Cross Fingering Technique

- An In-Depth Analysis of the Revolutionary Technique

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Pre-requisites

To complete reading of the following lectures

Introduction to Carnatic Music

Introduction to Carnatic Flute

The above pre-requisites must be fulfilled in order to

understand some of the technical terms in this presentation
as well as to interpret the practical nature of this
presentation with ease

Objectives

To introduce commonly used techniques in flute

playing

To understand the origin of the cross fingering

technique in Carnatic flute playing

To appreciate the contribution & importance of cross

fingering in Carnatic flute playing

To highlight the importance of Nadeswaram music in

Carnatic music

Synopsis

Earlier Fingering Systems

Nageswaram Tradition

Cross Fingering Technique

Earlier Fingering Systems
1. Introduction
. Three!Finger System
". #arallel Fingering

Introduction

The earliest music flutes in Indian music did not

possess a sophisticated fingering system li$e today
due to se%eral reasons&

Limited understanding of musical notes

Differing fingering styles based on preference

nregulated design of flute ! no standard design

Three-Finger System

This method is one of the earliest traditions in Tamil

music. It was among the first accepted techniques in
South Indian flute playing

"etter #nown as the Mundru $iral %adha#am& this

technique allowed the flautist to reach up to the thara
sthayi dhaivatha& off-setting the tonic note by one note'

Its tonic position for Shadjam is the current Kaiski

Nishada position ( the Panchama is the current Suddha
Madhyama position' "y transposing& the rest of the
notes can be played in this order'

Three-Finger System

Some of its notable contributions to the e%olution of

Carnatic flute playing are

)dvocating the use of transposed fingering which lasted

till the introduction of the cross-fingering technique by
*Flute Mali*

+pening the avenue of playing semitone notes by its

own limitations& leading to its eventual disuse'

Parallel Fingering

Introduced by the blind flute prodigy' Sharaba Shastri'

it became the first accepted standard in performance
flute music

It involved playing the notes in a staccato manner

Covered the full range of notes in Carnatic music

Classical compositions could be played cleanly on the

flute without much difficulty

Parallel Fingering

Some of its notable contributions to the e%olution of

Carnatic flute playing are

It is the first time tested technique of serious flute

playing& giving the competent flautist the status of a
soloist

+pening the avenue of playing the gamakas ,-oining

slides between notes. semitone notes by its own
limitations& leading to it losing popularity today

ages!aram Tradition
1. Introduction
. Significance
". #laying (ethod
). Influence on Carnatic (usic

Introduction

)lso #nown as the Nadeswaram, this instrument is

arguably the world*s loudest non-brass aerophone

Its made of a central wood body& carved out from a solid

tree trun# with a metal slot at the top for reed placement (
a large flaring bell-shaped piece at the opposite end

The body tapers from the smallest point at the blowing point
to the largest point at the end

Its /orth Indian equivalent is the Shenai& a shorter

instrument

Introduction

Designed li#e the flute& it consists of 0 holes with 1

additional holes at the bottom side of the central body

Its range is about two ( a half octaves& which is the range

of the human voice

Modulations between notes are made by controlling the

amount of air pressure blown in the instrument as the
fingering is highly comple2 ( challenging to master

Its sheer si3e ( loud volume calls for great stamina (

respiratory strength on the part of the performing artiste

Signi"icance

+riginally used in fol# music ( later on in Carnatic music&

the instrument achieved prominence as an auspicious
instrument because of its rich timbre volume ( resonating
sound

In the past& temple processions in %outh India are

accompanied by nadeswaram music during the opening
time of the temple of each day

The full gamut of the ragas* characters are revealed in this

sacred music ( till today& the world of raga alapana is ruled
by nadeswaram artistes

Signi"icance

%o great is the e2position of the raga& that great stalwarts of

yesteryears would wa#e up early before dawn to listen to
the nadeswaram artistes in the temple processions

Nadeswaram artistes themselves are highly regarded (

remunerated for their mastery of the challenging instrument

"oth connoisseur ( laymen floc#ed readily to listen to great

nadeswaram artistes ( their performances' +n the hand&
vocal music at that time was at its infancy as a public
performance ( had a very selective audience

Playing #ethod

4hile the now-popular cross-fingering method is used in

the flute& its origins undoubtedly came from the
nadeswaram which aptly produced the vocal nuances of
the human voice e2tremely well

4hile partial opening ( closing of the holes are used

e2tensively in the Carnatic flute& the nadeswaram has
finger wor# using the 1 additional holes is different while the
sha#ing of the notes to produce gamakas are used in the
flute ( the nadeswaram

