Riyaaz is a meaty word with a lot of gravitas. All Indian classical musicians know what I mean when I say that this word carries a level of importance than classical music itself. Riyaaz in simple words means practice. But it has deeper layers of meaning too. It is central to developing musical skills and also the route to spiritual salvation through the pursuit of musical excellence. Because, unless our voices are fully ready, they cannot capture the divine whiffs of God’s signature which is embedded deep in music.
Hours, weeks, months and years go into tuning the physical voice and therefore the spiritual antenna to capture the mystical signals of God. Towards this, musicians have sacrificed a lifetime, maybe many.
Coming to think of it, discipline or ‘Anushaasan’ has been the driving force behind many stories of success. Just as disciplined riyaaz in classical music leads to beautiful music, leading a happy and fulfilling life requires disciplined life practices. If we can draw many meaningful references from music practice, we can make inculcating discipline in our everyday lives much easier. An example of this is Shadaj riyaaz or staying on the beginning and culminating note ‘Sa’. This is a very important part of classical music training. In classical music, ‘Sa’ is really the melodic resolution point- a symbolic spiritual centre even. It finds its parallel, manifested in our physical bodies as our breath, a constant feature that stays with us from the time we are born to the time we die. In music, as we learn to stay on ‘Sa’ or come back to Sa when we deviate from it, we are symbolically telling our voices and our minds to come back to our spiritual centre. Just as bringing our attention back to our breath is something similar that many meditative practices teach. When we train our mind and our voices to time and again come back to Sa, we are teaching the mind and body, discipline. The disciple is required to bring our souls to a state of equilibrium from the chaos of emotional and physical turbulence of life.
Another example from classical music is how musicians give themselves restrictions while trying to elaborate a Raaga. The restrictions are usually in the form of keeping boundary notes within which they try to find many creative ways to explore the Raaga. Much like being given only three letters of the alphabet and asked to come up with as many words as possible. This aspect of musical practice is another example of discipline. When we practice creativity within constraints, we are teaching our minds to find many ways to happiness with limited means. Another life skill symbolically taught by music practice.
Taal or rhythm is another way to discipline singing. Weaving creative notes within the rigid structure of the Indian classical music taal is another way to teach our voices to develop creativity within constraints. This happens during the Laykaari or Niraval sections in Hindustani and Carnatic forms of classical music respectively. The taal structure can be compared to the fixed hours of the day, the twenty-four-hour limit that every human being on earth is given. Drawing an analogy from the role of taal in classical music, we can train ourselves to bring more meaning, creativity and pleasure into our twenty four hour day.
Committing oneself to music practice is also a discipline of one’s emotions. Because when we sing a Raaga, we are committing to the emotion that Raaga embodies and are promising to bring that to the fore. We are disciplining our own emotions to take a backseat and do not allow them to take over or take hold. This discipline helps us in relationships, where we need to learn selflessness and empathy.
One of the reasons I keep saying that Indian Classical Music has enormous potential for spiritual progress and healing is this, it’s discipline. And the rewards that discipline brings to one’s mind body and soul.
When we learn discipline through music practice, we are learning discipline in an environment of pleasure and happiness. Because when we commit to the demands of musical excellence, we are rewarded in real-time. Here and now with music that fills the heart and soul. Nowhere else can you find discipline and happiness coexist so peacefully.
The writer is a vocalist of both Hindustani and Carnatic Classical music, with over three decades’ experience. She is also the founder of Music Vruksh, a venture to make classical accessible for its aesthetic and wellness benefits.