The project was founded by me, Robert McGuinness, and is currently being hosted on my blog site. I live in Japan. I own an English conversation school and a yoga school. I study yoga and the bansuri flute from India, I am also a licensed ikebana instructor. My bansuri teacher (Carlos Guerra) and I are also running free bansuri classes for kids. A growing library of bansuri flute music, videos, composition and improvisations of the Ragas for the beginners and advanced learners in Bansuri. This website with many bansuri learning contents is an idea of Bansuri Maestro Shri Venugopal S Hegde, Founder Director of Nandanavana Bansuri Sangeet Academy – where the bansuri music is.
A venu is a side blown flute
Other names | Muraḷi, Vēṇuvu, pillana grōvi, kūḷalu, pullankuzhal |
---|---|
Classification | IndianWoodwind Instrument |
Playing range | |
More than 2.5 Octaves (8-hole bamboo flute) | |
Related instruments | |
Bansuri | |
Musicians | |
List of Indian Flautists | |
More articles | |
Palladam Sanjiva Rao, H. Ramachandra Shastry, T. R. Mahalingam, T. Viswanathan etc.. |
The venu (Sanskrit: वेणु; veṇu) is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music.[1] It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the South Indian Carnatic music tradition.[2] In Northern Indian music, a similar flute is called bansuri.[3] In the South, it is also called by various other names such as pullankuzhal (புல்லாங்குழல்) in Tamil, പുല്ലാങ്കുഴല് in Malayalam, and ಕೊಳಲು (koḷalu) in Kannada. It is known as pillana grōvi (పిల్లన గ్రోవి) or Vēṇuvu (వేణువు) in Telugu (Andhra Pradesh).
The venu is discussed as an important musical instrument in the Natya Shastra, the classic Hindu text on music and performance arts.[4] The ancient Sanskrit texts of India describe other side blown flutes such as the murali and vamsika, but sometimes these terms are used interchangeably. A venu has six holes, is about the thickness of a thumb, and twelve fingers long. A longer murali has four holes and two hands longs. The vamsika has eight holes, between twelve and seventeen fingers long.[5]
A venu is a part of the iconography of Hindu god Krishna.[1]
- 3Venu Players
- 5References
Construction and technique[edit]
A venu is a musical instrument common in Krishna iconography
One of the oldest musical instruments of India, the instrument is a key-less transverse flute made of bamboo. The fingers of both hands are used to close and open the holes. It has a blowing hole near one end, and eight closely placed finger holes. The instrument comes in various sizes. The venu is also a highly respected instrument and those who play it are expected to appreciate it, for it is considered a gift to be able to play it.
The venu is capable of producing two and half octaves with the help of over-blowing and cross fingering. The flute is like the human voice in that it is monophonous and also has a typical two and half octave sound reproduction. Sliding the fingers on and off the holes allows for production of variety of Gamakas, important in the performance of raga-based music.
History[edit]
The flute (Venu) finds great mention in Indian mythology and folklore having been listed as among the 3 original instruments meant for music along with the human sound and Veena (vaani-veena-venu).[6] However it is strange that there is no name mentioned for the typical flute that the Lord plays.
The venu is associated with the Hindu god Krishna, who is often depicted playing it. This kind of flute is mainly used in South India.The Lord Vishnu is portrayed as Sri Venugopala - playing the flute of Creation.
In the Hindustani style, it is known as Bansuri. In the Carnatic style, it is known as flute.
Venu Players[edit]
Carnatic 8-hole flute pitch E | |
Problems playing this file? See media help. |
Venu players of the past[edit]
- Palladam Sanjiva Rao (1882-1962), a disciple of Sharaba Shastri.
- H. Ramachandra Shastry (1906 - 1992), a disciple of Palladam Sanjiva Rao.
- T. R. Mahalingam (1926-1986), a child venuist prodigy who started playing the flute at the age of five years. He is most popularly known as 'Mali' or sometimes 'Flute Mali.'
