Although the Chitraveena is a unique and melodious instrument, there are not many people who choose to take up this instrument. They instead choose to take up the Carnatic violin or percussion instruments like the Mrudangam. The reality is that this instrument can take up a lot of time, money and effort. Here are a few reason why the Chitraveena is such a rare instrument:
The violin was introduced to India in the late 1700's which gave it enough time to get aquatinted and folded in to Carnatic music. The Chitraveena on the other hand was only invented towards the end of the 1800's so it had less time to become a staple of Carnatic music.
The instrument is very hard to play because of the lack of frets. It also requires a lot of patience and precise movements which can be tough in the initial stages of learning. This is why a high quality teacher is needed so that one can be guided to reach a certain degree of professionalism. Sadly, there are not many people qualified to teach such a difficult instrument so this can lead to students choosing to take up other instruments ahead of the Chitraveena.
The low number of manufacturers who make this instruments is also a reason why so few people play this instrument. There are less than five manufacturers who craft this instrument and it is hard to contact them. It is also hard to maintain as the many strings make cleaning particularly hard. Some people also complain about it being hard to transport due to its large and unusual shape.
The low number of professional artists also means that the instrument gets lower exposure than another instrument of the same caliber like the violin or the flute. Even though artists like Chitraveena. N. Ravikiran are trying their best to popularize this obscure instrument, the number of Chitraveena concerts is considerably lower than the number of violin concerts.
The lack of artists makes this instrument unique and also portrays it as a higher level of instrument. Despite it's many shortcomings, I will continue to play the instrument and strive to improve everyday.
The violin was introduced to India in the late 1700's which gave it enough time to get aquatinted and folded in to Carnatic music. The Chitraveena on the other hand was only invented towards the end of the 1800's so it had less time to become a staple of Carnatic music.
The instrument is very hard to play because of the lack of frets. It also requires a lot of patience and precise movements which can be tough in the initial stages of learning. This is why a high quality teacher is needed so that one can be guided to reach a certain degree of professionalism. Sadly, there are not many people qualified to teach such a difficult instrument so this can lead to students choosing to take up other instruments ahead of the Chitraveena.
The low number of manufacturers who make this instruments is also a reason why so few people play this instrument. There are less than five manufacturers who craft this instrument and it is hard to contact them. It is also hard to maintain as the many strings make cleaning particularly hard. Some people also complain about it being hard to transport due to its large and unusual shape.
The low number of professional artists also means that the instrument gets lower exposure than another instrument of the same caliber like the violin or the flute. Even though artists like Chitraveena. N. Ravikiran are trying their best to popularize this obscure instrument, the number of Chitraveena concerts is considerably lower than the number of violin concerts.
The lack of artists makes this instrument unique and also portrays it as a higher level of instrument. Despite it's many shortcomings, I will continue to play the instrument and strive to improve everyday.
