Chapter 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEENA ' Vanyate iti Veena' - that which creates a sound is called the Veena. This is the etymological interpretation of the Sanskrit word Veena. Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian has explained the word VANA as meaning Sound. Significantly, Vedic literature often finds the word VANA being used in the meaning of Veena. An investigation of the 'musical instrument scenario' right into the remote past clearly reveals that the term Veena did not refer only to the instrument - Veena - as we know of it today. On the other hand, it seems to have been a generic term encompassing within itself a whole range of stringed instruments and sometimes, also instruments from other genres like aerophones. The yazh is an ancient Dravidian instrument, somewhat like a harp. It was named for the fact that the tip of stem of this instrument was carved into the head of the animal yaali (vyala in Sanskrit). The yazh was an open-stringed polyphonous instrument, with a wooden boat-shaped skin-covered resonator and an ebony stem. It was tuned by either pegs or rings of gut moved up and down the string. It is not used today but pictures of it are found in 51
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Chapter 3
DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEENA
' Vanyate iti Veena' - that which creates a sound is called the Veena. This is
the etymological interpretation of the Sanskrit word Veena. Panini, the great
Sanskrit grammarian has explained the word V A N A as meaning Sound.
Significantly, Vedic literature often finds the word V A N A being used in the
meaning of Veena. An investigation of the 'musical instrument scenario'
right into the remote past clearly reveals that the term Veena did not refer
only to the instrument - Veena - as we know of it today. On the other hand,
it seems to have been a generic term encompassing within itself a whole
range of stringed instruments and sometimes, also instruments from other
genres like aerophones.
The yazh is an ancient Dravidian instrument, somewhat like a harp. It was
named for the fact that the tip of stem of this instrument was carved into the
head of the animal yaali (vyala in Sanskrit). The yazh was an open-stringed
polyphonous instrument, with a wooden boat-shaped skin-covered resonator
and an ebony stem. It was tuned by either pegs or rings of gut moved up and
down the string. It is not used today but pictures of it are found in
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Thirumayam in Tamil Nadu, probably of the 8th century A.D. There are
many references to it in Tamil literature. This instrument was displaced by
the Veena later. The following are some varieties of Yazh.
Adi Yazh
Makara Yazh - 17 strings.
Maruththuva Yazh
Matchya Yazh
Peri Yazh - literally, big yazh. It had 21 strings.
Sagoda Yazh - 16 strings.
Seeri Yazh
Sengottu Yazh - 7 strings.
Vil Yazh - it means bowstring. It was essentially a bow with strings of
different lengths.
The one Indian instrument with the largest number of varieties is the Veena.
The Veena in ancient times simply meant 'A stringed instrument'. It
comprised the plucked, bowed and struck varieties. Later on, the word
Veena came to be used to denote the fretted instruments. The 'Satatantri
Veena' was played on open strings. This Veena, survives as the Santoor in
Kashmir. This Satatantri Veena is more than two thousand years old. It
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became the 'SANTIR' in Persia, 'PSALTERY' in the Bible and it eventually
paved the way for the development of the Piano. The 'Satatantri Veena' was
used at every Vedic ritual. In some of the Vedas and Samhitas, the Satatantri
is called 'Vana'.
In addition to this struck variety, there were the bowed varieties, represented
by the Ravana Hastam and the plucked varieties represented by the Kinnari.
The art of making musical instruments is as old as the Vedas. Jyakara was
the maker of the 'JYA' or the ancient harp.
When the fretted Veena developed much later, it threw into the background, the
Yazh. The fretted Veena had the facilities for producing subtle quartertones and
graces by the deflection of the strings, a facility that the Yazh lacked. The yazh
could produce only straight notes and occasionally glides were performed on it
with the help of a small stick. But the Veena had the drone and Tala strings. In
the ancient yazh, a new scale was performed either by the shift of the tonic note
or by retuning the concerned strings to conform to the new scale. In the Veena,
the player performed new scales by just touching the concerned frets. These
facilities coupled with the introduction of metallic strings made the Veena
superior to the Yazh.
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The size, structure, shape, tuning and number of frets have all changed from
time to time and the Veena at each stage has had a different name and has
sounded different.
