allergic2morons said:
wow thats gr8.
I would love to hear u r own style of playing sitar. When u learn on ur own u often end up creating u r own style. These variations can be sometimes suprisingly refreshing.
When i started off playing tabla I wasnt aware of all intricate taals and raagas. i just picked up some popular tunes and used play them. but when i had a mentor he taught me discipline and true beauty of tabla. i think it is very essential to have a mentor or guru he is the one who refines u as a serious player. Its especially true for indian music. Indian culture has always emphasised iportance of guru he is considered to be a equivalent to one's father and mother. Do u know
Eklavya the legnedary archer from mahabharata????? even he had a guru albeit a virtual since dronacharya didnt accept him. So do u have such a guru ????/ is that ravi shankar u follow????
I was really surprised when i learned u play sitar since i find it very unusual for a canadiaj to lean an indian instrument. Overhere I have some friends who really cant distinguisg between a veena a sitar and a sarod. They only know ravi shankar since he is father of norah jones. .........
Of course I know who Ekalavya is, and I know the injustice done upon him (but that is another discussion). I don't really have any such guru in mind, however, growing up I used to want Ravi Shankar as a guru or even Ali Akbar Khan. However, after reading up on Ravi SHankar's history, I didn't like him as a person (abandoning Annapurna, didn't look after his son Shubho, nor did he look after Norah). Granted the man is talented, but there are plenty of others with talent. I've grown up listening to Vilayat Khan, Bismillah Khan, Imrat Khan, Nikhil Bannerjee, and many others. I've been implenting whatever I have heard over the two decades of my life, and been playing them out on the sitar. I would really love to have a surbahar, sarod, and tabla (I've played the tabla for about a week in India, several years back, and I enjoyed it).
I really don't know how my mind really works, in terms of analyzing music and interpreting patterns... it somehow comes to me (although with practise). I made sitar pieces in mpeg video format, but I'm trying to reduce the size of the files (they are about 450mb in size). When I do get them reduced, I'll let you know so you can take a look. I've played at two temples here (during a Sunday evening, when there is only the preist and a few elderly people), and one of the priests compared my playing to a jugalbandi style (much like what Siddhartha listened too). Honestly, when I play, I can't even tell what I'm playing, since the pieces I play sound very differently when playing live, and then once I hear it back in the recording.
There aren't too many people that actually appreciate the instrumental aspect of Indian classical music (Swetha, you are the second female I've encountered that takes an interest). I've seen how politics and rivalry get in between musicians, and that really left a bad impression on me... this was something I didn't expect to find out, but it is there.
Anyways, you shouldn't b surprised that a Canadian is learning an Indian instrument, because there are a lot of us. Add the Indo-Americans, and you got a whole lot more. Most of the performers keep homes in North America and India, so that they can split their time on both sides of the world. They usually stay for about six months here so that they can teach and hold workshops. But you have to find the right teacher for you before you continue.
