Susmit, he has been learning for 6 years. Therefore, he has enough knowledge to teach and become a guru to his students. Don’t forget that Ravi Shankar had 8 years of training under a teacher. This guy is 6 and almost there!
Hi Jeff thanks again for these videos. Very inspiring. I have a question about the left thumb position behind the sitar because mine is beginning to hurt for some reason. Sometimes my thumb bends at the joint and I'm wondering if that's causing stress. Should I try to keep my thumb rounded? Also many thanks for the Snark sitar tuner recommendation I bought it and its invaluable to me as a beginner.
Hello. Thank you for the nice comment about my videos. It's hard to give a good answer to your thumb problem without seeing you play but i'll give some general advice that might be helpful. Try to relax your hand as much as possible. If something hurts i would recommend working and modifying your hand position and that might mean also thinking about your entire arm. Think about where your elbow is. For example, is it pointing down, or sticking way out to the side? Try to keep it relaxed and flowing. Is your shoulder tight? Try to relax it. Are you pressing with the tip of your thumb, the knuckle section or the whole digit? Try to even out your pressure as best you can to keep your hand flexible and moving. Play the scale/raga you are working on up and down the neck over and over again and use a metronome. Build up speed and modify your "grip" as needed to let your hand and arm move faster. I hope that helps! I know it's a bit vague. And as always, the best tip is to find a teacher if you don't already have one. My teacher will give lessons over Skype and his contact information is in the video description.
I thought I had strong callouses from years of playing guitar leads on .013 strings...and the first time I picked up a sitar in a shop I sliced my index finger clean open. Novices: be careful!
Very true! When I went to my first lesson I thought I would be fine from having played guitar for years. Nope! My fingertips hurt for weeks! Thanks for watching.
Cheers, mate--I benefit from the humility and practical tips of your sitar student videos. I am also struck by some similarities in the gear we both have in common the Super Champ, the Ibanez semi-hollow, the fretless j-bass...analogous paths to the sitār, it would seem.)
Hi there, I want to ask you if it is necessary for my left fingers when in contact with the main string, does my fingers have to be straight? Because I am trying to work on thinkening the area into a calous ans I noticed that from one of your videos when you showed us your calous, they were forming a straight line. Whereas mine, is kinda tilted. Any tips for this?
Where is your elbow pointing? A general rule is to try and keep your arm relaxed and to keep practicing your sargam up and down the neck. Use a metronome and try to increase speed. That will force you to become more efficient and will help to correct your placement.
I notice you strike the Sa string as well as your Ma while running your scales? My teacher tells me to avoid that and to strike only the Ma while running my Raag Bhoop up and down.
Interesting. I almost always strike the Sa while playing the Ma string unless it’s something specific during alap or a fast passage where I don’t yet have the strength. I play in a etawah style so perhaps that’s the reason for the difference? ...although my teacher is a disciple of Ravi Shankar and he’s never corrected me. So, I’m not sure why we have a different approach. The best we can do is follow what our teachers say and keep progressing day by day. Thanks for watching!
Yes, he is also striking the Sa string because it is permissible in his Etawah style. It adds more flavor and tone to the melody and the buzzing sound is a good accompaniment to any note being played. Striking the first string only is not that rich and interesting. You can try it and see the difference. It’s better to strike both strings equally.
Thank you so much for your wonderful sharing of sitar basics..Can you please show the 2nd and 3rd string excercises.
Thank you Sir! This is the thing which I was waiting for. Although you do not accept to be called a Guru yet you are a guide to us.
Glad my videos can help. Hopefully they will inspire you and others to learn more about the Sitar and Indian music in general. Cheers!
Susmit, he has been learning for 6 years. Therefore, he has enough knowledge to teach and become a guru to his students. Don’t forget that Ravi Shankar had 8 years of training under a teacher. This guy is 6 and almost there!
Thanks sir for uploading
Very useful 👌
Sir, if you would play a fusion of western and Indian music on sitar , then I think it would be much popular.
It is an older video but... How about this? ruclips.net/video/wf1kYZ1V-9E/видео.html
Hi Jeff thanks again for these videos. Very inspiring. I have a question about the left thumb position behind the sitar because mine is beginning to hurt for some reason. Sometimes my thumb bends at the joint and I'm wondering if that's causing stress. Should I try to keep my thumb rounded? Also many thanks for the Snark sitar tuner recommendation I bought it and its invaluable to me as a beginner.
Hello. Thank you for the nice comment about my videos. It's hard to give a good answer to your thumb problem without seeing you play but i'll give some general advice that might be helpful. Try to relax your hand as much as possible. If something hurts i would recommend working and modifying your hand position and that might mean also thinking about your entire arm.
Think about where your elbow is. For example, is it pointing down, or sticking way out to the side? Try to keep it relaxed and flowing. Is your shoulder tight? Try to relax it. Are you pressing with the tip of your thumb, the knuckle section or the whole digit? Try to even out your pressure as best you can to keep your hand flexible and moving.
Play the scale/raga you are working on up and down the neck over and over again and use a metronome. Build up speed and modify your "grip" as needed to let your hand and arm move faster.
I hope that helps! I know it's a bit vague. And as always, the best tip is to find a teacher if you don't already have one. My teacher will give lessons over Skype and his contact information is in the video description.
I thought I had strong callouses from years of playing guitar leads on .013 strings...and the first time I picked up a sitar in a shop I sliced my index finger clean open. Novices: be careful!
Very true! When I went to my first lesson I thought I would be fine from having played guitar for years. Nope! My fingertips hurt for weeks! Thanks for watching.
Cheers, mate--I benefit from the humility and practical tips of your sitar student videos. I am also struck by some similarities in the gear we both have in common the Super Champ, the Ibanez semi-hollow, the fretless j-bass...analogous paths to the sitār, it would seem.)
Great minds think alike!
Hi there, I want to ask you if it is necessary for my left fingers when in contact with the main string, does my fingers have to be straight? Because I am trying to work on thinkening the area into a calous ans I noticed that from one of your videos when you showed us your calous, they were forming a straight line. Whereas mine, is kinda tilted. Any tips for this?
Where is your elbow pointing? A general rule is to try and keep your arm relaxed and to keep practicing your sargam up and down the neck. Use a metronome and try to increase speed. That will force you to become more efficient and will help to correct your placement.
I notice you strike the Sa string as well as your Ma while running your scales? My teacher tells me to avoid that and to strike only the Ma while running my Raag Bhoop up and down.
Interesting. I almost always strike the Sa while playing the Ma string unless it’s something specific during alap or a fast passage where I don’t yet have the strength. I play in a etawah style so perhaps that’s the reason for the difference? ...although my teacher is a disciple of Ravi Shankar and he’s never corrected me. So, I’m not sure why we have a different approach. The best we can do is follow what our teachers say and keep progressing day by day. Thanks for watching!
Yes, he is also striking the Sa string because it is permissible in his Etawah style. It adds more flavor and tone to the melody and the buzzing sound is a good accompaniment to any note being played. Striking the first string only is not that rich and interesting. You can try it and see the difference. It’s better to strike both strings equally.