Carnatic Flute

Carnatic flute lessons (classical bamboo flute music of South India)

Manickam Yogeswaran teaches the techniques of playing the Carnatic flute (Venu or pullankulal) either in individual or group lessons. In South Indian classical music an instrumentalist will learn the same repertoire as the singers. When playing a melodic instrument, the vocal music is the most important influence. Instrumental playing is inspired by the qualities and inflections inherent to the singing style. In a way the instrumentalist tries to imitate the voice. This is particularly true of the flute. The Carnatic flute lessons can be taken as individual or group lessons from beginners to the advanced regardless of age.

Learn more about the Carnatic Flute

The South Indian bamboo transverse flute is probably the best known and most popular wind instrument in Carnatic music. It is known for its warm, smooth sound. The flute or “Pullankulal” in Tamil is also known as a Venu and has 8 holes and covers a range of two and a half octaves. By sliding the fingers over the open holes it is possible to create a quality very similar to the human voice and the technique also allows for a high degree of musical ornamentation. This is an important aspect, which plays a big expressive role when playing raga-based music.