This method of gamaka production was later used by

Flute Mali to great success on the flute& with some changes

In"luence on Carnatic #usic

)t the dawn of the 56

th
century& the era of performing music
called for new methods for presenting the art to the public
as opposed to the limited audience of royal patrons of the
past century

Nadeswaram music itself became the answer& with the

step-by-step delineation of a raga to the clima2 of sweeping
brighas appealed to one ( all' The compositions remained
crisp ( alluring with a madhyama kala tempo generally

7articularly all the great titans& including %emmangudi

%rinvasa Iyer& M' %' %ubbula#shmi ( 8'/'" professed the
influenced of nadeswaram music in their renditions

In"luence on Carnatic #usic

7robably& the greatest phenomenon in nadeswaram music

is the legendary T' /' 9a-arathnam 7illai& a celebrated
genius of the instrument as well as a competent vocalist ,he
was a disciple of Thiru##odi#aval :rishna Iyer.

;is renditions influenced many great stalwarts to adopt his

approach' Flute Mali ( T'/'9 shared a special friendship&
( often practiced together e2changing musical #nowledge

In the vocal arena& %emmangudi Iyer& among the many

greats& adopted T'/'9*s performing approach significantly'
8'/'" completely assimilated the technique almost singing
li#e a nadeswaram performance with his 8od-given voice

In"luence on Carnatic #usic

/eedless to mention& the trio< %emmangudi %rinivasa Iyer&

M' %' %ubbula#shmi ( 8'/'" perpetually left an indelible
influence in the performing era of Carnatic music

The many disciples of %emmangudi %rinvasa Iyer ( 8' /'

"alasubramaniam have over the years modified ( refined
their gurus* techniques to suit the new-age audience while
retaining the core techniques of their gurus

)lthough nadeswaram musicians once numbered in the

hundreds because of the music*s appeal& today& their
numbers dwindle ( rising stars li#e the In-u##udi brothers (
%embanar#ovil brothers are #eeping this art alive

In"luence on Carnatic #usic

/adaswara Cha#ravarthy T' /' 9a-arathnam 7illai

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Cross Fingering Technique
1. Introduction
. E*planation
". Future
). Conclusion

Introduction

In simple terms& cross-fingering is a method where air is

allowed through a finger hole,s. left open between closed
finger holes

In cross-fingering technique& semitones ,sharp ( flat notes.

( quarter-tones ,altered sharp ( flat notes for sruthi
specific playing. can be played appropriately

%emitones can be played alternately with different fingering

E$planation

The production of semitones of some notes will be

discussed

)ssuming suddha rishaba ,9?. is played with ?& @& A& 1& B&
( 0 finger-holes closed& it will be the same as playing ?st
finger-hole closed ( the 5
nd
partially closed

7laying suddha dhaivatha ,D?. with ? ! A& B ( 0 finger-

holes closed& leaving the 1
th
finger-hole open& will yield the
same note as playing ? ! A finger-holes closed ( leaving
the 1
th
partially opened

E$planation

The production of semitones+ janta svaras will be

discussed

7laying 9? with cross-fingering as discussed earlier& will

yield a double note< 9& 9& when the 5
nd
finger-hole is tapped
( released' In conventional play& 9& 9& is obtained by
sliding the finger to % position ( bac#< 9?& %& 9?

7laying D? with cross-fingering as discussed earlier& will

yield a double note< D& D& when the 1
th
finger-hole is tapped
( released' In conventional play& D& D& is obtained by
sliding the finger to % position ( bac#< D?& 7& D?

E$planation

The production of quarter!tones will be discussed

Cuarter-tones are produced by altering the e2tent of

opening the finger-holes for the note for specific sruthi

Due to the nature of this topic& further details on the 55-

sruthi system will not be discussed
,pening -ole Shruthi
D opened E#ashruthi
F opened Dvishruthi
G opened Tisruthi
opened Chautsruthi

Future

It is therefore important to ta#e note& that Flute Mali did not

completely assimilate the cross-fingering technique from
the nadaswaram& but adapted appropriately to certain notes
to improve the ease of playing the flute while producing the
vocal nuances of Carnatic music appropriately

The current flute prodigy %hashan# further added a new

dimension to the Mali*s technique by introducing
HTransposed FingeringI which is discussed separately from
this topic& ,a lin# is provided on the Tutorial site.

Conclusion

The importance of cross-fingering in flute playing should

never be forgotten& for almost all avenues of Carnatic music
has witnessed the Hvocal capacityI of the Carnatic flute

Evolution on the other hand has to progress ( refine the

current techniques of flute playing' +ne such approach is
the HTransposed FingeringI introduced by %hashan#& which
is a modification of the Mali*s technique ( also corrects
some subtle limitations of the Mali*s technique

The End%%%