Narada in his 'Sangita Makaranda' mentions the following nineteen kinds of
Veenas-
Kachchapi
Kabjika
Chitra
Vahanti
Parivadini
Jaya
Ghoshavati
Jyeshta
Nakuli
Mahati
Vaishnavi
Brahmi
Raudri
Kurmi
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• Ravani
• Sarasvati
• Kinnari
• Sairandhri
• Goshaka
Haripala in his 'Sangita Sudhakara' names the following Veenas -
1. Brahma Veena or Ekatantri
2. Alapini (Alavani)
3. Kinnari
4. Kailasa Veena
5. Pinaki
6. Aakasa Veena
Haripala's Kinnari had four main strings and three Secondary strings. There
were the three kinds of Kinnari - 'Brihat', 'Madhyama' and 'Laghu'. They had
movable frets. The number of frets ranged from fourteen to eighteen. Palkurki
Somanatha in his 'Panditaradhy Charitra' (12* Century) in the 'Parvata
Praharana', 'Bharata Sastra lakshana' mentions the following Veenas -
• Brahma Veena
• Kailasa Veena
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• Kurma Veena (which resembled the vioHn to some extent)
• Saranga Veena
• Aakasa Veena (This was something like the Aeolian harp)
• Pinaka Veena
• Ravana
• Gauri
• Kasyapa
• Svayambhu
• Bhujanga (This is the Naaga Veena, wherein the head was carved into
that of a serpent head with the hood spread out. This is seen in Belur in
the Chenna kesava Perumal Temple, built by Vishnuvardhan in 1117
A.D.)
• Bhoja
• Kinnara, Kinnari or Traperi
• Saraswathi
• Mulla
• Audumbari
• Swaramandala (This was like the Satatantri but the number of strings was
less. The instrument was plucked and played on open strings.)
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Palkurki Somanatha in his 'Basava Purana', again mentions the following kinds
of Veenas.
• Ravanahasta
• Brahma Veena
• Lavanya Veena
• Aakasa Veena
• Pinaka Veena
• Saaranga Veena
• Kinnara Veena
• Swayambhu Veena and
• Gauri Veena.
Nanya deva describes the Rudra Veena and Kachchapi. The 'Swapna
Vasavadatta' refers to the Veena. Stringed instruments are depicted in the
Ajanta Cave paintings. In the 'Chitra' and 'Vipanchi' a small wooden piece was
used to glide over the playing strings and produce notes of different pitch. This
is the Gottuvadyam. In North India, this type of Veena is even now called
Vichitra Veena or Vichitra Been.
Matanga in his 'Brahaddesi' explains the experiments with the 'Dhruva
Veena' £ind the 'Chala Veena' to fix the Shadja and madhyania gramas «nd
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Sruthis Values. Brahaddesi to a great extent followed Bharatha. Sarangadeva
and Mathanga explained in greater detail than Bharatha, the experiment with
the Dhruva and Chala Veenas to clarify the Grama concept and the Sruthi
Values. It was still the age of the Sruthi Veena and Swara Veena. A great part
of the Music was in the harp stage. The Dhruva Veena was so named because it
was kept constant. The other was used for experiment. Its strings were loosened
and tightened according to the need for change in Pitch. So, it was called the
Chala Veena. Both were tuned to the same pitch, note for note. The ancient
method of tuning was different from the present one. Every one of the 22
sruthis in an octave had a string.
Sarangadeva in his 'SangeethaRathnakara' mentioned eleven types of Veenas
and added *Nissanka Veena' of his own to the list of Swara Veenas.
THE VEENAS OF RAMAMATYA
Ramamatya's treatment of the Veena is clear and definite. He calls it 'Rudra
Veena', a favorite of Lord Shiva. The seven-stringed Veena, with four playing
strings and three strings for the drone and tala emerges into prominence with
Ramamatya. In his work, 'Svaramelakalanidhi' (1550), he mentions three kinds
of Veenas based on the systems of tuning adopted for the strings. Each Veena
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again admitted of the two varieties: 'Eka Raga Mela Veena' and 'Sarva Raga
Mela Veena'.
Name of the Veena System of tuning adopted for the strings
1 .Suddha Mela Veena
2.Madhya Mela Veena (This is the mode
system of tuning)
3.Achyuta Rajendra Mela Veena
s
P
s
P
S
P
s
P
s
m
s
P
The drone/Tala strings were tuned to s p s in all the six Veenas. Somanatha, in
his 'Raga Vibodha* (1609) refers to the Suddha Mela Veena and Madhya Mela
Veena wherein the systems of tuning of the four playing strings were the same
as mentioned by Ramamatya. The Tala strings were however tuned as S P S.
His "AKILA RAGA MELA VEENA' is another name for the 'sarva raga mela
Veena' of Ramamatya.
Four decades after Somanatha, Ahobala published his ^Sangeeta Parijatha'. He
had no doubt that ancient experts of the Veena had instinctively glimpsed the
fractions of the speaking length of the string for scale notes. For the first time,
he fixed the frets one by one and calculated the ratios of their speaking length to
the total length of the string between the Meru on the left and the
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?atnka{bridge) on the right. The Sama Gana Saptaka and the five Vikruta notes
were there.
Govinda Dikshitar in his 'Sangeetha Sudha' says, "For the benefit of Vainikas,
to facilitate the proper method of Veena play, let me describe the correct
position of the frets and their notes." The twelve Swarasthanas pertained to