“Shruthi Maatha, Laya Pitah” is a famous saying where Shruthi and Layam are seen as two most important fundamentals of music. Layam is a basic rhythm that flows through any movement, expressed as Thaalam (beats). There is an implicit Layam and explicit Layam. The former is something that has to be realised for the latter to be grounded into one’s sensibilities and mind.

Many music composers have explored this layam aspect of music, but the Trinity (Thyagarajaswamy , Muthuswamy Deekshitar and Shyama Saastrigal) stand out in this. Just like in Raagam, in Layam also they have many firsts. The basic framework of tala dasha pranas have also been used by them intelligently in their kritis.

This presentation will look at that basic framework of layam and how trinity made it shine even better, both intuitive and explicit.

Supported by: