songs tht shre the sme rg s your fvourite song? 7. Why do you prefer this rg? Explin using your own words. The Institutionl Review Bord of the University of Texs s Sn Antonio pproved this study in 204. All of the prticipnts prents signed the consent forms bsed on their children s willingness to prticipnt in the study. One of the investigtors collected dt from the Indin prticipnts during her visit to Indi fter she obtined IRB pprovl nd the consent from the prticipnts prents. The study prticipnts were sked to listen to songs bsed on the 6 preselected rgs (see figure below) provided nd note their impressions including the emotions these rgs inspired in the student singers. Scle A scle ws developed to ssess the dt. The scle is clled Preference nd Likebility Scle or PLS. PLS is n explortory instrument to mesure desirbility nd preference to Rgs nd songs. One of the purposes of this study ws to test the scle. Techers Three of the students in this study were from Indi. They lern music from Mrs. Sweth Keshv, who teches music in Begluru, Indi. She is lso n A grde rtist in All Indi Rdio nd she regulrly performs on the rdio. The other three prticipnts were Mrs. Veen Prsd nd Mrs. Rmy Krthic s students from Smnvy Arts Acdemy nd Klly respectively. Veen sings in pece choirs nd fund rising events. Veen lso sings solo nd with her students in the All World Gythri Priwr celebrtions. Prticipnts The study consisted of six Crntic music students from Indi nd mjor city in the southwest, USA (see tble 3 below). The prticipnts were selected from Asin Indin Americn nd Asin Indin communities, who hve been lerning Crntic music for severl yers. There were three mles nd three femle singers. The prticipnts were from ges to 6 yers of ge. All of the prticipnts hve sung songs in ll of the 6 chosen rgs nd they re fmilir with the scles. The following tble illustrtes prticipnts demogrphic informtion. Tble 2: Prticipnts Demogrphicl Informtion Demogrphic Informtion Number = 6 Age to 6 Gender Mle 3 Femle 3 Religion Hindu. Shnketi b. Iyengr c. Iyer d. Other Lnguges Spoken t Home Tmil Tmil Dilect nd Knnd Telugu Eduction Middle school 2 6 3 4 32 Pge
High school 4 Co-curriculr Activities 6 Yers of Crntic music trining >4 yers Performnces > 3 Arngetrm (solo debut performnce) 2 V. Results Seven themes emerged through the nlysis of the Indin Crntic music students dt. (see figure 2 below). The themes tht emerged fter dt nlysis were s follows: Figure 2 Emergent Themes below). The following section provided descriptions of the themes tht emerged from the dt (see tble 3 Tble 3: Themes nd exemplrs From the Study Prticipnts Theme Rg Smple Quottion Hppy Mohn It s celebrtion ll the people nd nimls re very very (sic) hppy. They re trying to express their hppiness through the rg. Sd nd Gloomy Revthi It is very gloomy. All the people, nimls re sd. Sdness cn be seen in even in plnts. People hve no enthusism in life Even I feel like crying listening to this rg. Deep nd Drk Revthi It sounds ggressive nd reminds me of [Lord] Shiv performing Tndv [Dnce]. Mysterious Mymlvgowl It sounds little eerie. And lso sounds like somebody is in deep thought on topic or is remembering person It lso sounds little regretful. Sweet nd Tngy Klyni This sounds like sweet nd tngy rg. How you might feel when you tste sweet mngo or even tngy suce. Anticiption Vsnth Reminds me of bittersweet memories. Or the scene in the movie where the hero is reminiscing times spent with the heroine Pleding Shnkrbrnm It sounds extremely melodious. I feel it is spiritul. It lso reminds me of [Lord] Krishn pleding mischievously to his mother. 33 Pge
. Hppy Three prticipnts recognized hppiness s one of the themes. They were ble to rticulte their ssessment of the rg by providing exmples bout the rg tht evoked hppiness in them. Rg Mohn mde singers hppy. b. Sd nd Gloomy Two singers recognized tht rg Revthi evoked sdness in them. The exmples they provided were of lck of energy in people nd the singer felt like crying when she herd the song bsed on this rg. c. Deep nd Drk One of the prticipnts lbeled the rg Rvthi s deep nd drk. The singer compred Shiv s dnce when the God of destruction is ngry to this rg. d. Mysterious Three prticipnts sid tht the rg vsnth induced the emotion of mystery in them. The exmple of hero missing the heroine ws considered surreptitious. e. Sweet nd Tngy Klyni ws considered sweet nd tngy by two singers. The most intriguing response bout Klyni ws tht one student expressed how this rg reminded him of supermn chsing the bd guys (Prticipnt 2, 204). f. Anticiption Three singers expressed how the rg, Shnkrbrn reminded them of how people my get nxious fter listening to song bsed on this rg. One of the singers mentioned his spiritulity nd compred this rg to Lord Krishn s leels. The following figure (see figure 3 below) illustrtes the different emotions nd rgs. Figure 3 Rgs nd Emotions V. Literture Review There is limited reserch on emotive responses in Crntic music students in the US. However, literture discusses the emotionl spect of music nd the impct of music on listeners. According to Robinson (2008), music hs the power to mnifest different emotions in the listener, which is further endorsed by Bello, Chew, Turnbull (2008). According to these uthors, the effects of music on listeners re both influentil nd equivocl. However, ccording to Loewy (203), "In [some] cses, listening to fvorite song might be n intimte ctivity" (p. ). Also, Bhrghv, et l (2003) hs reserched on the mthemticl connection to Indin music. 34 Pge
