My first lesson was an introduction to the basics of holding and playing a simple full stroke on the violin, along with a basic scale on the top two strings. Since I have grown up in Canada, I am more familiar with seeing how Western violinists hold their instruments which is, of course, oriented towards standing up while playing. Carnatic violinists play while seated and the way the violin is held is quite different. The violin is held in front of the left half of your body, so the chinrest on the violin, used by Western violinists, is not used here.
As far as playing, after tuning the violin to the Indian tuning (Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa) I learned a basic stroke on Sa and Pa, followed by a simple scale sequence. I was not given the name of the scale, as it was merely a beginner lesson, but after some research I have concluded that it is the basic skeleton of the raagam Mayamalavagowla. In Western notation, assuming Sa is set to the note “C”, it would be C, C#, E, F, G, G#, B, C. This raagam has a very ancient and auspicious quality to it when played properly, but of course, for now it is only time for basics.
The first task, as in the video, is simply playing Sa and Pa on the upper two strings (the leftmost strings on the video, rightmost from the violinist’s perspective). Sa and Pa are what each pair of strings is tuned to in the Indian tuning, so you don’t have to press anything with your finger. A difficulty I have is keeping an even sound across the bow. When I get closer to playing with the part of the bow near my hand, I always get a scratchier, squeaky sound. I think this is because I am putting too much weight on it.
Learning Carnatic Violin 