In order to learn karanga there are a few things you need to master.
To learn the practical side of Karanga you need to be taught by a person who can karanga, who can guide you on pronunciation, timing, breathing and quality of voice to name but a few things.
The practical art of karanga is not something that can be taught over the net.
However, here are a few guidelines to help you get started. They are based on traditional Maori Tikanga.
Once you have gained permission from the older women on your bloodlines to learn karanga and have learnt your Marae protocol and understand how karanga fits into the scheme of things you are ready for the practical skills.
Pronunciation
You must have good pronunciation - nothing is worse than hearing a karanga with words mispronounced. The most common sound mispronounced today is the "t" with a "hiss" sound. If you are not too sure if you do that, tape yourself saying Ta Te Ti To Tu really fast (but clearly) then play it back. There should not be any "hiss" sound.
Breathing
You need to be able to do a karanga in one breath so you need to build up your stamina for holding your breath. Go into a large open field, take a deep breath, open your mouth and time yourself saying "a" - the Maori vowel - as loud as possible. You should aim to hold the "a" for about 10 seconds to start with.
Voice Control
Once you have your breath for 10 seconds, practice doing a controlled fade out at the end - nothing is worse than hearing a karanga stop abruptly.
Doing a Karanga
You now need to find someone who will teach you different karanga. Getting given the words on a piece of paper and told to learn then do it is not helpful. Find someone who will check your breathing, pronunciation and fade outs, as well as all of the other things not mentioned here.
Good Luck!
Tikanga Index