It is said that it is not enough if one merely knows to play the veena, he should also know the secrets of the instrument and how it responds to a devoted votary.
The photo of Veenai Dhanammal more accurately illustrates how the veena is held than the more fanciful Ravi Varma painting.
The Vina is held with the resonator to the player’s right and the surakkai on the left thigh. The right hand forefinger and middle finger gently pluck the strings while the little finger, in upward strokes, strike the three Tala strings, vibrating in unison and chiming with a regular beat. While the right hand produces the sound (Nada), the left hand, which comes under the Dandi to allow the fingers to rest on the frets, is used to manipulate this sound into notes or swarasthanas. The evocation of all the subtleties and nuances of the music rest primarily on the technique of the left-hand fingers. They may be placed simply between two frets for a ringing, unadorned note or can glide from note to note, or execute little jumps to land lightly on another fret or for oscillation of notes. In Vina, oscillation of notes is achieved by pulling the strings away, while remaining at the same fret to produce notes in succession, leading to what is known as sanchara. Its main attraction is the mellow tonal quality which is capable of evoking a meditative atmosphere.
n our examination, we find to our dismay this antique instrument is no match for other melodic instruments in its capacity to reach out to large audiences in concert halls. Fitting of the contact mike to the instrument results in distortion of its unique sound. This hoary art is an exacting mistress and it takes years to master the instrument. The instrument also poses problems in transportation with its long size. Tuning the instrument is also a job, not to speak of problems in its maintenance.
saraswathiveena 