Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Do you want this ?

I have the resources to set up REGULAR ONLINE MUSIC LESSONS (delivered by Video)
- for beginner/intermediate/advanced levels


lessons can include
  • Gurbani Kirtan - Classical / Semi-Classical / Light Shabads - can even do requests. Send the file and someone will de-construct the tune and teach it SLOWLY so its easy to follow.
    • Singing
    • Playing along on Waja
    • Playing along on Dilruba
    • Advanced Compositions: Partaals and uncommon beat compositions: 11 beat, 9 beat, 13 beat, etc.
  • Tabla for Accompaniment - Beginner/Intermediate level only- but there will still be plenty of cool Tihais and Kaidas.

  • Vocal - PROPER singing tips and exercises ( Didi Aruna has agreed to teach - see the two posts below for sampling of her Skill - I will get more teachers to join up as well)

  • Dilruba / Tar Shehnai / Taus ( if you can play one , you can play 'em all ) - Tips, Techniques, Exercises, and USING everything that you've learned in compositions.
  • Classical Hindustani Bandishes, Ghazals, and Old Hindi Songs.

It'll be like this blog - except the lessons will be REGULARLY UPDATED (aiming for 1 time a week per Teacher) , and PROPERLY PLANNED.
Also there will be multiple videos in Each Lesson :

Random example :--
Lesson:
Shabad: "Satgur Poorai Naam Diya"
tune Heard from Narinder Singh Banaras Wale
Raag Prabhati Biphas
- so this lesson will be divided into:

1) Alaap of Raag

2) Just Singing the shabad - with repeated emphasis on the difficult bits, how to embellish and sweeten the tune, proper pronunciation of Bani

3) The notes on Waja

4) How to Play along on Dilruba so it sounds good + Perhaps a Shaan thrown in

5) Tabla accompaniment - how to make it sound good: Playing so it sounds light and happy / or heavy. Adding embellishments. Playing off-beat, and then fitting back in. Tihais, Kaidas. Mixing Beats (playing Dadra in Tintaal maybe) etc. etc. Whatever knowledge the teacher can give.

6) The Shabad Sung properly without interruptions , with tabla accompaniment.

optional 7) Taans/Sargams/Tihais - for both Vocal and Dilruba ( for classical tunes - so People who are interested more in the MUSIC than the Bani , can just use the composition )






It'll have to be a membership site so we can keep it running on a consistent ongoing basis. I'm estimating membership fees will have to be about US$40 per month, depending on how much it costs to set the whole thing up- ( which if you calculate is ONLY around $3-5 per lesson ) .. and all old lessons will still be there for you to check out at a later date.

If you're interested .. please leave a comment.
If at least 50 different people confirm that they want this - I will put it together IMMEDIATELY.
Kindly spread the word - and let me know in the comments section of this post if this is something you would like to have.

Thanks.



additional Note:

most of the info may be based around Gurbani / Sikh music (I'm planning about 50%) - but it will be applicable to general Hindustani Classical as well.
If you can play tabla along to one piece of music, you can play along to everything.

And - a lot of times, if you omit the words and just play the tunes for the Shabads, you'll end up with something very similar to hindustani classical compositions. A lot of Shabad tunes are based on Hindustani Classical compositions anyway.

But of course we will try to accomodate everyone - I will make sure there are enough tunes and compositions to keep non-Sikhs interested too.
Perhaps we can add a taans/sargams/tihais section to each lesson so people who are interested in the Tune and not
the Bani (words), will still get benefit from it.
I'll even make sure to put up songs.

The more people I can serve, the better.


ANOTHER NOTE:

Once in a while : We'll be able to get (audio) studio recordings of our "Teachers" - and most of those will be put up on the site and available to members for download.

Arungeet Kaur singing Raag Bhairavi

Aruna didi singing Raag Bhairavi at Aunty Tara's house - March 24 2007

Monday, March 26, 2007

Arungeet Kaur singing Raag Kaushikdhwani

Aruna Didi singing Raag Kaushikdhwani / Kaushik .
Some scholars say this is the original Raag Basant before the version with Komal Re and Tivar Ma became popular - ... but whatever, if you ask 100 people something, you'll get a 100 different opinions ... I dont like to argue, it's a nice Raag - and sung Very very well. Enjoy .

Classical Music get-together at Aunty Tara's House - March 24 2005.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Raag Kirwani

Small "classical music" get-together at Aunty Tara's house on 24 March 2007.

Maiya Singh (My Teacher) on Tarshehnai
I'm on tabla.

The foil-leaf in the Tarshehnai's sound box popped so my teacher had to end abruptly.

Btw. this little recording was done with NO practice. - the Get-together WAS the practice.

Enjoy

Monday, February 5, 2007

tune from SUPER OLD indian movie



My teacher says Ustad Pyara Singh used to love playing this tune.

Raag Bhoopali Bandish



Composition in Raag Bhoopali.

Raag Asa : Shaan + Shabad Tune



One of my favorite tunes. Very very difficult to memorize.
I heard the tune from the Shabad Track: "Gur Kunji Pahu Nival" sung by Bhai Baljeet Singh at least 50-60 times.
Even then I memorized it incorrectly.
So my teacher has played it slowly for me to be able to catch the nuances.



Here's a modified tune for "Gur Kunji Pahu Nival" (I wanted to sing a different Shabad to this composition) - in Raag Asa. Amazingly Sweet Tune.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Raag Asa - Shaan



Nice peaceful and happy tune in Raag Asa.

Mouli Dharti Moulia Akash - Shabad Tune



Tune for Shabad in Raag SHUDH BASANT (According to Gurbani Kirtan Scholars)

Shabad is "Mouli Dharti Moulia Akash" - heard from Bhai Nirmal Singh, Hazoori Ragi of Darbar Sahib Amritsar.

I know the alaap needs work - was kind of random.
And nobody was there to help me stay in beat.
And a few notes are ~off.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Audio Cd - Gurbani Kirtan - By Maiya Singh

My teacher went to India in 2005 and created a Gurbani Kirtan Audio Cd.

I then got a few hundred CDs made (Proper Factory CD , not burned at home).

On the Recording, He's accompanied by Namdhari Hazoori Ragis :

Harpreet Singh (Sonu) - on Tabla
Balwant Singh - on Santoor
Gurdial Singh (Lali) - on Sitar
and Davinder Singh - on TarShehnai

The Kirtan is sung Ghazal / Semi-Classical / Easy-listening Style
(Sorry = Non Title-Raag :( )
Sound Quality is excellent.
click here for the audio files of Maiya Singh's Kirtan CD


Anyway - there are plenty of CDs left unsold which is greatly slowing down plans to create new recordings. So if you like the Cd, please take one - help clear the stock so a new one can be produced.

I have here, right beside my computer 9 Unopened CDs that I promised I'd sell (Since 2005) - And I'm sure my teacher has plenty more.

If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to ship you a CD for US$9 (Covers the cost of producing the CDs and includes Worldwide shipping by Registered Thai Air Mail)

** Update ** had to change from $7 to $9 because cost of Shipping was quite a bit higher than expected.
















Paypal Link has been sorted out.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Raag Khamaj - Ustad Bismillah Khan



Maiya Singh, My teacher, playing a tune he said he often used for practice when he was younger.

If you noticed: the phone rang towards the end of the recording. :P heheh

Tar Shehnai / Esraj (Dilruba) - Raag Kalyan



Maiya Singh, My teacher, playing a Bandish in Raag Yaman/Kaliyaan.

Recording was made mainly for practice purposes.

Not bad for someone who just plays this on the spot without any recent practice eh?

The instrument is a Tar Shehnai, which is an Esraj + a horn that produces the sweet, high pitched sound.

An Esraj (similar to Dilruba) is a hybrid Sarangi + Sitar.


If you noticed: I fumbled the taal at one point because I started concentrating on what my teacher was playing, but he adjusted what he was playing to fit my mistake in.

Advanced listeners will notice instantly :P