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A creation of Debashish Bhattacharya, replicating the sounds of sitar, sarod, violin, and veena on a 23-string slide guitar
–Raga instruments (full list)–
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—Debashish Bhattacharya (Shuddha Sarang)—
“I learned the Hawaiian guitar as a child, and played 1920’s European and Hawaiian compositions…and studied six-string slide and staff notation…I created [my] first Indian classical guitar in 1978 at the age of fifteen. I designed it from scratch – it wasn’t a modified Western guitar. Since then I’ve introduced new elements to global slide guitar: including new tunings, fingerpicking techniques, and over 500 compositions. I’m a student, my drive is to learn, and refine my actions. That’s the best way to live…I’m just the adventurous raga-guitar wala!” (Debashish Bhattacharya)
—More Info—
- Sa pitch: Debashish Bhattacharya usually tunes to concert D (among other things, an excellent key for his many fusion projects), sometimes going down to C# in ‘pure’ classical settings (n.b. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s most prominent mohan veena albums are also usually in D, and also less often in C#) [see my Survey of Sa Tunings for more].
[COMING SOON: click here to hasten the project’s expansion, so all articles & pages can eventually look more like these]
• Hindustani Instruments: Anandi | Bansuri | Bass-Veena | Bazantar | Bulbul Tarang | Cello | Chaturangi | Dilruba | Electric Guitar | Esraj | Fretless Guitar | Harmonium | Jal Tarang | Jori | Mandolin | Mohan Veena | Nal Tarang | Pakhawaj | Piano | Rabab | Rudra Veena | Sagar Veena | Santoor | Sarangi | Sarod | Saxophone | Shehnai | Sitar | Surbahar | Sursagar | Sursingar | Swarmandal | Tabla | Tabla Tarang | Tanpura | Tar Shehnai | Taus | Vichtra Veena | Violin
–Survey of Sa tunings–
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—Riyaz-focused notations & bandish—
—Resurrecting rare and ancient ragas—
—Further melodic & geometric analysis—
—Engaging with Hindustani performers—
—Ensuring that high-quality raga knowledge will remain open to all, at no cost: free from commercial motive!—
—Hindustani Raga Index—
An open-ended project seeking to bring North Indian raga closer to all who approach with open ears. Combines direct input from dozens of leading Hindustani artists with in-depth insights from music history, global theory, performance practice, cognitive science, and much more besides!
–Megalist (365+ ragas)–
• Search: Find your new favourite •
• Tags: Classifying the ragascape •
• Glossary: Raga jargon demystified •
• Murchanas: Swara-set rotations •
• Thaat: Bhatkhande’s base scales •
• Ragatable: Analytical connections •
• Tanpuras: Divine overtonal drones •
• Quotes: Musings from raga artists •
• Talas: Hindustani rhythm cycles •
• Instruments: Singing sculptures •
• Masterlist: 1000+ ragas profiled •
Sa | Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni
¡Random Raga!
—Search the Raga Index—
(NEW: search by swaras/varjits)
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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!
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• My Music | ‘Guitaragas’ (2025) •
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