Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This section lists the Frequently Asked Questions that arise out of going thru the notes in my site. I had received numerous emails about some typical questions which I have compiled below. Please go thru the list of questions and solutions to find out whether your question is under this list. Most probably, it will exist. If not, please do email me and I will add the question/solution to this list later. Let's get going with some typical questions. Keyboard notes FAQ's

1. If there are two notes (swaras) which are specified next to each other (like 'gp'), should both of these notes be played simultaneously (together)? 2. The notations in keyless site are in carnatic swaras. How do I convert to western notations? 3. The notes specify the melody (the key to press on the keyboard). What about the duration and type of meter of the song? 4. Where can I get the chords for the songs mentioned in this site? 5. Can I request notes for a song I like? 6. Are there any formal keyboard lessons? 7. What does ~ mean in the notations? Website FAQ's

1. Are there any printer friendly web pages? 2. What is Creative Common's Attribution Non commerical-Sharealike License? Keyboard notes FAQ's

If there are two notes (swaras) which are specified next to each other (like 'gp'), should both of these notes be played simultaneously (together)? The answer is NO. Since these notes represent the vocal (singing) part of the song, most of the times there is only one voice (unless there is a wrap-over or chorus or harmony coming into picture). So, these two notes (in our case 'gp') has to be played one after another. Whether these two have to be played in quick succession or not, depends on the lyrics. I have tried to place the notes exactly under the syllables of the lyrics. So, if you have the song with you or have heard the song, figuring that out should not be a problem. The notations in keyless site are in carnatic swaras. How do I convert to western notations? Lots of people (who are into or are learning piano/guitar) who have no idea about carnatic swaras ask this question. Some of them even suggested to also add the western notations alongwith the carnatic swaras. Well, since that will mean too much of a work for me in the first place, the best I could do was to give out the mapping one-time. Please have a look at my Legend link. That page gives the keyboard layout twice, once with the carnatic swaras and once with western notations. Take a printout of that page handy. That will be very useful for you to be able to do the mapping. Yes! this mapping right now has to be done by you manually with that printout.

The notes specify the melody (the key to press on the keyboard). What about the duration and type of meter of the song? This is a very valid question. In western (staff) notations, usually the meter (type of rhythm) is specified at the start of the song (4/4, 3/8, etc.,). Atleast we can try and do the same stuff. But there is unfortunately no notation in carnatic that I am following in this site, to exactly tell us how long a note should be played (the duration parameter associated with each note is missing). This will not be a huge road-block if you know the song already. But for people who have not heard the song before and would like to play it, its going to be tough to figure that out. Get some help from your friends who have heard that song. Where can I get the chords for the songs mentioned in this site? So far, I had planned to give only the notes for the songs (as a first step). But there has been a growing demand from many requesting that chords be provided too. I am working on this one, planning to add chords also alongwith the lyrics and the notes. I will update songs on the site as often as I can. So keep looking for the chords stuff in future. Can I request notes for a song I like? Absolutely! YES!! But to be able to better keep track of the listener's requests, it will be nice if you can submit the request using the Request-a-song feature. Please specify the details as much as possible (song, movie name, category, lyrics URL and the real-audio URL so that I can listen to the song if I need to) for me to be able to put the notes faster. If you are not able to do that (or need help), you can join the keyless Yahoo groups or use the Contact US link. Are there any formal keyboard lessons? So far, there are no formal lessons for learning keyboard. I am planning to start putting some exercises (like what they teach when you learn formal carnatic classical lessons). Once I put that information, you can start practising those exercises on the keyboard, based on the layout of swaras mentioned in the Legendpage. What does ~ mean in the notations? The ~ (tilde) character is used when 1 note is bent (using the portamento or the pitch bend feature of the keyboard) to the next note. For example, c~d means that you press and play the c note first and bend it upwards so that it will sound d. The speed at which you should bend the note from c to d depends on the song and the exact position of its usage within the song. If you do not have a pitch bender (or) if you do not understand how to use it, you could just ignore the ~ character and just play the 2 notes c and d in succession. Website FAQ's

Are there any printer friendly web pages? When you click on the print button, by default a printer friendly page will be sent to the printer. A print preview will show you the actual page we send to the printer What is Creative Common's Attribution Non commerical-Sharealike License?

The content in this site is licensed under a Creative Common license. In short it is free for personal use if you give credits to the original author and release your modifications under the same license. If you have to use content in this site without attribution or for a commercial purpose, please Contact us. More information about creative license can be found at Creative Commons Website and more information about this specific license can be found at Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial-share alike license or the complete legal license