V. Discussion Music hs n effect on singers who re exposed to the rt for prolonged period of time. The prticipnts were ble to identify specific emotions bsed on the songs set to 6 different Crntic rgs. Prticipnt 6 hs noted tht, Rgs often invoke emotions vrious emotions in people (204). This pilot study helped the reserchers understnd the need to conduct extensive study involving different styles of music students lern nd prctice in both voice nd instruments so the findings cn be generlized. The follow up study with more music students nd different genres of music must be conducted nd longer nrrtives must be coded. X. References []. Bhrgv, M. et l. (2003). The gigpop ritul: A live networked performnce piece for two Electronic dholks, digitl spoon, digitldoo, 6 string electric violin, rbow, sitr, tbl, nd bss guitr, New Interfces for Musicl Expression (NIME). [2]. Bello, J.P., Chew, E., Turnbull, D. (Eds). (2008). Music informtion retrievl. [3]. [4]. Cole, M. (996). Culturl psychology: A once nd future discipline. Cmbridge, MA: The Belknp Press of Hrvrd University Press. [5]. Eisner, E. (2002). The rts nd the cretion of mind, In Chpter 4, Wht the Arts Tech nd how it shows, (70-92). Yle University Press. [6]. Gee, J.P. (996). Socil linguistics nd litercies: Idelogy in discourse (2 nd ed.). London, UK: Tylor & Frncis. [7]. Lowry, J. (203). Music psycho therpy. In Pinview: Americn Society of Pin Eductors 9(), p. [8]. Ro, H.P.K. (984). The psychology of music. New Delhi, Indi: Asin Eductionl Services. [9]. Robinson, J. (2008). Music nd emotions. Journl of Literry Theory (2), p. 395-49.doi: 0.55/JLT.2007.024 [0]. Sridhr, R., & Geeth, T.V. (2009). Rg identifiction of Crntic music for music informtion retrievl. Interntionl Journl of Recent Trends in Engineering (), 57-574. []. Wlker, R. (2007). Music eduction: Culturl vlues, socil chnge nd innovtion. Springfield, IL: Chrles Thoms Publishers. X. Appendix A: Prticipnt 5 Responses to our Questionnire Crntic Music Study Questionnire. My fvorite song from wht I hve lerned in Crntic music is Ekmresh Nyike. 2. The nme of the Rg of my fvorite song is Suddh Sveri. 3. I prefer this rg becuse I hve sense of pecefulness nd focus from the songs I hve lerned nd listened to in this rg. I relly like the wy tht the medium notes crete beuty in this rg rther thn the higher or lower notes. 4. This song ffects me becuse it is one of the songs tht I cn sing relly well. This influences me to picture Prvti better becuse I cn sing the song relly well. Moreover, the bet is simplistic nd I feel tht the notes hve some sense of drkness in them, which mkes me relly like this song. 5. Yes, I do sing the song Ekmresh Nyike. 6. I know the rgs Klyni, Durbr, Suddh Sveri, Sveri, Hmsdwni, Mohnm, Annd Birvi, Amrut Vrshini, Mymlvgoul, Shn, Kmboji, Hri Kmboji, nd more. I cn t remember ll the ones tht I know, but I think I know t lest 5. 7. I hve lerned ll the geethms nd 0+ vrnms. I hve lso lerned round 8 keerthns. So, I would sy I know t lest 30 songs. Rgs. Revti: I listened to the song Bho Shmbo nd it gve me feeling of strength. 2. Shnkrbrnm: I listened to the vrnm, which I lso know how to sing, nd it mde me feel hppy. 3. Mohn: I listened to the vrnm, which I lso know how to sing, nd it gve me feeling of hppiness. 4. Mymlvgoul: I listened to Devi Sri Tulsmm nd it gve soothing effect nd sense of pece. 5. Vsnth: I listened to the vrnm, which I lso know how to sing, nd it mde me feel hppy. 6. Klyni: I listened to the vrnm nd it mde me feel stisfied. Prgrph I relly liked Crntic Music from the second grde when I listened to the song Bho Shmbo. The song mde me feel like I hd sense of pride nd this inspired me to lern Crntic Music. The songs tht I prticulrly like re the ones tht give me focus. This usully tends to be the songs tht re peceful or sd becuse those hve the lower notes nd I feel s if tht provides me with focus. The ones tht re hppier re more upbet nd hve the higher notes, which I don t find s plesing. I lso don t find the hppier songs esier to sing due to the higher notes. 35 Pge
Demogrphics I m in th grde, nd I m 5 yers old. I hve lerned Crntic Music for 8 yers. My grndmother hs lerned music, nd my fmily follows Crntic Music. My brother lerns the Miruthngm. I don t perform, but I lso lern western violin. 36 Pge