- T.A. Hariharan, Disciple of T.K. Radhakrishnan
- T.K.Radhakrishnan (1919-2003)
- Manda Balarama Sharma, Disciple of T.R.Mahalingam
- T. Viswanathan (1927-2002), grandson of Veena Dhanammal and brother of Balasaraswati
- B.N.Suresh, (1946-1990) disciple of T.R.Mahalingam
- Prapancham Sitaram (d.2014)
- N. Kesi (1918-2015)
- Dindigul S.P. Natarajan, Disciple of T.R.Mahalingam
- K.S. Narayanaswamy, (Flute) (d. 2003)
- N Ramani (1934-2015), disciple of T.R.Mahalingam
- A.V.Prakash (d. 2016)
Venu players of the present[edit]
- G.Raghuraman (b.1968)
- K. Bhaskaran (b. 1961)
- B. Shankar Rao (b. 1922)
- B.M. Sundar Rao (b. 1937)
- T.S. Sankaran (1930 - 2015)
- K.S. Gopalakrishnan, (Flute) (b. 1929)
- Thiagarajan Ramani (b. 1962)
- Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar (b. 1963)
- Kudamaloor Janardanan (b.1969)
- Shashank Subramanyam (b.1979)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abLochtefeld 2002, p. 747.
- ^Bruno Nettl; Thomas Turino; Isabel Wong; et al. (2015). Excursions in World Music. Taylor & Francis. p. 691. ISBN978-1-317-35029-3.
- ^Dalal 2014, p. 163.
- ^Rowell 2015, pp. 99–103.
- ^The Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmin. Motilal Banarsidass. 2003. p. 217. ISBN978-81-208-1861-3.
- ^Tarla Mehta (1995). Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 149–150. ISBN978-81-208-1057-0.
Bibliography[edit]
- Beck, Guy (1993). Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN978-0-87249-855-6.
- Caudhurī, Vimalakānta Rôya (2000). The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN978-81-208-1708-1.
- Dalal, Roshen (2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books. ISBN978-81-8475-277-9.
- Daniélou, Alain (1949). Northern Indian Music, Volume 1. Theory & technique; Volume 2. The main rāgǎs. London: C. Johnson. OCLC851080.
- Gautam, M.R. (1993). Evolution of Raga and Tala in Indian Music. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN81-215-0442-2.
- Kaufmann, Walter (1968). The Ragas of North India. Oxford & Indiana University Press. ISBN978-0-253-34780-0. OCLC11369.
- Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, 2 Volume Set. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN978-0-8239-2287-1.
- Martinez, José Luiz (2001). Semiosis in Hindustani Music. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN978-81-208-1801-9.
- Nettl, Bruno; Ruth M. Stone; James Porter; Timothy Rice (1998), The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent, Routledge, ISBN978-0-8240-4946-1
- Randel, Don Michael (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music (fourth ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN978-0-674-01163-2.
- Rowell, Lewis (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0-226-73034-9.
- P, Sambamoorthy (1982). The Flute. Indian music Publishing House.
- Sorrell, Neil; Narayan, Ram (1980). Indian Music in Performance: A Practical Introduction. Manchester University Press. ISBN978-0-7190-0756-9.
- Te Nijenhuis, Emmie (1974). Indian Music: History and Structure. BRILL Academic. ISBN90-04-03978-3.
- Wilke, Annette; Moebus, Oliver (2011). Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN978-3-11-024003-0.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Venu&oldid=912672646'
To successfully play the flute, you need to master hand and finger placement. Whether you’re a complete novice to the flute or have some experience on the instrument, always have a basic fingering guide with you to ensure that you’re playing the correct notes on your flute.
Master Flute Finger Placement
This figure tells you the standard code used in most flute fingering charts and diagrams for the fingers of your right and left hands — those that depress the flute’s keys. The figure also tells you your fingers’ home positions on the flute.
The right-hand thumb isn’t listed because its job is solely to balance the flute, not to depress any of the flute’s keys. The figure of the flute on the left correlates with the standard fingering diagram on the right to tell you which of the flute’s keys are represented in which specific places on the fingering chart.
Basic Flute Fingering Chart
This chart provides you with the basic fingerings for all the notes on the flute. Print out the illustrations if you want a handy reference during your music making!