how to play ma and pa on basuri

[shirish]

I find it very difficult to escalate from Ma to Pa . The continuity is lost ( we call it "mindh" I suppose)..Can any one suggest how do I practice ? any suggestions on specific paltas?

[manu]

I suggest you first practice transition from Ga to Pa instead of Ma to Pa. For Ma you have to close a hole partially. While practicing Ga-Pa you will have one less thing to worry about and once you are comfortable with that you can move up to practicing Ma-Pa.

[prapanj]

dear sir
i am still having problem when i try ga to pa.. its still involves opening and closing 5 holes simultaneasly if i have to play ga pa ga pa. there is a small howling noise during the transition.is it ok? will this go off by practise?

[manu]

It is absolutely fine if you can't play Ga Pa Ga cleanly in the beginning. This will become better with time and practice.

Here's a small trick that has helped me a lot and keeps me motivated. In fact this can be applied to any musical instrument in genral.

If I feel that there's something that I can't play properly, I record it. And keep practicing it. Then I record it again after a week and compare the two recordings. And most of the time I'm surprised as to how much difference there is between the two.

You can try that and it is a good way of knowing that you are heading in the right direction.

[prapanj]

hi
thank u so much for that motivational trick. in fact there was a time i felt it was impossible for any human being to make smooth transition between ma and pa. i thought al experts must be using some other short cut. how foolish of me. but i certainly see difference.. for past three days i am doing only this. Now i understand why people boast of years of musical experience.. this is beautiful.. now a new question .

people talk about scales of flute. like Fmajor flute Cmajor flute.. F# , C, D ... what are these scales about? what i know about music is just how to play the sapta swara and in two octaves. so please give a fundamental explanation