In an interactive workshop for vocalists held at Waltham based Learnquest Academy led by the noted Hindustani vocalist Smt. Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, there was something for the participants of various skill levels to learn and take away from the workshop.

Vidushi Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar began the workshop spread over two days of the May 21-22 weekend by explaining that Indian classical music manifests itself in the bridges that connect musical notes.  She demonstrated her point and effectively used visual images and metaphors to explain other important aesthetic concepts. “Imagine a rangoli (floor painting) with dots connected by lines. When people hear your music, they should not see the individual dots of the rangoli - only the overall beautiful design of the rangoli should be visible to them. When one learns to sing using the “meend” (glide) ornament that connects notes in ragas, your personal design of the raga takes shape and delights the listener” she explained to the participants which included men and women, the young and old, Westerners and those of Indian origin, the novice as well as the connoisseur. The artist’s intelligence, her multi-lingual skills, her keen interest in getting to know each workshop attendee and her responsive attitude to their questions made the participants warm up to her instantly.

A leading Hindustani vocalist, Vidushi Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar has received in-depth classical music training in Agra as well as Gwalior and Jaipur-Atrauli gharanas and is a senior disciple of Padma-Vibhushan Gaana-Saraswati Smt. Kishori Amonkar. She has been Boston’s celebrity singer Anuradha Palakurthy’s mentor.  Winner of two national awards for best female playback singing, her performances are marked by brilliant creativity, command over rhythm, melody as well as intense bhaava (emotion) in her vocal delivery.

According to Smt. Ankalikar-Tikekar, daily practice exercises (known in Urdu language as riyaaz) should consist of

1.  riyaaz for voice to sound the perfect musical note or sur

2. riyaaz for the raga to see how the raga unfolds

3. riyaaz for practicing good diction when reciting lyrics/words of the composition

4. riyaaz for laya or developing command over rhythm

She suggested that separate timeslots be set aside during the morning, afternoon and evening for practice of each of the above types of riyaaz.

On the first day of the workshop, to develop a riyaaz plan for perfecting pitch, several sargam paltas (vocal exercises) were demonstrated by the artist. A composition in Raga Durga set to 16 beat cycle teentaal was taught to the participants to give a basic understanding of rhythm. On the second day of the workshop, intensive rhythm related exercises with hand movements accompanying the vocal recitation were taught to the participants. Each participant was given an opportunity to use their individual creativity to unfold Raga Durga and to create a personal design for an alaap movement. Aratiji suggested improvements to the designs from an aesthetic standpoint.

Smt. Ankalikar advised participants to spend time singing on a daily basis with the taanpura instrument to get to understand one’s voice, its individual strengths and limitations. She demonstrated correct singing posture, physical exercises for the mouth and the tongue suitable to strengthening the vocal cords, advised against singing when one had an irritated throat and suggested singing in the lower register to increase vocal range. Her interest in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each participant and her pedagogical method of “learning by doing” worked very well for the participants. Shri Atul Pandya, a workshop participant, expressed heart-felt appreciation for the guidance given by the eminent artist and hoped she would visit periodically to give continued guidance at Learnquest Academy of Music. Thank you to Dr. Pradeep Shukla of Learnquest Academy for inviting the artist to interact with aspiring vocalists in the Boston region.

For those who missed the vocal workshop, Smt. Arati Ankalikar will present a concert titled “Ritu-Rang” organized by Radio Music India and Learnquest Academy on the evening of Saturday, June 4 at Thoreau Middle School in Concord, MA (29 Prairie St, Concord, MA) at 6pm. She will be accompanied by Shri Kedar Naphade on the harmonium and Shri Suryaksha Deshpande on the tabla. Tickets can be purchased at www.lokvani.com

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