The Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts’ new textbook series on the mridangam hopes to have kids build a fun and sustainable relationship with music
Bindu Subramaniam
Five winsome creatures, among which are a blue cymbal-playing elephant, a pink rabbit with a flute and a panda holding a melodica, guide children through SaPa’s Mridangam Level 1 book, offering information on how, for instance, the word ‘mridangam’ literally means ‘clay body’, leading some to believe that the very first one was made of clay.
Ambi Subramaniam
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The title explains how the play changes depending on whether one is right- or left-handed, providing notes on technique and inserting activities. Readers are also introduced to basic musical concepts like swaras, raga, laya and taal, different parts of the instrument and their functions, and given instructions on posture, strokes and how to read notation, as well as compositions to practice.
SaPa’s textbooks have interactive lessons with illustrations, fun facts, notes to parents, activities and accompanying audio material
“A lot of research has gone into the design of the textbooks,” says violinist and co-author Ambi Subramaniam, pointing out that his singer-songwriter sister Bindu, who is trained in the Montessori method of education was one of the first in India to build a toddler-focused music curriculum. SaPa launched their violin and Carnatic vocal textbooks in 2013. “All of them have fun facts, notes to parents, activities that encourage [children] to keep practising, and accompanying audio material,” informs Bindu.
The series was developed with the guidance of the late ghatam maestro and teacher TH Subash Chandran. “The primary ten mridangam strokes in this pedagogy form were defined by his own father TR Hari Hara Sharma who entrusted this oral tradition to Guru Subash Chandran,” informs mridangam artiste and series author Akshay Anantapadmanabhan. “Guru Subash Chandran has disseminated the art to thousands of students while refining and formalising the teaching structure over decades into an organised pedagogy. The bite-sized mridangam lessons in this book are the culmination of the ideas that are time-tested by the stalwart himself.”
Akshay Anantapadmanabhan
These books have gained new relevance at a time when holding in-person lessons is difficult. But can they really stand in for classes? “By design, the books and audio material help [children] have fun while learning something new, whether in-person or online,” says Ambi. “Though designed pre-pandemic, we wanted to ensure that they would work for students practising by themselves.”
WHAT: SaPa Mridangam Level 1
WHERE: https://sapaindia.com/sapa-textbooks
FOR: Rs 400
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