Spotlight
Pocket guidebook to Carnatic music Song types: Geetam

Varaveena (in the raga Mohanam) and Sree Gananatha (in the
raga Malahari) are among the most common songs young students of Carnatic music
are asked to sing before their first audiences of friends and relatives, often
as a chorus in the classroom.
They are both geetams, songs in one of the simpler forms in the system. Both are
set in the Rupaka tala. Unlike more complex forms of songs in Carnatic
music, geetams are generally not divided into distinct sections like pallavi,
anupallavi or charanam. Similar to most forms of songs in Carnatic music,
geetams are in praise of God.
Geetams are sung in a succession of flat notes, i.e., they are characterised by
a lack of sangatis. Each syllable of the song simply represents a distinct
swara or note. The song is sung in a series of stanzas, with each stanza
containing lines identical in tune to the other stanzas, but with the words
changing from stanza to stanza. The song is first sung in solfa notes before
the lyrics are sung. For example, ma pa (SREE-EE) dha (GA) sa (NA) sa
(NAA) ri (THA) ri (SIN) sa (DHOO) dha (OO) pa (RA) ma (VAR) pa (NA), where the
swaras are in lower case and words are in upper case.
In brief, a geetam is a simple melody, with an unvarying tempo, and no
ornamentation or sangatis, learnt by students soon after they have completed
the basic lessons of sarali and other varisais.
The creation of the geetam as a form of music has been attributed to Purandara
Dasa, widely regarded as the father of Carnatic music.
Posted by Sruti Magazine September 10, 2012